Micro air vehicle

A micro air vehicle (MAV), or micro aerial vehicle, is a small, portable kind of flying machine. These tiny aircraft are so small that some can fit in the palm of your hand—about as big as your hand or even smaller! They are special because they can fly close to the ground and in tight spaces where bigger vehicles can’t go.

People and groups all around the world are making these tiny flying machines. Some want to use them to watch dangerous places from a safe distance. Others, like people who enjoy building things, make MAVs for fun contests or to take beautiful pictures from the air. These little aircraft can even fly on their own without someone controlling them all the time.

Because they are so small and light, MAVs can go places that bigger drones or airplanes cannot. This makes them very useful for checking on places that might be hard to reach or where it’s not safe for people to go. Whether for science, fun, or important work, micro air vehicles are an exciting part of flying technology today.

Practical implementations

In 2008, scientists at TU Delft University in the Netherlands created a tiny flying machine called the DelFly Micro. It was only 10 centimeters long and weighed just 3 grams. This small flying machine had a camera to help control it when it was out of sight. Experts think it will take many years to make these machines as clever as insects.

Another tiny flying machine was made by Robert Wood at Harvard University. It was even smaller, only 3 centimeters long, but needed a wire to work. This machine could hover in one place and land and take off from different surfaces.

The T-Hawk MAV was made by a company in the United States. It could take off and land straight up and hover. It was used to look for dangerous items and check places after a big earthquake in Japan.

In 2010, scientists at Tamkang University in Taiwan made a flying machine that could control its own height during flight. In 2012, the British Army used a small flying machine called the Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle to help soldiers in Afghanistan.

Practical limitations

While there are no true micro air vehicles (MAVs) yet, scientists have tried to make even smaller ones called Nano Air Vehicles (NAVs). These are about as big as the width of your thumb. But making these tiny flying machines is very hard.

Because MAVs are so small, it is hard for a person on the ground to control them. They can't see far enough to guide them well. Some MAVs have cameras to help, but they are still too small to carry strong enough signals for remote control. Because of this, researchers are working on MAVs that can fly on their own, like robots. One example is the Entomopter, inspired by insects, which was developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Another big challenge is how long these tiny vehicles can fly. Very light MAVs can only stay in the air for about 10 minutes. Some scientists think solar power could help, but it has its own problems. Recently, a new tiny vehicle called the CoulombFly was made. It weighs just a little bit more than a paperclip but can fly for an entire hour using a special power system.

Bio-inspiration

See also: Ornithopter

Scientists and engineers are now looking at how insects and birds fly to make tiny flying machines even better. They study how these animals move their wings and use this knowledge to improve how small flying robots sense their environment, process information, and move. For example, research supported by the U.S. Air Force has created ways for these tiny machines to land like birds do.

Meetings where biologists and robot designers come together have become more common since the year 2000. Some books about this topic have also been written. Ideas from how fish schools and bird flocks move have helped control groups of these tiny flying machines and keep them flying together in tight groups.