Micromechanical Flying Insect

The goal of the micromechanical flying insect (MFI) project is to develop a 25 mm (wingtip-to-wingtip) device capable of sustained autonomous flight. Such a tiny flying robot could be used in wide area (disposable) searching, pollution plume tracking, building monitoring (comfort, security), inspection, "Smart Dust" tagging, survivor search (after a fire, earthquake, or other disaster), and mobile/adaptive sensor/communication networking.
The MFI is designed based on biomimetic principles to capture some of the exceptional flight performance achieved by true flies. The high performance of true flies is based on large forces generated by non-steady state aerodynamics, a high power-to-weight ratio motor system, and a highspeed control system with tightly integrated visual and inertial sensors. Our design analysis shows us that piezoelectric actuators and flexible thorax structures can provide the needed power density and wing stroke, and that adequate power can be supplied by lithium batteries charged by solar cells.