Flight performance of micro-wings rotating in an alternating magnetic field

The flight mechanism that gains thrust by rotating magnetic wings in an alternating magnetic field is proposed. Through the analysis and the experiments with large-sized models whose wing length is from 3 mm to 8.6 mm, some hints for the design of micro-sized models whose wing length is around 1 mm were shown. That is, the wings should be flat, the angle of attack should be over 25 degrees, and the take-off frequency is estimated to be 600 Hz. We made micro-sized models using MEMS technology. The wings are made of electroplated nickel, and a thin glass rod is attached to the center as an axis of rotation. The glass rod is inserted into a small glass tube which works as an outer bearing. The 900 /spl mu/m long micro-wings succeed in flying up at a rotating frequency of 570 Hz. The thrust generated by the wings at 570 Hz can be regarded as the weight of the micro-wings.