Characterizing fruit fly flight behavior using a micro force sensor with a new comb drive configuration

This paper reports a MEMS micro force sensor with a novel configuration of differential tri-plate comb drives suitable for bulk micromachining. A high-yield fabrication process using DRIE on SOI wafers is utilized to construct the high aspect ratio devices. The sensor has a high sensitivity, good linearity, and a large bandwidth, which are required for characterizing flight behavior of fruit flies (Drosophila). For the first time, both aerodynamic and inertial forces of Drosophila were captured in real time, providing valuable data for understanding Drosophila´s flight behavior.