2.5-Dimensional Structure Approach for Miniaturizing Flapping-Wing Air Vehicles

In this study, we propose a 2.5-dimensional (2.5-D) structure approach for insect-mimetic flapping-wing air vehicles (FWAVs). The proposed approach includes design and fabrication methods. To our best knowledge, this study is the first one that develops a flapping system for FWAVs without any post-assembly of structural components. The proposed structure consists of a transmission, a supporting frame, and elastic wings. The transmission transforms the small translational displacement produced by a piezoelectric bimorph into a large rotational displacement of the wings. The size is reduced using the proposed design method. Then, the 2.5-D structure is fabricated using the proposed polymer MEMS micromachining method. The presented micro flapping system flaps the wing with a stroke angle and flapping frequency comparable to those of actual small insects using resonance. The results confirm that the proposed approach can miniaturize FWAVs.