Imperial College London
Alternate

ProfessorMirkoKovac

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Aeronautics

Professor in Aerial Robotics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5063m.kovac Website

 
 
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Location

 

326City and Guilds BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Chen:2017:10.1126/scirobotics.aao5619,
author = {Chen, Y and Wang, H and Helbling, EF and Jafferis, NT and Zufferey, R and Ong, A and Ma, K and Gravish, N and Chirarattananon, P and Kovac, M and Wood, RJ},
doi = {10.1126/scirobotics.aao5619},
journal = {Science Robotics},
title = {A biologically inspired, flapping-wing, hybrid aerial-aquatic microrobot},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aao5619},
volume = {2},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - From millimeter-scale insects to meter-scale vertebrates, several animal species exhibit multimodal locomotive capabilities in aerial and aquatic environments. To develop robots capable of hybrid aerial and aquatic locomotion, we require versatile propulsive strategies that reconcile the different physical constraints of airborne and aquatic environments. Furthermore, transitioning between aerial and aquatic environments poses substantial challenges at the scale of microrobots, where interfacial surface tension can be substantial relative to the weight and forces produced by the animal/robot. We report the design and operation of an insect-scale robot capable of flying, swimming, and transitioning between air and water. This 175-milligram robot uses a multimodal flapping strategy to efficiently locomote in both fluids. Once the robot swims to the water surface, lightweight electrolytic plates produce oxyhydrogen from the surrounding water that is collected by a buoyancy chamber. Increased buoyancy force from this electrochemical reaction gradually pushes the wings out of the water while the robot maintains upright stability by exploiting surface tension. A sparker ignites the oxyhydrogen, and the robot impulsively takes off from the water surface. This work analyzes the dynamics of flapping locomotion in an aquatic environment, identifies the challenges and benefits of surface tension effects on microrobots, and further develops a suite of new mesoscale devices that culminate in a hybrid, aerial-aquatic microrobot.
AU  - Chen,Y
AU  - Wang,H
AU  - Helbling,EF
AU  - Jafferis,NT
AU  - Zufferey,R
AU  - Ong,A
AU  - Ma,K
AU  - Gravish,N
AU  - Chirarattananon,P
AU  - Kovac,M
AU  - Wood,RJ
DO  - 10.1126/scirobotics.aao5619
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 2470-9476
TI  - A biologically inspired, flapping-wing, hybrid aerial-aquatic microrobot
T2  - Science Robotics
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aao5619
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000441528200001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/2/11/eaao5619
VL  - 2
ER  -
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