Altitude Control of a Single Degree of Freedom Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle

In this paper, we present the concept of designing flapping wing air vehicle by using the deployable mechanisms. A novel deployable 6R mechanism, with the deploying/folding motion of which similar to the flapping motion of the vehicle, is first designed by adding two revolute joints in the adjacent two links of the deployable Bennett linkage. The mobility of this mechanism is analyzed based on a coplanar 2-twist screw system. An intuitive projective approach for the geometric design of the 6R deployable mechanism is proposed by projecting the joint axes on the deployed plane. Then the geometric parameters of the deployable mechanism can be determined. By using another 4R deployable Bennett connector, the two 6R deployable wing mechanisms can be connected together such that the whole flapping wing mechanism has a single degree of freedom (DOF).

Download Full-text

Synthesis of a Flapping Wing Mechanism Using a Constrained Spatial RRR Serial Chain

Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics ◽

10.1115/1.4038529 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peter L. Wang ◽

Haithem E. Taha ◽

J. Michael McCarthy

Keyword(s):

Flapping Wing ◽

Micro Air Vehicle ◽

Degree Of Freedom ◽

Joint Angles ◽

Hovering Flight ◽

Wing Movement ◽

Serial Chain ◽

Air Vehicle

This paper designs a one degree-of-freedom (1DOF) spatial flapping wing mechanism for a hovering micro-air vehicle by constraining a spatial RRR serial chain using two SS dyads. The desired wing movement defines the dimensions and joint trajectories of the RRR spatial chain. Seven configurations of the chain are selected to define seven precision points that are used to compute SS chains that control the swing and pitch joint angles. The result is a spatial RRR-2SS flapping wing mechanism that transforms the actuator rotation into control of wing swing and pitch necessary for hovering flight of a micro-air vehicle.

Download Full-text

Design and analysis of single-degree-of-freedom flapping wing mechanism based on UG

Journal of Physics Conference Series ◽

10.1088/1742-6596/1629/1/012060 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1629 ◽

pp. 012060

Author(s):

Yafeng Zhang ◽

Xiaobo Wang ◽

Guoqiang Zhang ◽

Jinhua Yang

Keyword(s):

Flapping Wing ◽

Degree Of Freedom ◽

Single Degree Of Freedom ◽

Single Degree

Download Full-text

Active Bend-Twist PZT Actuator for Centimeter-Scale Flapping Wing Micro-Air Vehicle

ASME 2011 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, Volume 1 ◽

10.1115/smasis2011-5085 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Asha J. Hall ◽

Jaret C. Riddick

Keyword(s):

Insect Flight ◽

Leading Edge ◽

Flapping Wing ◽

Micro Air Vehicle ◽

Degree Of Freedom ◽

Control Surface ◽

Simultaneous Excitation ◽

Flexural Response ◽

Air Vehicle ◽

Twist Actuation

The present study focuses on development of a flapping wing micro-air vehicle (FWMAV) that employs a piezoelectric actuator to drive the leading edge of the wing. An analysis of insect flight indicates that in addition to the bending excitation (flapping), simultaneous excitation of the twisting degree-of-freedom is required to adequately manipulate the control surface. A functionally-modified piezoelectric bimorph composed of Pb(Zr0.55Ti0.45)O3 (PZT) is being used to produce two degree-of-freedom motion, namely the flapping and twisting facilitated by an off-axis layer of piezoelectric segments affixed to the top surface of a traditional bimorph actuator. The modification of the top surface of a traditional PZT bimorph actuator introduces active bend-twist coupling to the flexural response of the resulting layered PZT. This paper presents analytical and experimental investigation of functionally-modified bimorph designs intended for active bend-twist actuation of cm-scale flapping wing devices.

Download Full-text

Development of a novel flapping wing micro aerial vehicle with elliptical wingtip trajectory

Mechanical Sciences ◽

10.5194/ms-10-355-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 355-362

Author(s):

Qiang Liu ◽

Qiang Li ◽

Xiaoqin Zhou ◽

Pengzi Xu ◽

Luquan Ren ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aerodynamic Force ◽

Aerodynamic Performance ◽

Flapping Wing ◽

Micro Air Vehicle ◽

Degree Of Freedom ◽

Motion Trajectory ◽

Micro Aerial Vehicle ◽

Air Vehicle ◽

Aerial Vehicle ◽

Flapping Mechanism

Abstract. This paper describes a novel flapping wing micro air vehicle (FWMAV),which can achieve two active degree of freedom (DOF) movements of flapping and swing, as well as twisting passively. This aircraft has a special “0” figure wingtip motion trajectory with the 140∘ flapping stroke angle. With these characteristics integrated into the simple flapping mechanism, the aerodynamic force is somewhat improved. The model made a balance between the improved aerodynamic performance induced by complicated movements and the increased weight of the extra components in aircraft. In the driven design, Only one micro-motor is employed to drive the wing flapping and swing motion simultaneously forming the prescribed trajectory. The 23 g aircraft could reach the maximum flapping frequency of 11 Hz with the tip-to-tip wingspan of 29 cm.

Download Full-text