Orientation Control of Microrobots

The objective of this research is to develop a noncommutative attitude control system for mircorobotics. The actuation system consists of arrays of vibratory actuators, which are located on three orthogonal faces. The vibratory actuators are actively controlled to produce relatively small angular oscillations of the body about each of the three body-fixed axes. Noncommutative actuation sequences are used to control arbitrarily large changes in angular orientation. This actuation methodology have several benefits compared with more conventional actuation systems, such as reaction wheels, and can satisfy the strict size requirements of microrobotics. The research plan includes mathematical analysis and control design, experimental verification of the actuation system for a scaled-up system, and a true-scale microrobot experiment.