Journal of Nantong University (Natural Science Edition), Volume. 24, Issue 2, 64(2025)

A miniature amphibious crawling robot driven by piezoelectric actuator

WANG Le1,2, WANG Xin2, FEI Senjie1, and YAN Qiufeng3、*
Author Affiliations
  • 1School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Elevator, Huzhou Vocational and Technical College, Huzhou 313099, China
  • 2Huzhou Institute of Zhejiang University, Huzhou 313099, China
  • 3School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
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    To address the limitation of single-mode motion in micro piezoelectric robots, this study proposes a piezoe-lectric-driven micro amphibious crawling robot. The robot utilizes the inverse piezoelectric effect of piezoelectric ceramics to excite multiple vibration modes of its body, enabling both terrestrial crawling via contact friction and aquatic swimming via jet flow, thus achieving amphibious locomotion. A compact structure driven by a single-phase excitation signal allows dual-mode motion on land and in water. Finite element modeling was conducted using Ansys 19.0 to analyze the robot's structural design, operating principle, and optimal working modes. A prototype was fabricated and experimentally tested. At a driving frequency of 17.0 kHz and a peak -to -peak voltage of 100 V, the robot achieved a maximum crawling speed of 130 mm/s, equivalent to 6.5 body lengths per second. At 227.0 kHz and the same voltage, its average swimming speed on the water surface reached 50 mm/s, or 2.5 body lengths per second. The consistency between simulation and experimental results verifies the feasibility of the proposed structural design and confirms the validity of the operating principle.

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    WANG Le, WANG Xin, FEI Senjie, YAN Qiufeng. A miniature amphibious crawling robot driven by piezoelectric actuator[J]. Journal of Nantong University (Natural Science Edition), 2025, 24(2): 64

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    Paper Information

    Received: Dec. 29, 2024

    Accepted: Aug. 25, 2025

    Published Online: Aug. 25, 2025

    The Author Email: YAN Qiufeng (yanqf@nuaa.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.12194/j.ntu.20241229001

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