Aerodynamics, sensing and control of insect-scale flapping-wing flight

There are nearly a million known species of flying insects and 13 000 species of flying warm-blooded vertebrates, including mammals, birds and bats. While in flight, their wings not only move forward relative to the air, they also flap up and down, plunge and sweep, so that both lift and thrust can be generated and balanced, accommodate uncertain surrounding environment, with superior flight stability and dynamics with highly varied speeds and missions. As the size of a flyer is reduced, the wing-to-body mass ratio tends to decrease as well. Furthermore, these flyers use integrated system consisting of wings to generate aerodynamic forces, muscles to move the wings, and sensing and control systems to guide and manoeuvre. In this article, recent advances in insect-scale flapping-wing aerodynamics, flexible wing structures, unsteady flight environment, sensing, stability and control are reviewed with perspective offered. In particular, the special features of the low Reynolds number flyers associated with small sizes, thin and light structures, slow flight with comparable wind gust speeds, bioinspired fabrication of wing structures, neuron-based sensing and adaptive control are highlighted.

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Dynamics, stability, and control analyses of flapping wing micro-air vehicles

Progress in Aerospace Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.paerosci.2012.01.001 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 18-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

Christopher T. Orlowski ◽

Anouck R. Girard

Keyword(s):

Micro Air Vehicles ◽

Flapping Wing ◽

Stability And Control ◽

And Control ◽

Dynamics Stability ◽

Air Vehicles

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Discussion of “A Review of Propulsion, Power, and Control Architectures for Insect-Scale Flapping Wing Vehicles” by E. F. Helbling and R. J. Wood (Helbling, E. F., and Wood, R. J., 2018, ASME Appl. Mech. Rev., 70(1), p. 010801)

Applied Mechanics Reviews ◽

10.1115/1.4038796 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Satyandra K. Gupta

Keyword(s):

Flapping Wing ◽

Point Of View ◽

Small Scale ◽

Flying Insects ◽

Power And Control ◽

Significant Interest ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

And Control ◽

Propulsion Power ◽

Remarkable Progress

Flying insects exhibit truly remarkable capabilities. There has been significant interest in developing small-scale flying robots by taking inspiration from flying insects. The paper by Helbling and Wood reports remarkable progress made by the research community in realizing insect-scale flapping wing vehicles and identifies research challenges and opportunities. This discussion builds upon their paper and examines the potential of insect-scale flapping wing flight from an application point of view. It summarizes requirements and mention implications of these requirements on propulsion, power, and control architecture.

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A Review of Propulsion, Power, and Control Architectures for Insect-Scale Flapping-Wing Vehicles

Applied Mechanics Reviews ◽

10.1115/1.4038795 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

E. Farrell Helbling ◽

Robert J. Wood

Keyword(s):

Integrated Circuit ◽

Micro Air Vehicles ◽

High Energy ◽

Flapping Wing ◽

High Energy Density ◽

Small Scale ◽

Flying Insects ◽

Power And Control ◽

Recent Developments ◽

And Control

Flying insects are able to navigate complex and highly dynamic environments, can rapidly change their flight speeds and directions, are robust to environmental disturbances, and are capable of long migratory flights. However, flying robots at similar scales have not yet demonstrated these characteristics autonomously. Recent advances in mesoscale manufacturing, novel actuation, control, and custom integrated circuit (IC) design have enabled the design of insect-scale flapping wing micro air vehicles (MAVs). However, there remain numerous constraints to component technologies—for example, scalable high-energy density power storage—that limit their functionality. This paper highlights the recent developments in the design of small-scale flapping wing MAVs, specifically discussing the various power and actuation technologies selected at various vehicle scales as well as the control architecture and avionics onboard the vehicle. We also outline the challenges associated with creating an integrated insect-scale flapping wing MAV.

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Analysis on Hover Control Performance of T- and Cross-Shaped Tail Fin of X-Wing Single-Bar Biplane Flapping Wing

Journal of Robotics ◽

10.1155/2020/8880338 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Pingxia Zhang ◽

Junru Zhu ◽

Yongqiang Zhu

Keyword(s):

Control System ◽

Control Mechanism ◽

Control Unit ◽

Flapping Wing ◽

Mass Ratio ◽

High Lift ◽

Communication Module ◽

Hover Control ◽

And Control ◽

To Receive

The current flapping wing adopts T-shaped or cross-shaped tail fin to adjust its flight posture. However, how the tail fin will affect the hover control is not very clear. So, the effects of the two types of tail on flight will be analyzed and compared by actual flight tests in this paper. Firstly, we proposed a new X-wing single-bar biplane flapping-wing mechanism with two pairs of wings. Thereafter, the overall structure, gearbox structure, tail, frame, and control system of the flapping wing were designed and analyzed. Secondly, the control mechanism of hover is analyzed to describe the effect of two-tail fin on posture control. Thirdly, the Beetle was used as the control unit to achieve a controllable flight of flapping wing. The MPU6050 electronic gyroscope was used to monitor the drone’s posture in real time, and the Bluetooth BLE4.0 wireless communication module was used to receive remote control instructions. At last, to verify the flight effect, two actual flapping wings were fabricated and flight experiments were conducted. The experiments show that the cross-shaped tail fin has a better controllable performance than the T-shaped tail fin. The flapping wing has a high lift-to-mass ratio and good maneuverability. The designed control system can achieve the controllable flight of the flapping wing.

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Biomechanics and biomimetics in insect-inspired flight systems

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2015.0390 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 371 (1704) ◽

pp. 20150390 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Hao Liu ◽

Sridhar Ravi ◽

Dmitry Kolomenskiy ◽

Hiroto Tanaka

Keyword(s):

Aerodynamic Force ◽

Force Production ◽

Micro Air Vehicles ◽

Research Area ◽

Integrated System ◽

Flying Insects ◽

Power And Control ◽

Integrated Research ◽

Control Flight ◽

And Control

Insect- and bird-size drones—micro air vehicles (MAV) that can perform autonomous flight in natural and man-made environments are now an active and well-integrated research area. MAVs normally operate at a low speed in a Reynolds number regime of 10 4 –10 5 or lower, in which most flying animals of insects, birds and bats fly, and encounter unconventional challenges in generating sufficient aerodynamic forces to stay airborne and in controlling flight autonomy to achieve complex manoeuvres. Flying insects that power and control flight by flapping wings are capable of sophisticated aerodynamic force production and precise, agile manoeuvring, through an integrated system consisting of wings to generate aerodynamic force, muscles to move the wings and a control system to modulate power output from the muscles. In this article, we give a selective review on the state of the art of biomechanics in bioinspired flight systems in terms of flapping and flexible wing aerodynamics, flight dynamics and stability, passive and active mechanisms in stabilization and control, as well as flapping flight in unsteady environments. We further highlight recent advances in biomimetics of flapping-wing MAVs with a specific focus on insect-inspired wing design and fabrication, as well as sensing systems. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Moving in a moving medium: new perspectives on flight’.

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