要旨で参照されている先行研究として、小型大気イオンスラスタのground effectに関する研究が挙げられる。具体的には、'Recent work has shown that thrust density and efficiency for small-scale atmospheric ion thrusters can be vastly increased when operating close to a ground plane'とあり、この研究が基礎となっている。また、Electroaerodynamic propulsionを用いたマイクロ航空機の研究も関連する。次に読むべき論文としては、これらの先行研究を詳しく調べることが推奨される。具体的なタイトルは要旨にないため、'ground effect ion thruster'や'electroaerodynamic micro air vehicle'などのキーワードで検索される関連論文が該当する。
Electroaerodynamic propulsion is compelling for use in micro air vehicles due to its silent and solid-state nature, but its limited efficiency has thus far precluded a path towards power-autonomous flight. Recent work has shown that thrust density and efficiency for small-scale atmospheric ion thrusters can be vastly increased when operating close to a ground plane. Here, we explore the design space of centimeter-scale hovercraft, which can leverage this ground effect for low-altitude flight. We first perform an empirical investigation, characterizing the performance benefits and trade-offs for different geometries and configurations of passive hovercraft skirts, then use the results to fabricate a viable point design. We demonstrate a palm-sized hovercraft that, while tethered to an external power source, can fly for extended periods, withstand dozens of takeoff and landing cycles, passively stabilize to reject significant mechanical disturbances, and generate practically zero audible noise signature. The measured thrust efficiency of 16 mN/W and additional payload capacity of almost 1.5 grams above the vehicle's self mass of about 1.6 grams exceeds any similarly sized electroaerodynamically propelled robot by an order of magnitude. This is the first time an ion-propelled micro hovercraft has been shown in the open literature, and our work points the way towards an entirely new class of robot.
