Correction: A laser-microfabricated electrohydrodynamic thruster for centimeter-scale aerial robots.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

A laser-microfabricated electrohydrodynamic thruster for centimeter-scale aerial robots.

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.