Flies are among the most agile flying creatures on Earth. To mimic this aerial prowess in a similarly sized robot requires tiny, high-efficiency mechanical components that pose miniaturization challenges governed by force-scaling laws, suggesting unconventional solutions for propulsion, actuation, and manufacturing. To this end, we developed high-power-density piezoelectric flight muscles and a manufacturing methodology capable of rapidly prototyping articulated, flexure-based sub-millimeter mechanisms. We built an 80-milligram, insect-scale, flapping-wing robot modeled loosely on the morphology of flies. Using a modular approach to flight control that relies on limited information about the robot's dynamics, we demonstrated tethered but unconstrained stable hovering and basic controlled flight maneuvers. The result validates a sufficient suite of innovations for achieving artificial, insect-like flight.


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    Title :

    Controlled flight of a biologically inspired, insect-scale robot


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Science ; 340 , 6132 ; 603-607


    Publication date :

    2013


    Size :

    5 Seiten, 4 Bilder, 30 Quellen




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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