PZT MEMS Actuated Flapping Wings for Insect-Inspired Robotics

This paper presents microfabricated flapping-wings for insect-inspired flying robots. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of any such MEMS devices for this application. This work is a component of on-going efforts by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in developing millimeter-scale robotic platforms using thin-film lead zirconium titanate (PZT) actuators. Micromachined wing-structures have been successfully fabricated and this report presents experimental results of flapping frequency and stroke-amplitude from a set of wing designs varying in material composition and dimensions. These results establish the feasibility of achieving stroke amplitudes comparable to insects with PiezoMEMS technology.