Small autonomous aerial systems require the ability to detect roll, pitch, and yaw to enable stable flight. Existing inertial
measurement units (IMUs) are incapable of accurately measuring roll-pitch-yaw within the size, weight, and power
requirements of at-scale insect-inspired aerial autonomous systems. To overcome this, we have designed novel IMUs
based on the biological haltere system in a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). MEMS haltere sensors were
successfully simulated, designed, and fabricated with a control scheme that enables simple, straightforward decoupling
of the signals. Passive mechanical logic was designed to facilitate the decoupling of the forces acting on the sensor. The
control scheme was developed that efficiently and accurately decouples the three component parts from the haltere
sensors. Individual, coupled, and arrayed halteres were fabricated. A series of static electrical tests and dynamic device
tests were conducted, in addition to in-situ bend tests, to validate the simulation results, and these, taken as a whole,
indicate that the MEMS haltere sensors will be inherently sensitive to the Coriolis forces caused by changes in angular
rate. The successful fabrication of a micro-angular rate sensor represents a substantial breakthrough and is an enabling
technology for a number of Army applications, including micro air vehicles (MAVs).
A comparison of three different large-displacement microactuator technologies fabricated by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) in silicon-on insulator (SOI) substrates is presented. Electrothermal, curved electrode electrostatic, and combdrive electrostatic actuator designs are considered, with each actuator design capable of producing more than 100 mm of displacement. Analytic models for each actuator type are reviewed, and both theoretical and experimental data for fabricated devices are analyzed and compared with respect to displacement, force, and power consumption.
Conference Committee Involvement (6)
Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing VI
2 August 2010 | San Diego, California, United States
Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing V
5 August 2009 | San Diego, California, United States
Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing IV
13 August 2008 | San Diego, California, United States
Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing III
29 August 2007 | San Diego, California, United States
Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing II
14 August 2006 | San Diego, California, United States
Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing
4 August 2005 | San Diego, California, United States
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