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Untethered flight of an insect-sized flapping-wing microscale aerial vehicle

Author

Listed:
  • Noah T. Jafferis

    (Harvard University
    Harvard University)

  • E. Farrell Helbling

    (Harvard University
    Harvard University)

  • Michael Karpelson

    (Harvard University)

  • Robert J. Wood

    (Harvard University
    Harvard University)

Abstract

Heavier-than-air flight at any scale is energetically expensive. This is greatly exacerbated at small scales and has so far presented an insurmountable obstacle for untethered flight in insect-sized (mass less than 500 milligrams and wingspan less than 5 centimetres) robots. These vehicles1–4 thus need to fly tethered to an offboard power supply and signal generator owing to the challenges associated with integrating onboard electronics within a limited payload capacity. Here we address these challenges to demonstrate sustained untethered flight of an insect-sized flapping-wing microscale aerial vehicle. The 90-milligram vehicle uses four wings driven by two alumina-reinforced piezoelectric actuators to increase aerodynamic efficiency (by up to 29 per cent relative to similar two-wing vehicles5) and achieve a peak lift-to-weight ratio of 4.1 to 1, demonstrating greater thrust per muscle mass than typical biological counterparts6. The integrated system of the vehicle together with the electronics required for untethered flight (a photovoltaic array and a signal generator) weighs 259 milligrams, with an additional payload capacity allowing for additional onboard devices. Consuming only 110–120 milliwatts of power, the system matches the thrust efficiency of similarly sized insects such as bees7. This insect-scale aerial vehicle is the lightest thus far to achieve sustained untethered flight (as opposed to impulsive jumping8 or liftoff9).

Suggested Citation

  • Noah T. Jafferis & E. Farrell Helbling & Michael Karpelson & Robert J. Wood, 2019. "Untethered flight of an insect-sized flapping-wing microscale aerial vehicle," Nature, Nature, vol. 570(7762), pages 491-495, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:570:y:2019:i:7762:d:10.1038_s41586-019-1322-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1322-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Khaled Itani & Alexandre De Bernardinis, 2023. "Review on New-Generation Batteries Technologies: Trends and Future Directions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-29, November.
    2. Blake McIvor & Javaan Chahl, 2020. "Energy Efficiency of Linear Electromagnetic Actuators for Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-12, March.

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