Review on mobile robots that exploit resonance

Abstract

It is expected that mobile robots can benefit from the exploitation of their resonance in terms of actuation and efficiency. Therefore, a study is conducted on the existing terrestrial mobile robots that use resonance to obtain or improve locomotion. An overview of these robots is provided, and their advantages over robots that do not use resonance are examined. A classification with fifteen subclasses is introduced based on the locomotion mechanisms that mobile robots use. In five of the fifteen subclasses, examples of mobile robots that use resonance are found. These robots prove that they can be up to 16 times more efficient and much simpler to actuate and control than their imposed counterparts. Four different methods to make use of the resonance of a mobile robot are distinguished. A systematic design approach that combines these four methods with the fifteen subclasses is proposed, which can be used to obtain unexplored concepts for mobile robots that benefit from the exploitation of their resonance.