Moobot: A Miniature Origami Omnidirectional Jumping Robot With High Trajectory Accuracy

Trajectory control is important for jumping robots because it helps them to overcome different obstacles; however, integrating actuators and sensors exhibiting small scale and high accuracy remains challenging. No insect-scale jumping robots have yet demonstrated accurate trajectory following. Here, we propose a miniature origami omnidirectional jumping robot (Moobot) capable of high-accuracy feedback control of its jumping trajectory. The robot is based on a four-bar origami structure and shape memory alloys. Two strain gauges and an inertial measurement unit were used to control the jumping force and takeoff angle, respectively, and a reliable jumping mechanism and novel supporting leg were designed to improve jumping stability and trajectory accuracy. Unlike typical externally powered miniature robots, we constructed a 5 cm, 6 g untethered prototype. The error and the standard deviation of the jumping distances were both less than 1.5 cm; this represents a significant improvement relative to all previous insect-scale jumping robots. Furthermore, we integrated the yaw control and conducted omnidirectional jumping experiments, showing that Moobot was capable of accurately traversing different platforms from all directions.