Performance of direct-driven flapping-wing actuator with piezoelectric single-crystal PIN-PMN-PT

Abstract

We present a prototype flapping-wing actuator with a direct-driven mechanism to generate lift in micro- and nano-aerial vehicles. This mechanism has an advantage of simplicity because it has no transmission system between the actuator and wing. We fabricated the piezoelectric unimorph actuator from single-crystal PIN-PMN-PT, which achieved a lift force up to 1.45 mN, a value about 1.9 times larger than the mass of the actuator itself. This is the first reported demonstration of an insect-scale actuator with a direct-driven mechanism that can generate a lift force greater than its own weight.