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 and our approach allows for greater flexibility in materials selection. Our four-thruster device measures 1.8 x 2.5 cm and is composed of steel emitters and a lightweight carbon fiber mesh. The current and thrust characteristics of each individual thruster of the quad thruster is determined and agrees with Townsend relation. The mass of the quad thruster is 37 mg and the measured thrust is greater than its weight (362.6 uN). The robot is able to lift off at a voltage of 4.6 kV with a thrust to weight ratio of 1.38.

中文翻译：

---

用于厘米级空中机器人的激光微制造电流体动力推进器

迄今为止，能够控制飞行的昆虫级机器人已经使用扑翼来产生升力，但这需要一个复杂且容易发生故障的机制。一个更简单的替代方案是电流体动力 (EHD) 推力，它不需要移动机械部件。在 EHD 中，电晕放电在两个电极之间的电场中产生离子流；高速离子通过碰撞将其动能传递给中性空气分子，加速气体并产生推力。我们介绍了一种基于 355 nm 激光微加工的 EHD 推进器制造工艺，我们的方法允许在材料选择方面具有更大的灵活性。我们的四推进器装置尺寸为 1.8 x 2.5 厘米，由钢质发射器和轻质碳纤维网组成。四轴推进器的每个单独推进器的电流和推力特性被确定并与汤森关系一致。四重推进器的质量为 37 毫克，测得的推力大于其重量 (362.6 uN)。该机器人能够以 4.6 kV 的电压升空，推重比为 1.38。