Stevenage: The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Abstract:
This Letter presents an animation of the sporangial motion for making bionic tail actuators of flapping micro-air-vehicles (FMAVs) regarding energy saving. A SUS-304 steel foil of 40μm thick is used as the working substrate. The actuation area of 40-50 comb-shaped cantilevers is designed to have the maximum actuating angle change around the order of several degrees. An Nd-YAG laser cutting is performed to machine the surface tension-driven actuator. Surface modification including parylene coating and oxygen plasma treatment are added to enlarge the actuation stroke angle up to 10-12° for practical usage in flight control.