Design and Construction of a Miniature Electrowetting Motor
Design and Construction of a Miniature Electrowetting Motor
Conventional motors use electromagnetism to exert torque – a design that works very well for large systems, but becomes increasingly inefficient as the motors become smaller. The goal of this project was to develop a new motor design that may greatly outperform conventional motors at smaller scales. After considerable background testing, the principle of electrowetting was applied to create a motor in which a rotor floating in water was turned by tiny deformations of the water’s surface. The motor uses electricity to curve the water around the rotor, and the resulting surface forces to rotate it. For a large motor, this force is miniscule; but for one that is less than a few millimeters in length, it dominates over the inertia of the system, leading to a motor that is increasingly powerful for its size. This design may prove to be very useful for microscopic robotic devices in a variety of medical or industrial applications.
Course: MATH 80Q: Capillary Surfaces: Explored and Unexplored Territory
Instructor: Robert Finn
Project Video
Andrey is a Physics major and probable mathematics minor with additional interests ranging from electrical engineering to aero-astro. He is involved with the Stanford Robotic Mining Competition team, High-Altitude Balloon project, and a recently initiated autonomous hydrofoiling sailboat project, and also currently teaches a seminar class entitled “How Hard can Rocket Science be, Anyway?” Andrey’s main research interest is in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) such as the one demonstrated in this project. In his spare time, Andrey has nearly a decade of experience in micro-scale RC sailboat/ship modeling. He built a radio controlled sailing yacht in 2009 that weighed 14.5g (0.5oz), making it about five times lighter than current Guinness World Record holder for the smallest model sailing yacht. Andrey is also a qualified sailboat skipper and has recently taken a liking to Alpine skiing… along with most other activities that involve water in solid or liquid form.
