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A laser-microfabricated electrohydrodynamic thruster for centimeter-scale aerial robots.

ABSTRACT: To date, insect scale robots capable of controlled flight have used flapping-wings for generating lift, but this requires a complex and failure-prone mechanism. A simpler alternative is electrohydrodynamic (EHD) thrust, which requires no moving mechanical parts. In EHD, corona discharge generates a flow of ions in an electric field between two electrodes; the high-velocity ions transfer their kinetic energy to neutral air molecules through collisions, accelerating the gas and creating thrust. We introduce a fabrication process for EHD thruster based on 355 nm laser micromachining, which potentially allows for greater materials selection, such as fiber-based composites, than is possible with semiconductor-based lithographic processing. Our four-thruster device measures 1.8 × 2.5 cm and is composed of steel emitters and a lightweight carbon fiber mesh. We measured the electrical current and thrust of each thruster of our four-thruster design, showing agreement with the Townsend relation. The peak thrust of our device, at 5.2 kV, was measured to be 3.03 times its 37 mg (363.0 ?N) mass using a precision balance. In free flight, we demonstrated liftoff at 4.6 kV.

SUBMITTER: Hari Prasad HK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7190112 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A laser-microfabricated electrohydrodynamic thruster for centimeter-scale aerial robots.

Hari Prasad Hari Krishna HK Vaddi Ravi Sankar RS Chukewad Yogesh M YM Dedic Elma E Novosselov Igor I Fuller Sawyer B SB

PloS one 20200429 4

To date, insect scale robots capable of controlled flight have used flapping-wings for generating lift, but this requires a complex and failure-prone mechanism. A simpler alternative is electrohydrodynamic (EHD) thrust, which requires no moving mechanical parts. In EHD, corona discharge generates a flow of ions in an electric field between two electrodes; the high-velocity ions transfer their kinetic energy to neutral air molecules through collisions, accelerating the gas and creating thrust. We ...[more]

PMID: 32348320

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Project description:The capacity of milli and micro litre bioreactors to accelerate process development has been successfully demonstrated in traditional biotechnology. However, for regenerative medicine present smaller scale culture methods cannot cope with the wide range of processing variables that need to be evaluated. Existing microfabricated culture devices, which could test different culture variables with a minimum amount of resources (e.g. expensive culture medium), are typically not designed with process development in mind. We present a novel, autoclavable, and microfabricated scale-down device designed for regenerative medicine process development. The microfabricated device contains a re-sealable culture chamber that facilitates use of standard culture protocols, creating a link with traditional small-scale culture devices for validation and scale-up studies. Further, the modular design can easily accommodate investigation of different culture substrate/extra-cellular matrix combinations. Inactivated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (iMEF) and human embryonic stem cell (hESC) colonies were successfully seeded on gelatine-coated tissue culture polystyrene (TC-PS) using standard static seeding protocols. The microfluidic chip included in the device offers precise and accurate control over the culture medium flow rate and resulting shear stresses in the device. Cells were cultured for two days with media perfused at 300 µl.h(-1) resulting in a modelled shear stress of 1.1×10(-4) Pa. Following perfusion, hESC colonies stained positively for different pluripotency markers and retained an undifferentiated morphology. An image processing algorithm was developed which permits quantification of co-cultured colony-forming cells from phase contrast microscope images. hESC colony sizes were quantified against the background of the feeder cells (iMEF) in less than 45 seconds for high-resolution images, which will permit real-time monitoring of culture progress in future experiments. The presented device is a first step to harness the advantages of microfluidics for regenerative medicine process development.

Dataset Information

A laser-microfabricated electrohydrodynamic thruster for centimeter-scale aerial robots.

Publications

A laser-microfabricated electrohydrodynamic thruster for centimeter-scale aerial robots.

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