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

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
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.

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)

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
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.

Design of a Compliant Industrial Gripper Driven by a Bistable Shape Memory Alloy Actuator

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Scholtes ◽  
Stefan Seelecke ◽  
Gianluca Rizzello ◽  
Paul Motzki
Keyword(s):  
Shape Memory ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Actuation System ◽  
First Results ◽  
Functional Prototype ◽  
And Control

Abstract Within industrial manufacturing most processing steps are accompanied by transporting and positioning of workpieces. The active interfaces between handling system and workpiece are industrial grippers, which often are driven by pneumatics, especially in small scale areas. On the way to higher energy efficiency and digital factories, companies are looking for new actuation technologies with more sensor integration and better efficiencies. Commonly used actuators like solenoids and electric engines are in many cases too heavy and large for direct integration into the gripping system. Due to their high energy density shape memory alloys (SMA) are suited to overcome those drawbacks of conventional actuators. Additionally, they feature self-sensing abilities that lead to sensor-less monitoring and control of the actuation system. Another drawback of conventional grippers is their design, which is based on moving parts with linear guides and bearings. These parts are prone to wear, especially in abrasive environments. This can be overcome by a compliant gripper design that is based on flexure hinges and thus dispenses with joints, bearings and guides. In the presented work, the development process of a functional prototype for a compliant gripper driven by a bistable SMA actuation unit for industrial applications is outlined. The focus lies on the development of the SMA actuator, while the first design approach for the compliant gripper mechanism with solid state joints is proposed. The result is a working gripper-prototype which is mainly made of 3D-printed parts. First results of validation experiments are discussed.

scholarly journals Biomechanics and biomimetics in insect-inspired flight systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1704) ◽  
pp. 20150390 ◽  
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’.

Recent developments of Co3O4-based materials as the catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenyu Hu ◽  
Liping Hao ◽  
Fan Quan ◽  
Rui Guo
Keyword(s):  
Energy Density ◽  
Oxygen Evolution ◽  
Oxygen Evolution Reaction ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
High Energy ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Efficient Energy ◽  
Recent Developments

The demand for the development of clean and efficient energy is becoming more and more pressing due to depleting fossil fuels and environmental concerns. Hydrogen is a high energy density...

scholarly journals Diffusion and radiation in magnetized collisionless plasmas with small-scale Whistler turbulence

2016 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett D. Keenan ◽  
Mikhail V. Medvedev
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
High Energy ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Larmor Radius ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Collisionless Plasmas ◽  
Correlation Scale ◽  
Scale Turbulence ◽  
Solar Plasmas ◽  
High Energy Density Plasmas

Magnetized high-energy-density plasmas can often have strong electromagnetic fluctuations whose correlation scale is smaller than the electron Larmor radius. Radiation from the electrons in such plasmas – which markedly differs from both synchrotron and cyclotron radiation – is tightly related to their energy and pitch-angle diffusion. In this paper, we present a comprehensive theoretical and numerical study of particle transport in cold, ‘small-scale’ Whistler-mode turbulence and its relation to the spectra of radiation simultaneously produced by these particles. We emphasize that this relation is a superb diagnostic tool of laboratory, astrophysical, interplanetary and solar plasmas with a mean magnetic field and strong small-scale turbulence.

scholarly journals Insect-like flapping wing mechanism based on a double spherical Scotch yoke

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cezary Galiński ◽  
Rafał Żbikowski
Keyword(s):  
Insect Flight ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Concept Design ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Insect Wing ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Adjustable Mechanism ◽  
Air Vehicles

We describe the rationale, concept, design and implementation of a fixed-motion (non-adjustable) mechanism for insect-like flapping wing micro air vehicles in hover, inspired by two-winged flies (Diptera). This spatial (as opposed to planar) mechanism is based on the novel idea of a double spherical Scotch yoke. The mechanism was constructed for two main purposes: (i) as a test bed for aeromechanical research on hover in flapping flight, and (ii) as a precursor design for a future flapping wing micro air vehicle. Insects fly by oscillating (plunging) and rotating (pitching) their wings through large angles, while sweeping them forwards and backwards. During this motion the wing tip approximately traces a ‘figure-of-eight’ or a ‘banana’ and the wing changes the angle of attack (pitching) significantly. The kinematic and aerodynamic data from free-flying insects are sparse and uncertain, and it is not clear what aerodynamic consequences different wing motions have. Since acquiring the necessary kinematic and dynamic data from biological experiments remains a challenge, a synthetic, controlled study of insect-like flapping is not only of engineering value, but also of biological relevance. Micro air vehicles are defined as flying vehicles approximately 150 mm in size (hand-held), weighing 50–100 g, and are developed to reconnoitre in confined spaces (inside buildings, tunnels, etc.). For this application, insect-like flapping wings are an attractive solution and hence the need to realize the functionality of insect flight by engineering means. Since the semi-span of the insect wing is constant, the kinematics are spatial; in fact, an approximate figure-of-eight/banana is traced on a sphere. Hence a natural mechanism implementing such kinematics should be (i) spherical and (ii) generate mathematically convenient curves expressing the figure-of-eight/banana shape. The double spherical Scotch yoke design has property (i) by definition and achieves (ii) by tracing spherical Lissajous curves.

Laser-plasma extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray sources based on a double stream gas puff target: interaction of the radiation pulses with matter

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bartnik
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Extreme Ultraviolet ◽  
High Energy ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Target Interaction ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Photoionized Plasmas ◽  
Intense Radiation

AbstractIn this work a review of investigations concerning interaction of intense extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray (SXR) pulses with matter is presented. The investigations were performed using laser-produced plasma (LPP) EUV/SXR sources based on a double stream gas puff target. The sources are equipped with dedicated collectors allowing for efficient focusing of the EUV/SXR radiation pulses. Intense radiation in a wide spectral range, as well as a quasi-monochromatic radiation can be produced. In the paper different kinds of LPP EUV/SXR sources developed in the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology are described.Radiation intensities delivered by the sources are sufficient for different kinds of interaction experiments including EUV/SXR induced ablation, surface treatment, EUV fluorescence or photoionized plasma creation. A brief review of the main results concerning this kind of experiments performed by author of the paper are presented. However, since the LPP sources cannot compete with large scale X-ray sources like synchrotrons, free electron lasers or high energy density plasma sources, it was indicated that some investigations not requiring extreme irradiation parameters can be performed using the small scale installations. Some results, especially concerning low temperature photoionized plasmas are very unique and could be hardly obtained using the large facilities.

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