An autonomous impact resonator with metal beam between a pair of parallel-plate electrodes

• A metal beam is fixed on an insulated base between parallel-plate electrodes.
• The beam can be excited to maintain autonomous impact oscillation only by DC input.
• This resonator can achieve small operating current and more stable frequency output.
• The beam's motion trajectory can be tunable by adjusting the electrodes placement.
• A simplified model has been established to support the experimental behaviors.

This paper reports an autonomous impact resonator with a metal beam fixed on an insulated base between a pair of parallel-plate electrodes. The beam can be excited to impact the positive and negative electrodes alternately and maintain oscillation only by DC input. Compared with previous autonomous impact resonators, this resonator can achieve stable frequency output without causing harmful electrical breakthrough of the circuit. Besides that, the motion trajectory of the beam can be tunable by adjusting the electrodes placement. As such, the resonator is very attractive for future micro sensors and actuators applications, especially for actuators of micro flapping robots.