A power electronics unit to drive piezoelectric actuators for flying microrobots

Lok, Mario; Zhang, Xuan; Helbling, E. Farrell; Wood, Robert J.; Brooks, David; Wei, Gu-Yeon

doi:10.1109/cicc.2015.7338392

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This is typically from a low voltage source such as a battery, supercapacitor or solar panel and is used to transform that energy to the required input for the actuator. For the piezoelectric actuators, the voltage needed to reach the desired strain levels is high, typically around 20,300 V [2,19]. To achieve these voltages a boost converter is required which requires several switching and magnetic components.…”

Section: Power Electronicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This loss combined with the switching and magnetic component losses combined to create an overall efficiency of approximately 28% [2]. However, this type of voltage generator has been selected as it consumes 37% of the power of an equivalent linear device [19]. This efficiency has come at the cost of reduced payload capacity as the mass of the power electronics are significant.…”

Section: Power Electronicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Energy Efficiency of Linear Electromagnetic Actuators for Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

McIvor

Chahl

2020

Energies

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The development of flapping wing systems has been restricted by high power density requirements, comparatively large forces and the requirement for light weight. The use of linear electromagnetic actuators has had a small presence in the flapping wing literature when compared to other actuator types. This has been due to the high power consumption and low power output of this system when compared to resonant systems. This work assesses linear electromagnetic actuators presented in the literature and demonstrates the performance improvements achieved when the mechanism natural frequency is appropriately tuned. This process shows a reduction of input power consumption to 13% of the original power consumption. This improvement, combined with appropriate power electronic design, can reduce the perceived gap between linear electromagnetic actuators and solid-state actuators.

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Section: Power Electronicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Power Electronicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Efficiency of Linear Electromagnetic Actuators for Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

McIvor

Chahl

2020

Energies

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“…Multiple sensors with suitable power and mass have been explored, ranging from a microelectromechanical inertial measurement unit [18] to a small footprint, onboard vision sensor inspired by insect ocelli [19]. Lightweight and efficient power electronics have also been designed [20]. In preparation for outdoor operations, another important requirement is the ability to overcome the effects of external disturbances such as wind gusts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics and flight control of a flapping-wing robotic insect in the presence of wind gusts

et al. 2017

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With the goal of operating a biologically inspired robot autonomously outside of laboratory conditions, in this paper, we simulated wind disturbances in a laboratory setting and investigated the effects of gusts on the flight dynamics of a millimetre-scale flapping-wing robot. Simplified models describing the disturbance effects on the robot's dynamics are proposed, together with two disturbance rejection schemes capable of estimating and compensating for the disturbances. The proposed methods are experimentally verified. The results show that these strategies reduced the root-mean-square position errors by more than 50% when the robot was subject to 80 cm s 21 horizontal wind. The analysis of flight data suggests that modulation of wing kinematics to stabilize the flight in the presence of wind gusts may indirectly contribute an additional stabilizing effect, reducing the time-averaged aerodynamic drag experienced by the robot. A benchtop experiment was performed to provide further support for this observed phenomenon.

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“…flying, crawling, and swimming) under high efficiency and maneuverability, remains a challenge. 4,5 One of the causes of this problem is that the surface effect leads to significant decrements in the efficiency and power density of common electric motor actuators when the characteristic dimension of a robot is at the micro level. 6 Piezoelectric actuators are considered an alternative because they can produce micro-level deflection with large force generation, fast response, and long-term actuation compared to other actuators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro converter with a high step-up ratio to drive a piezoelectric bimorph actuator applied in mobile robots

Wang

Chen

2018

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

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In this study, a micro converter for driving a piezoelectric actuator is designed and implemented. The converter can produce 100 V, 80 Hz AC voltage from 3.7 V DC voltage. With regard to the requirements of micro mobile robots, the main contributions of this study are the design and implementation of a circuit topology supplying power for micro mobile robots at low power and the miniaturization of this topology to make it suitable for driving a centimeter-level robot. The 91 mg mass (excluding printed circuit board mass), 14 Â 12 Â 4 mm size, and 84.6% efficiency of the converter indicate that this circuit could be applied in micro mobile robots driven by piezoelectric actuators.

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A power electronics unit to drive piezoelectric actuators for flying microrobots

Cited by 14 publications

References 5 publications

Energy Efficiency of Linear Electromagnetic Actuators for Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

Energy Efficiency of Linear Electromagnetic Actuators for Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

Dynamics and flight control of a flapping-wing robotic insect in the presence of wind gusts

Micro converter with a high step-up ratio to drive a piezoelectric bimorph actuator applied in mobile robots

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