Piezoelectric soft robot driven by mechanical energy  

作　　者：Jiangfeng Lu Zicong Miao Zihan Wang Ying Liu Dekuan Zhu Jihong Yin Fei Tang Xiaohao Wang Wenbo Ding Min Zhang 

机构地区：[1]Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute,Tsinghua University,Shenzhen 518055,China [2]Shenzhen International Graduate School,Tsinghua University,Shenzhen 518055,China [3]State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments,Department of Precision Instruments,Tsinghua University,Beijing100084,China

出　　处：《Nano Research》2023年第4期4970-4979,共10页纳米研究（英文版）

基　　金：supported by Shenzhen Fundamental Research Funds(No.JCYJ20220530143011026);Science and Technology Plan projects in Sichuan Province(No.2020YFSY0050).

摘　　要：Power sources and energy-harvesting schemes are still grand challenges for soft robots.Notably,compared with other power sources,triboelectric nanogenerators(TENGs)have shown great potential because of their low manufacturing and fabrication costs,outstanding resilience,remarkable stability,and environmental friendliness.Herein,a triboelectric effect-driven piezoelectric soft robot(TEPSR)system is proposed,which integrates a rotary freestanding triboelectric nanogenerator(RFTENG)to drive a soft robot comprising a piezoelectric unimorph and electrostatic footpads.Based on the natural triboelectrification,through converting mechanical energy into electricity,TENG provides a unique approach for actuation and manipulation of the soft robot.The perfect combination provides the most straightforward way for creating a self-powered system.Experimentally,under the power of RF-TENG,the soft robot reaches a maximum moving speed of 10 cm per second and a turning rate of 89.7°per second,respectively.The actuation and manipulation demonstration are intuitively accomplished by maneuvering the robot around a maze with a 71 cm track within 28 s.For autonomous feedback controls,one practical application is carrying two infrared sensors on board to realize obstacle avoidance in an unstructured environment.Moreover,a micro-camera was equipped with the soft robot to provide real-time“first-person”video streaming,enhancing its detection capability.

关 键 词：triboelectric nanogenerator piezoelectric soft robot rapid actuation agile trajectory manipulation energy efficiency 

分 类 号：TP242[自动化与计算机技术—检测技术与自动化装置]