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WHAT
MIT Robotics Seminar
Noah Jafferis, Harvard University
"Insect-scale mechanisms: from flying robots to piezoelectric fans"

WHERE
32-G449 (Kiva)

WHEN
Tuesday November 13, 11:00-12:00
Food will arrive right after the seminar

ABSTRACT
In recent years, there has been heightened interest in developing
sub-gram hovering vehicles, in part for their predicted high
maneuverability (based on the relative scaling of torques and
inertias). In this regime, the efficiency of electromagnetic motors
drops substantially, and piezoelectrics are generally the actuator of
choice. These typically operate in an oscillatory mode, which is well
matched with flapping wings. However, at such a small size,
integrating on-board power and electronics is quite challenging
(particularly given the high voltages required for piezoelectrics),
and such vehicles have thus been limited to fly tethered to an
off-board power supply and control system. In this talk, I will
discuss recent advances in the Harvard Robobee to overcome these
challenges, including non-linear resonance modeling, improved
manufacturing, and multi-wing designs.

I will also discuss fabrication of an alternative mechanism for
converting piezoelectric vibration to airflow. This is of interest as
a low-profile fan for CPU cooling, a growing issue as electronic
devices pack increasing power consumption (and thus heat) into smaller
spaces. Additionally, a thruster based on this technology could
achieve higher thrust-per-area and speed than flapping wings or
propellers (at the expense of efficiency). Its extremely modular
nature is also attractive in such an application.

When we operate robots near resonance, particularly with very
non-linear systems and/or multiple mechanically interacting actuators,
control can be extremely challenging. In these scenarios, knowledge of
the instantaneous deflections or velocities of each actuator is
crucial. Toward this end, I will describe our work on monitoring the
actuators’ current to obtain accurate velocity data regardless of
external loading, without the need for any additional sensors.

BIO
Noah T. Jafferis obtained his PhD in the Electrical Engineering
Department at Princeton University in 2012, and is currently a
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Harvard University's Microrobotics
Lab. Noah was home-schooled until entering Yale University at the age
of 16, where he received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2005.
At Princeton, Noah's research included printing silicon from
nanoparticle suspensions and the development of a "flying carpet"
(traveling wave based propulsion of a thin plastic sheet). His current
research at Harvard includes nonlinear resonance modeling, scaling,
and system optimization for flapping-wing vehicles; piezoelectric
actuators and motors (manufacturing and modeling for optimal power
density, efficiency, and lifetime); a fan/thruster using
piezoelectrically actuated peristaltic pumping; solar power for
autonomous operation of insect-scale robots; and self-sensing
actuation. Some of his many research interests include
micro/nano-robotics, bio-inspired engineering, 3D integrated circuits,
MEMS/NEMS, piezoelectrics, 3D printing, energy harvesting, and
large-area/flexible electronics.

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