Experimental Consideration on Miniaturization of Magnetically Driven Flapping Pico Air Vehicle

Abstract

This paper deals with further miniaturization of magnetically driven flapping pico air vehicle. Its flapping mechanism consists of a wing film attached to a torsion spring with a permanent magnet, and can be driven by an external alternating magnetic field. Our previous research has suggested that it is effective to match the resonant frequencies of the flapping motion and the bending vibration of the wing film to increase thrust. In this study, we conducted experiments by changing the wing material and magnet size to confirm whether this design guideline can be applied to short wing length. As a result, we confirmed that the design guideline is effective even with short wing length of 3 to 4 mm, and flight is possible with a minimum span of 12 mm.