In this paper, the operation principles of a traveling wave piezoelectric beam robot are presented. A prototype consisting of an aluminum beam structure, with two non-collocated piezoelectric patches bonded on its surface, was fabricated and tested to demonstrate the generation of a traveling wave on the beam based on the one mode excitation and the two mode excitation operation principles for propulsion. A numerical model was developed and used to study and optimize the generated motion of the piezoelectric beam robot. Experimental characterization of the robot for the two types of operation has been carried out, a comparison between them is made and results are given in this paper.