Human Memory/Learning Inspired Control Method for Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles

The problem of flapping motion control of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings was studied in this paper.Based upon the knowledge of skeletal and muscular components of hummingbird, a dynamic model for flapping wing wasdeveloped.A control scheme inspired by human memory and learning concept was constructed for wing motion control ofMAVs.The salient feature of the proposed control lies in its capabilities to improve the control performance by learning fromexperience and observation on its current and past behaviors, without the need for system dynamic information.Furthermore,the overall control scheme has a fairly simple structure and demands little online computations, making it attractive for real-timeimplementation on MAVs.Both theoretical analysis and computer simulation confirms its effectiveness.

Development of Air Vehicle with Active Flapping and Twisting of Wing

This paper addresses mechanisms for active flapping and twisting of robotic wings and assesses flying effectiveness as a function of twist angle. Unlike the flapping motion of bird wings, insects generally make a twisting motion at the root of their wings while flapping, which makes it possible for them to hover in midair. This work includes the development of a Voice Coil Motor （VCM） because a flapping-wing air vehicle should be assembled with a compact actuator to decrease size and weight. A linkage mechanism is proposed to transform the linear motion of the VCM into the flapping and twisting motions of wings. The assembled flapping-wing air vehicle, whose weight is 2.86 g, produces an average positive vertical force proportional to the twist angle. The force saturates because the twist angle is mechanically limited. This work demonstrates the possibility of developing a flapping-wing air vehicle that can hover in midair using a mechanism that actively twists the roots of wings during flapping.

Kinematic and Aerodynamic Modelling of Bi- and Quad-Wing Flapping Wing Micro-Air-Vehicle

A generic approach to model the kinematics and aerodynamics of flapping wing ornithopter has been followed, to model and analyze a flapping bi- and quad-wing ornithopter and to mimic flapping wing biosystems to produce lift and thrust for hovering and forward flight. Considerations are given to the motion of a rigid and thin bi-wing and quad-wing ornithopter in flapping and pitching motion with phase lag. Basic Unsteady Aerodynamic Approach incorporating salient features of viscous effect and leading-edge suction are utilized. Parametric study is carried out to reveal the aerodynamic characteristics of flapping bi- and quad-wing ornithopter flight characteristics and for comparative analysis with various selected simple models in the literature, in an effort to develop a flapping bi- and quad-wing ornithopter models. In spite of their simplicity, results obtained for both models are able to reveal the mechanism of lift and thrust, and compare well with other work.

Review on ultra-lightweight flapping-wing nano air vehicles:Artificial muscles,flight control mechanism,and biomimetic wings

Flying insects are capable of flapping their wings to provide the required power and control forces for flight.A coordinated organizational system including muscles,wings,and control architecture plays a significant role,which provides the sources of inspiration for designing flapping-wing vehicles.In recent years,due to the development of micro-and meso-scale manufacturing technologies,advances in components technologies have directly led to a progress of smaller Flapping-Wing Nano Air Vehicles(FWNAVs)around gram and sub-gram scales,and these air vehicles have gradually acquired insect-like locomotive strategies and capabilities.This paper will present a selective review of components technologies for ultra-lightweight flapping-wing nano air vehicles under 3 g,which covers the novel propulsion methods such as artificial muscles,flight control mechanisms,and the design paradigms of the insect-inspired wings,with a special focus on the development of the driving technologies based on artificial muscles and the progress of the biomimetic wings.The challenges involved in constructing such small flapping-wing air vehicles and recommendations for several possible future directions in terms of component technology enhancements and overall vehicle performance are also discussed in this paper.This review will provide the essential guidelines and the insights for designing a flapping-wing nano air vehicle with higher performance.

An experimental study of elastic properties of dragonfly-like flapping wings for use in biomimetic micro air vehicles(BMAVs)

This article studies the elastic properties of several biomimetic micro air vehicle（BMAV）wings that are based on a dragonfly wing.BMAVs are a new class of unmanned micro-sized air vehicles that mimic the flapping wing motion of flying biological organisms（e.g.,insects,birds,and bats）.Three structurally identical wings were fabricated using different materials：acrylonitrile butadiene styrene（ABS）,polylactic acid（PLA）,and acrylic.Simplified wing frame structures were fabricated from these materials and then a nanocomposite film was adhered to them which mimics the membrane of an actual dragonfly.These wings were then attached to an electromagnetic actuator and passively flapped at frequencies of 10-250 Hz.A three-dimensional high frame rate imaging system was used to capture the flapping motions of these wings at a resolution of 320 pixels x 240 pixels and 35000 frames per second.The maximum bending angle,maximum wing tip deflection,maximum wing tip twist angle,and wing tip twist speed of each wing were measured and compared to each other and the actual dragonfly wing.The results show that the ABS wing has considerable flexibility in the chordwise direction,whereas the PLA and acrylic wings show better conformity to an actual dragonfly wing in the spanwise direction.Past studies have shown that the aerodynamic performance of a BMAV flapping wing is enhanced if its chordwise flexibility is increased and its spanwise flexibility is reduced.Therefore,the ABS wing（fabricated using a 3D printer） shows the most promising results for future applications.

Design and Aerodynamic Analysis of Dragonfly-like Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle

Dragonflies have naturally high flying ability and flight maneuverability,making them more adaptable to harsh ecological environments.In this paper,a flapping wing bionic air vehicle with three-degrees-of-freedom is designed and manufactured by simulating the flight mode of dragonfly.Firstly,the body structure of dragonfly was analyzed,and then the design scheme of flapping wing micro air vehicle was proposed based on the flight motion characteristics and musculoskeletal system of dragonfly.By optimizing the configuration and using Adams to do kinematic simulation,it is shown that the designed structure can make the wings move in an“8”shape trajectory,and the motion in three directions can maintain good consistency,with good dynamic performance.Based on CFD simulation method,we analyzed that the wing has the conditions to achieve flight with good aerodynamic performance at the incoming flow speed of 5 m s^(-1)and frequency of 4 Hz,and studied the effects of angle of attack and flutter frequency on the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft.Finally,the force measurement test of the aircraft prototype is carried out using a force balance and a small wind tunnel.The test results show that the prototype can provide the average lift of 3.62 N and the average thrust of 2.54 N,which are in good agreement with the simulation results.

Generation of Control Moments in an Insect-like Tailless Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle by Changing the Stroke-plane Angle

We propose a control moment generator to control the attitude of an insect-like tailless Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle （FW-MAV）, where the flapping wings simultaneously produce the flight force and control moments. The generator tilts the stroke plane of each wing independently to direct the resultant aerodynamic force in the desired direction to ultimately generate pitch and yaw moments. A roll moment is produced by an additional mechanism that shifts the trailing edge, which changes the wing rotation angles of the two flapping wings and produces an asymmetric thrust. Images of the flapping wings are captured with a high-speed camera and clearly show that the FW-MAV can independently change the stroke planes of its two wings. The measured force and moment data prove that the control moment generator produces reasonable pitch and yaw moments by tilting the stroke plane and realizes a roll moment by shifting the position of the trailing edge at the wing root.

Flapping wing micro-aerial-vehicle： Kinematics, membranes, and flapping mechanisms of ornithopter and insect flight

The application of biomimetics in the development of unmanned-aerial-vehicles （UAV） has advanced to an exceptionally small scale of nano-aerial-vehicles （NAV）, which has surpassed its immediate predecessor of micro-aerial-vehicles （MAV）, leaving a vast range of development possi- bilities that MAVs have to offer. Because of the prompt advancement into the NAV research devel- opment, the true potential and challenges presented by MAV development were never solved, understood, and truly uncovered, especially under the influence of transition and low Reynolds number flow characteristics. This paper reviews a part of previous MAV research developments which are deemed important of notification; kinematics, membranes, and flapping mechanisms ranges from small birds to big insects, which resides within the transition and low Reynolds number regimes. This paper also reviews the possibility of applying a piezoelectric transmission used to pro- duce NAV flapping wing motion and mounted on a MAV, replacing the conventional motorized flapping wing transmission. Findings suggest that limited work has been done for MAVs matching these criteria. The preferred research approach has seen bias towards numerical analysis as compared to experimental analysis.

蝴蝶飞行机理及仿蝴蝶扑翼飞行器研究进展综述

仿生扑翼飞行器具有高机动性、高隐蔽性以及高效率等突出优势,在军事侦查、探险搜救等领域具有较好的应用前景,而其应用的基础是对生物飞行机理的深入探究.随着先进运动观测和实验技术的引入,对昆虫飞行行为的记录和分析更为便捷和准确.研究表明常见的昆虫拍打频率较高,在25~400 Hz之间,而蝴蝶较为特殊,其扑打频率较低,大约为10 Hz,对于蝴蝶的许多独特的飞行技能尚缺少足够的认识.蝴蝶前翼和后翼的翼面积都较大,身体同侧的前后翼几乎为同步拍打,且扑打幅度较大,甚至接近180°.蝴蝶飞行中身体有较大幅度的上下和俯仰震荡,翼和身体运动高度耦合.即便如此,蝴蝶仍具有敏捷的飞行能力,可以达到点对点的飞行目标,甚至上千公里的长途迁徙,是优秀的仿生学研究对象.因此,蝴蝶启发的仿生扑翼飞行器也得到了全世界研究人员的关注.蝴蝶的飞行机制相对于其他昆虫更加特殊,飞行行为和气动特性更为复杂,这使得仿蝴蝶扑翼飞行器的研制更加困难.目前对于仿蝴蝶飞行器的研制大多数对蝴蝶翼–身耦合的机理进行了简化,很少能实现受控的稳定飞行.最后,本文梳理了真实蝴蝶的飞行行为特点和飞行机理,指出了仿蝴蝶扑翼飞行器研制的关键技术,总结了该类飞行器未来的发展方向和应用前景.

基于特征运动观测的蝴蝶前飞规律及样机验证

为了研究蝴蝶扑翼飞行的原理,研制低频扑翼的仿生器,通过蝴蝶飞行运动的生物学观测,提出蝴蝶的3种特征运动状态,分析扑翼运动、胸部俯仰运动及腹部摆动运动之间的相位关系,构建蝴蝶前飞运动学模型。基于“杆-膜”仿生翼的新工艺和定制的机载飞控系统,研制轻量化的仿生蝴蝶扑翼飞行器样机,研究蝴蝶样机的飞行控制策略。通过六维力传感器对样机做地面动力学测试,利用高速摄像机对样机飞行进行运动学跟踪,证明了基于特征运动状态的蝴蝶前飞规律和原理样机研制的有效性。

Unsteady Aerodynamic Forces and Power Consumption of a Micro Flapping Rotary Wing in Hovering Flight

The micro Flapping Rotary Wing （FRW） concept inspired by insects was proposed recently. Its aerodynamic performance is highly related to wing pitching and rotational motions. Therefore, the effect of wing pitching kinematics and rotational speed on unsteady aerodynamic forces and power consumption of a FRW in hovering flight is further studied in this paper using computational fluid dy- namics method. Considering a fixed pitching amplitude （i.e., 80°）, the vertical force of FRW increases with the downstroke angle of attack and is enhanced by high wing rotational speed. However, a high downstroke angle of attack is not beneficial for acquiring high rotational speed, in which peak vertical force at balance status （i.e., average rotational moment equals zero.） is only acquired at a comparatively small negative downstroke angle of attack. The releasing constraint of pitching amplitude, high rotational speed and enhanced balanced vertical force can be acquired by selecting small pitching amplitude despite high power consumption. To confirm which wing layout is more power efficient for a certain vertical force requirement, the power consumed by FRW is compared with the Rotary Wing （RW） and the Flapping Wing （FW） while considering two angle of attack strategies without the Reynolds number （Re） constraint. FRW and RW are the most power efficient layouts when the target vertical force is produced at an angle of attack that corresponds to the maximum vertical force coefficient and power efficiency, respectively. However, RW is the most power efficient layout overall despite its insufficient vertical force production capability under a certain Re.

Automated Kinematics Measurement and Aerodynamics of a Bioinspired Flapping Rotary Wing

A physical model for a micro air vehicle with Flapping Rotary Wings （FRW） is investigated by measuring the wing kine- matics in trim conditions and computing the corresponding aerodynamic force using computational fluid dynamics. In order to capture the motion image and reconstruct the positions and orientations of the wing, the photogrammetric method is adopted and a method for automated recognition of the marked points is developed. The characteristics of the realistic wing kinematics are presented. The results show that the non-dimensional rotating speed is a linear function of non-dimensional flapping frequency regardless of the initial angles of attack. Moreover, the effects of wing kinematics on aerodynamic force production and the underlying mechanism are analyzed. The results show that the wing passive pitching caused by elastic deformation can sig- nificantly enhance lift production. The Strouhal number of the FRW is much higher than that of general flapping wings, indi- cating the stronger unsteadiness of flows in FRW.

Kinematics,Deformation,and Aerodynamics of a Flexible Flapping Rotary Wing in Hovering Flight

The Flapping Rotary Wing(FRW)is a micro air vehicle wing layout coupling flapping,pitching,and rotating motions.It can gain bencfits in high lift from a fast passive rotating motion,which is tightly related to the passive pitching motion directly caused by wing flexible deformation.Therefore,flexible deformation is crucial for the wing kinematics and aerodynamic performance of an FRW.In this paper,we explored the effct of flexibility on wing kinematics and acrodynamics on the basis of a mechanical FRW model.A photogrammetric method was adopted to capture motion images according to which wing orientations and deformations were reconstructed.Corresponding acrodynamic force was computed using computational fluid dynamic method,and wing kinematics and deformations were used as simulation inputs.The experimental measurements presented the real orientation and deformation pattem of a real FRW.The wing passive deformation of a high-intensity FRW was found to be mainly caused by inertial force,and a linear positive spanwise twist was observed in the FRW.The effects of wing deformation on aerodynamic force production and the underlying mechanism were addressed.Results showed that lift augment,rotating moment enhancement,and power efficiency improvement can be achieved when a wing becomes flexible.Wing spanwise twist mainly accounts for these changes in aerodynamics,and increment in spanwise twist could further contributes to aerodynamic improvement.

柔性扑翼微型飞行器升力和推力机理的风洞试验和飞行试验

为探讨柔性扑翼微型飞行器产生升力和推力的机理,在研究考虑柔性大变形扑翼气动力计算方法基础上,利用南京航空航天大学低速风洞进行了不同扑动频率、迎角、速度下微型扑翼升力、推力的变化和动态流场显示等风洞实验,并与计算结果进行了比较分析,为微型扑翼机的设计提供了的参考依据.自行研制的微型柔性结构扑翼机成功地进行了飞行试验.

仿生微扑翼飞行器机构动态分析与工程设计方法

以工程应用为背景,从全局的角度提出了一种仿生微扑翼飞行器的动态分析与设计方法。在对鸟类的飞行参数进行统计分析的基础之上,拟合出扑翼飞行的仿生学公式,并据此进行了微扑翼飞行器的仿生学初步设计。根据仿生学结果设计了飞行器的传动布局、动力方案以及总体结构,并按照运动学分析、气动力分析以及动力学分析相结合的动态分析方法研究了微扑翼飞行器的动态特性。在动态分析的基础上进行了飞行参数的优化设计,使得微扑翼飞行器达到性能最佳。样机制作及风洞试验结果证明了这种方法的有效性与可行性。所得研究结论对微扑翼飞行器的设计、制作和应用提供了一定的理论依据。

微型扑翼飞行器风洞试验初步研究

为了对微型扑翼飞行器空气动力学基本特性进行定量研究,利用西北工业大学微型飞行器专用风洞对微型扑翼飞行器机翼进行初步风洞吹风试验。试验中进行了扑动频率、风速、迎角、机翼平面形状、翼型弯度对机翼气动特性影响的研究。通过试验得出了微型扑翼飞行器升力、推力产生的基本规律,为微型扑翼飞行器总体设计和气动设计提供了参考。

仿鸟扑翼飞行器动力学建模

针对仿鸟扑翼飞行控制算法设计和验证需要,建立了仿鸟扑翼飞行器的动力学模型和仿真系统。在建立仿鸟扑翼飞行器柔性翼模型的基础上,基于非定常空气动力学原理,用修正的准定常气动力计算模型估算出了翅膀扑动产生的高升力;估算了平尾产生的控制力矩。在分析惯性力的基础上建立了扑翼飞行器的状态空间方程,进而基于Matlab语言和Simulink环境设计了微型扑翼飞行器仿真系统,并给出了相应的仿真结果。

压电双晶片驱动的仿生柔性扑翼机构研究

分析了昆虫的翅膀-胸部运动系统,并以此为基础,仿生设计出压电双晶片驱动,柔性双摇杆机构放大位移并带动仿生翅拍动的扑翼系统。分析了压电双晶片的工作原理,讨论了柔性四杆机构的自由度和运动学,并对整个系统的准静力学进行探讨,以确定能否产生足够的力克服空气阻尼。仿真和实验结果表明,通过柔性机构放大压电双晶片位移,能实现仿生翅所需运动,同时进一步的优化设计将有助于改进扑翼机构的运动性能。

虚拟微型扑翼飞行器建模仿真

针对扑翼飞行控制算法设计和验证需要,研究了扑翼飞行器数学建模和仿真系统建立问题。构造了一个虚拟微型扑翼飞行器(VFMAV:Virtual Flapping wing Micro Air Vehicle),基于非定常空气动力学原理,用修正的准定常气动力计算模型估算出了翅膀扑动产生的高升力。分析惯性力的基础上建立了扑翼飞行器的状态空间方程,进而基于Matlab语言和Simulink环境设计了虚拟微型扑翼飞行器仿真系统(VFMAVS:Virtual Flapping wing Micro Air Vehicle Simulator),并给出了相应的仿真结果。

基于MEMS技术的SU-8仿昆虫微扑翼飞行器设计及制作

为研制一种轻质仿昆虫微扑翼飞行器,提出了采用微机电系统(MEMS)领域的SU-8光刻胶作为结构材料的制作方案.基于仿生学原理和微机电系统加工技术,设计微扑翼飞行器结构及MEMS工艺方法.研究结果表明,该种结构设计及制作方案满足设计要求,为仿昆虫微扑翼飞行器的研制提供了一种很好的途径.