Known as the Liquid-amplified Zipping Actuator (LAZA), the system was inspired by bees and other flying insects, using a direct-drive artificial muscle system. Flapping actuation moves the wings directly, without the need for transmission or gears, which can add unnecessary weight and diminish performance.
At its core, LAZA consists of a liquid dielectric combined with an electrode and an insulator. Applying high voltage induces time-varying electrostatic forces at the wing root, which generates controllable flapping of the wing electrode.
Described in Science Robotics, the new advance could pave the way for smaller, lighter and more effective micro flying robots for environmental monitoring, search and rescue and deployment in hazardous environments. In the paper, the team shows how a pair of LAZA-powered flapping wings can provide more power compared with insect muscle of the same weight, enough to fly a robot across a room at 18 body lengths per second.
They also demonstrated how the LAZA can deliver consistent flapping over more than one million cycles, important for making flapping robots that can undertake longer flights. The team expects the LAZA to be adopted as a ‘fundamental building block’ for a range of autonomous insect-like flying robots.
“Making smaller and better performing flapping wing micro robots is a huge challenge,” said research lead Professor Rossiter, from Bristol’s Faculty of Engineering. “LAZA is an important step toward autonomous flying robots that could be as small as insects and perform environmentally critical tasks such as plant pollination and exciting emerging roles such as finding people in collapsed buildings.”
