Design and performance of an insect-inspired nano air vehicle

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This work reports the structural design, actuation and performance of an insect-inspired nano air vehicle. For this purpose, an original design concept of resonant wings using indirect actuation and concise transmission to allow large and symmetrical bending angles, passive wing torsion and to minimize energy expenditure is presented. A simplified analytical model and a numerical approach for the transmission between the actuator and the wings are then proposed to validate the design. The all-polymer prototypes were obtained using micromachining SU-8 photoresist technology. An electromagnetic actuator was added to control the vibrating amplitudes and create passive wing torsion. The actuator was optimized to make it more effective whilst at the same time minimizing its mass. Prototypes with a global wingspan of 3.5 cm and a mass of 22 mg due to the structure and actuator are presented. Bending amplitudes of the wings up to 60° were measured with these prototypes. The resonant frequency of the wings varied according to the design and mass. It was demonstrated that it is possible to obtain, without an important driving mechanism a very promising kinematics.