We present the first electromagnetically driven, self-lifting, sub-100-mg, insect-inspired flapping-wing microaerial vehicle. This robot, with a weight of 80 mg and a wingspan of 3.5 cm, can produce sufficient thrust to lift off. The wing beat frequency is up to 80 Hz and the flapping amplitude is approximately ±70°. An electromagnetic actuator is employed to control the flapping amplitude and create passive wing rotation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the world's smallest electromagnetically driven flapping-wing robot that is capable of liftoff.

An electromagnetic MEMS flapping-wing micro air vehicle at insect scale is presented. The detailed scheme, design, micro fabrication and experiment are given in this paper. Firstly, by commercial software ANSYS and MATLAB, electromagnetic analysis, modal analysis and kinetics analysis are proposed. Moreover, based on the result of theoretical analysis, appropriate structure, material and inherent frequency are selected. Then, a new LIGA-like process based on SU-8 photoresist technology is adopted to fabricate thorax, tergum and vein. Finally, a 3.5 cm wingspan, 144 mg weight prototype is integrated, and then we finish the flapping test for this prototype, which has a flapping resonance frequency range of 120–150 Hz. The test result demonstrates the feasibility solution in the development of FMAV based on MEMS, this work is a stepping-stone on the path toward flying robotic insects.

A piezo‐actuated self‐lifting insect inspired flapping‐wing robot is presented. A novel method is presented in the work, which has taken into account the difficulties and the precision of assembly among micro components. Each component is properly designed and reasonably arranged to reduce the assembly difficulties of such insect‐scale robot. Specifically, the design of the piezoelectric actuator has taken into account the electrical isolation and assembly issues. The transmission and the airframe are integrated into one component to avoid assembly difficulties. Fibre directions of wing veins are reasonably arranged to possess high strength and stiffness. As a result, this robot, which weighs 84 mg with a wingspan of 35 mm, can generate sufficient thrust to take off with a flapping amplitude approximately ±60° under the resonant wingbeat frequency of 100 Hz.

Inspired by the unique, agile and efficient flapping flight of insects, we present a novel sub-100 mg, electromagnetically driven, tailless, flapping-wing micro robot. This robot utilizes two optimized electromagnetic actuators placed back to back to drive two wings separately, then kinematics of each wing can be independently controlled, which gives the robot the ability to generate all three control torques of pitch, roll and yaw for steering. To quantify the performance of the robot, a simplified aerodynamic model is used to estimate the generated lift and torques, and two customized test platforms for lift and torque measurement are built for this robot. The mean lift generated by the robot is measured to be proportional to the square of the input voltage amplitude. The three control torques are measured to be respectively proportional to three decoupled parameters of the control voltages, therefore the modulation of three control torques for the robot is independent, which is helpful for the further controlled flight. All these measured results fit well with the calculated results of the aerodynamic model. Furthermore, with a total weight of 96 mg and a wingspan of 3.5 cm, this robot can generate sufficient lift to take off.