Title :
MEMS wing technology for a battery-powered ornithopter
Author :
Pornsin-sirirak, T. Nick ; Lee, S.W. ; Nassef, H. ; Grasmeyer, J. ; Tai, Y.C. ; Ho, C.M. ; Keen, M.
Author_Institution :
Caltech Micromachining Lab., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
The objective of this project is to develop a battery-powered ornithopter (flapping-wing) Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) with MEMS wings. In this paper, we present a novel MEMS-based wing technology that we developed using titanium-alloy metal as wingframe and parylene C as wing membrane. MEMS technology enables systematic research in terms of repeatability, size control, and weight minimization. We constructed a high quality low-speed wind tunnel with velocity uniformity of 0.5% and speeds from 1 m/s to 10 m/s. We have tested and have studied the unsteady-state aerodynamics of various types of MEMS wings. Finally, we built lightweight ornithopters with electric-powered transmission system and have demonstrated successful free flights of with flight duration ranges from 5 to 18 seconds
Keywords :
biomimetics; micromechanical devices; vehicles; 1 to 10 m/s; MEMS technology; aerodynamics; battery powered ornithopter; electric power transmission; flapping wing; micro aerial vehicle; parylene C membrane; titanium alloy frame; wind tunnel; Aerodynamics; Aerospace engineering; Battery powered vehicles; Biomembranes; Birds; Insects; Laboratories; Micromachining; Micromechanical devices; Size control;
Conference_Titel :
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2000. MEMS 2000. The Thirteenth Annual International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Miyazaki
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5273-4
DOI :
10.1109/MEMSYS.2000.838620
