Design, Fabrication and Experimental Validation of a Steerable, Laser-Driven Microrobot in Dry Environments

In this paper, we discuss the design and validation methodology of SerpenBot, a laser-driven microrobot that operates in dry environments and can be steered. The microrobot includes a novel resonant leg mechanism that couples with a Nd:YAG pulsing laser beam at tunable frequencies, thus producing differential driving forces that can be selectively used for both driving and turning of the microrobot. Specifically, the SerpenBot includes two micromachined silicon thermal actuators with serpentine design and a motion amplification flexure, that are stimulated using different modulated laser pulse frequencies. We present analysis, simulation, and experimental results demonstrating the successful maneuverability of the SerpenBot on a dry Silicon substrate.