IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · 2018 · 73 citations · 21 references
The letter introduces an insect‑scale microrobot that flies silently without moving parts, powered by electrohydrodynamic thrust from corona‑generated ions. The authors collected continuous attitude and acceleration data from a 2 cm × 2 cm, 30 mg ionocraft equipped with a 37 mg 9‑axis IMU, measured thrust‑voltage curves, dynamic response to time‑varying signals, and aerodynamic drag, and incorporated these measurements and sensor noise into a MATLAB Simulink simulation. The simulation demonstrates controlled hovering and planned straight‑line flight in the XY plane.
This letter presents an insect-scale microrobot that flies silently and with no mechanical moving parts, using a mechanism with no analogue in the natural world: electrohydrodynamic thrust produced by ions generated via corona discharge. For the first time, attitude and acceleration data are continuously collected from takeoff and sustained flight of a 2 cm × 2 cm, 30 mg "ionocraft" carrying a 37 mg 9-axis commercial IMU on FlexPCB payload, with external tethers for power and data transfer. The ionocraft's steady-state thrust versus voltage profile, dynamic response to a time-varying signal around a high voltage dc bias point, and aerodynamic drag at incident angles around 90° are measured. These experimental measurements, as well as measured IMU sensor noise, are inserted into a MATLAB Simulink simulation environment. Simulation shows controlled hovering and planned flight in arbitrary straight trajectories in the XY plane.
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Controlled Flight of a Biologically Inspired, Insect-Scale Robot
Y. Kevin, Pakpong Chirarattananon, Sawyer B. Fuller et al. · Science · 2013 · 1.1K citations