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Towards flapping wing control for a micromechanical flying insect
(2001)Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA)Considers a 2 DOF resonant thorax structure signed and fabricated for the MFI project. Miniature piezoelectric PZN-PT unimorph actuators were fabricated and used to drive a four-bar transmission mechanism. The current thorax design utilizes two actuated four-bars and a spherical joint to drive a rigid wing. Rotationally compliant flexure joints have been tested with lifetimes over 10/sup 6/ cycles. Wing spars were instrumented with strain ...Conference Paper -
Development of PZT and PZN-PT based unimorph actuators for micromechanical flapping mechanisms
(2001)Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA)This paper focuses on the design, fabrication and characterization of unimorph actuators for a microaerial flapping mechanism. PZT-SH and PZN-PT are investigated as piezoelectric layers in the unimorph actuators. Design issues for microaerial flapping actuators are discussed, and criteria for the optimal dimensions of actuators are determined. For low power consumption actuation, a square wave based electronic driving circuit is proposed. ...Conference Paper