Batch fabrication process of biomimetic wing with high flexibility of stiffness design for flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles

A lamination-based batch-fabrication process of biomimetic wing for flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles is presented. The key benefits of this process are: One of the advantages of the process is high productivity; eight wings were successfully fabricated simultaneously in our experiment. The wing fabricated with the reported process is made of soft polyimide and partially reinforced by a titanium layer. This configuration enables the flexible design of the bending stiffness distribution on the wing, which is the key specification for generating lift force. The reinforcing material can be replaced with other metals or heat-resistant polymers, and the number of layers and layer thicknesses are also variable. This indicates that the reported process can be customized considerably to suit individual needs. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.