Engineering Commons^™

Fast Scale Prototyping For Folded Millirobots, Aaron Hoover, Ronald Fearing

Aaron M. Hoover

We present a set of tools and a process, making use of inexpensive and environmentally friendly materials, that enable the rapid realization of fully functional large scale prototypes of folded mobile millirobots. By mimicking the smart composite microstructure (SCM) process at a 2–10X scale using posterboard, and commonly available polymer films, we can realize a prototype design in a matter of minutes compared with days for a complicated SCM design at the small scale. The time savings enable a significantly shorter design cycle by allowing forimmediate discovery of design flaws and introduction of design improvements prior to beginning construction at …