Abstract
This paper investigates the characteristics of a mobile mechanism that consists of a main mass, a foot mass and a slant leg. A rotational spring is attached at the joint of the upper end of the slant leg and the main mass. The lower end of the leg and the foot mass are pin jointed. Besides, the mechanism is equipped with a voice coil motor between the main and foot masses. When the exciting force is given by the voice coil motor, the mechanism travels due to the difference in friction force between forward and backward direction between the foot mass and the floor. Numerical simulation and experiment show that the moving direction and velocity are controlled by the frequency and the wave shape of the exciting force.
