A Precise Magnetic Walking Mechanism

Inspired by magnetically actuated precision motion devices based on magnetic levitation and those based on elastic suspension, we devised a novel magnetic actuation mechanism, namely, a magnetic walking mechanism. This biped precision mechanism is a legged precision mechanism that consists of two elastically connected rigid legs. We designed the mechanism to be driven by one horizontal actuator and two vertical actuators, each comprising a permanent magnet and an air-core coil, and to produce both fine motion and walking motion. We discuss the underlying principles of force generation, leg actuation, fine motion, and walking motion. To demonstrate that both fine motion and walking motion can be created with this mechanism, we built and experimentally tested a two-legged walker. We successfully created a legged precision device capable of long-range fine motion and long-step walking motion based on a magnetic walking mechanism.