A tracked travelling system under the actuation of a piezoelectric transducer

A novel type piezoelectric tracked travelling system with potential application to planetary exploration is proposed. The tracked travelling system includes a piezoelectric transducer and a metal track. When the piezoelectric transducer is excited by two electric signals with a phase difference of π/2, the metal track will be driven by friction forces. Firstly, the design and operating principle of the tracked travelling system are presented in detail. Secondly, the operating modes of the piezoelectric transducer are analyzed by FEM and compared with the vibration measurement results. Thirdly, the prototype is manufactured and assembled, and the motion characteristics experiments of the system are carried out to valid the feasibility. When the voltage is 460V and the frequency is 65.2 kHz, the maximum velocity of the system can reach to 51.5mm/s. The results show that the tracked travelling system has a potential application in rover robots for planetary exploration.