BPN764: Untethered Stress-Engineered MEMS MicroFlyers

Abstract: 

In this project, we are developing and testing microscale flying structures, called Microflyers. The microflyers consist of a 300 µm × 300 µm sized chassis fabricated from polycrystalline silicon using surface micromachining. At present, the flyers are levitated using microfabricated heaters attached to an underlying substrate. A novel, in-situ masked post-release stress-engineering process is used to generate a concave upwards curvature of the flyers chassis, causing static pitch and roll stability during flight, take-off, and landing. The initial experiments have demonstrated stable levitation. The microflyers represent an attractive airborne reconnaissance platform due to their microscale size, and thus stealth operation.

Project end date: 08/13/15

Author: 
Spencer Ward
Ameen Hussain
Vahid Foroutan
Ratul Majumdar
Publication date: 
February 4, 2015
Publication type: 
BSAC Project Materials (Final/Archive)
Citation: 
PREPUBLICATION DATA - ©University of California 2015

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