# An Insect-scale Self-sufficient Rolling Microrobot

## TL;DR

This paper presents the design and demonstration of the lightest, fastest, insect-scale self-sufficient rolling microrobot, powered by laser or supercapacitors, capable of autonomous movement without external wires.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel insect-sized microrobot with self-sufficient power sources and a unique double-ratcheting mechanism for autonomous rolling at record speed and minimal weight.

## Key findings

- Robot weighs 96mg or 130mg depending on power source
- Achieves 27mm/s speed with 2.5mW power consumption
- Operates autonomously for 8 seconds after a single charge

## Abstract

We design an insect-sized rolling microrobot driven by continuously rotating wheels. It measures 18mm$\times$8mm$\times$8mm. There are 2 versions of the robot - a 96mg laser-powered one and a 130mg supercapacitor powered one. The robot can move at 27mm/s (1.5 body lengths per second) with wheels rotating at 300$^\circ$/s, while consuming an average power of 2.5mW. Neither version has any electrical wires coming out of it, with the supercapacitor powered robot also being self-sufficient and is able to roll freely for 8 seconds after a single charge. Low-voltage electromagnetic actuators (1V-3V) along with a novel double-ratcheting mechanism enable the operation of this device. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the lightest and fastest self-sufficient rolling microrobot reported yet.