Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published January 2000 | Published
Book Section - Chapter Open

MEMS wing technology for a battery-powered ornithopter

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 repeatablility, 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 omithopters with electric-powered transmission system and have demonstrated successful free flights of with flight duration ranges from 5 to 18 seconds.

Additional Information

© 2000 IEEE. Reprinted with permission. Meeting Date: 01/23/2000 - 01/27/2000. This work is supported under DARPA/TTO MAV program DABT63-98-C-0005.

Attached Files

Published - PORmems00.pdf

Files

PORmems00.pdf
Files (683.4 kB)
Name Size Download all
md5:8f6a6361a8d14c6f16047475eaad9b6e
683.4 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 21, 2023
Modified:
October 17, 2023