Design and Characterization of a Dual Piezo-bimorph Micro Flapping Wing

This paper describes the preliminary design and characterization of a dual piezo-bimorph driven micro flapping wing mechanism for potential application in micro aerial vehicle designs. The basic form of the mechanism is inspired by a dragonfly insect. The wing motion is actuated by two piezoelectric bender actuators. The skeletal structure of the wing is manufactured using 3D printing technology, where Kapton film is laminated to the printed ABS skeletal frame. Finite element analysis (FEA) is used to guide the design of the mechanical dynamics of the wing mechanism, where predicted resonances between 10 to approximately 250 Hz are shown. Experimental results are shown to demonstrate basic functionality and operation of the wing, particularly at and near the first resonance. The results also show good agreement with the FEA model.