Biomimetic gyroscope integrated with actuation parts of a robot inspired by insect halteres

Abstract

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscopes are widely used in various robot applications. However, these conventional gyroscopes need to vibrate the proof mass using a built-in actuator at a fixed resonance frequency to sense the Coriolis force. When a robot is not moving, the meaningless vibration of the gyroscope wastes power. In addition, this continuous vibration makes the sensor vulnerable to external sound waves with a frequency close to the proof-mass resonance frequency. In this paper, a feasibility study of a new type of gyroscope inspired by insect halteres is presented. In dipterous insects, halteres are a biological gyroscope that measures the Coriolis force. Wing muscles and halteres are mechanically linked, and the halteres oscillate simultaneously with wing beats. The vibrating haltere experiences the Coriolis force if the insect is going through a rotational motion. Inspired by this haltere structure, a gyroscope using a thin mast integrated with a robot actuation mechanism is proposed. The mast vibrates only when the robot is moving without requiring a separate actuator. The Coriolis force of the mast can be measured with an accelerometer installed at the tip of the mast. However, the signal from the accelerometer has multiple frequency components and also can be highly corrupted with noise, such that raw data are not meaningful. This paper also presents a suitable signal processing technique using the amplitude modulation method. The feasibility of the proposed haltere-inspired gyroscope is also experimentally evaluated.