Bio-inspired design of flapping-wing micro air vehicles

2005 ◽  
Vol 109 (1098) ◽  
pp. 385-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. Jones ◽  
C. J. Bradshaw ◽  
J. Papadopoulos ◽  
M. F. Platzer
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Figure Of Merit ◽  
Ground Effect ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Flapping Wings ◽  
Rechargeable Battery ◽  
Flight Testing ◽  
Low Aspect Ratio ◽  
Air Vehicles

AbstractIn this paper the development and flight testing of flapping-wing propelled, radio-controlled micro air vehicles are described. The unconventional vehicles consist of a low aspect ratio fixed-wing with a trailing pair of higher aspect ratio flapping wings which flap in counterphase. The symmetric flapping-wing pair provides a mechanically and aerodynamically balanced platform, increases efficiency by emulating flight in ground effect, and suppresses stall over the main wing by entraining flow. The models weigh as little as 11g, with a 23cm span and 18cm length and will fly for about 20 minutes on a rechargeable battery. Stable flight at speeds between 2 and 5ms–1has been demonstrated, and the models are essentially stall-proof while under power. The static-thrust figure of merit for the device is 60% higher than propellers with a similar scale and disk loading.

Four-Bar Linkage Mechanism for Insectlike Flapping Wings in Hover: Concept and an Outline of Its Realization

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 817-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafał Z˙bikowski ◽  
Cezary Galin´ski ◽  
Christopher B. Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
Insect Flight ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Flapping Wings ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Linkage Mechanism ◽  
Actual Design ◽  
Straight Line Mechanism ◽  
Four Bar Linkage ◽  
Air Vehicles

This paper describes the concept of a four-bar linkage mechanism for flapping wing micro air vehicles and outlines its design, implementation, and testing. Micro air vehicles (MAVs) are defined as flying vehicles ca. 150 mm in size (handheld), weighing 50–100 g, and are developed to reconnoiter in confined spaces (inside buildings, tunnels, etc.). For this application, insectlike flapping wings are an attractive solution and, hence, the need to realize the functionality of insect flight by engineering means. Insects fly by oscillating (plunging) and rotating (pitching) their wings through large angles, while sweeping them forward and backward. During this motion, the wing tip approximately traces a figure eight and the wing changes the angle of attack (pitching) significantly. The aim of the work described here was to design and build an insectlike flapping mechanism on a 150 mm scale. The main purpose was not only to construct a test bed for aeromechanical research on hover in this mode of flight, but also to provide a precursor design for a future flapping-wing MAV. The mechanical realization was to be based on a four-bar linkage combined with a spatial articulation. Two instances of idealized figure eights were considered: (i) Bernoulli’s lemniscate and (ii) Watt’s sextic. The former was found theoretically attractive, but impractical, while the latter was both theoretically and practically feasible. This led to a combination of Watt’s straight-line mechanism with a drive train utilizing a Geneva wheel and a spatial articulation. The actual design, implementation, and testing of this concept are briefly described at the end of the paper.

scholarly journals WIND TUNNEL CALIBRATION, CORRECTIONS AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION FOR FIXED-WING MICRO AIR VEHICLES MEASUREMENTS

Aviation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 104-113
Author(s):  
Ahmed Aboelezz ◽  
Yunes Elqudsi ◽  
Mostafa Hassanalian ◽  
Ahmed Desoki
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Low Reynolds Number ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Low Aspect Ratio ◽  
Low Reynolds ◽  
Air Vehicles

The increase in the number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs), which are used in a variety of applications has led to a surge in low Reynolds number aerodynamics research. Flow around fixedwing MAVs has an unusual behavior due to its low aspect ratio and operates at low Reynolds number, which demanded to upgrade the used wind tunnel for this study. This upgrade enables measuring the small aerodynamics forces and moment of fixed-wing MAVs. The wind tunnel used in this work is upgraded with a state of art data acquisition system to deal with the different sensors signals in the wind tunnel. For accurate measurements, the sting balance, angle sensor, and airspeed sensor are calibrated. For validation purposes, an experiment is made on a low aspect ratio flat plate wing at low Reynolds number, and the measured data are corrected and compared with published results. The procedure presented in this paper for the first time gave a detailed and complete guide for upgrading and calibrating old wind tunnel, all the required corrections to correct the measured data was presented, the turbulence level correction new technique presented in this paper could be used to estimate the flow turbulence effect on the measured data and correct the measured data against published data.

Dynamic Stability of Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles With Unsteady Aerodynamic Model

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae-Hung Han ◽  
Anh Tuan Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Stability ◽  
Ground Effect ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Linearization Method ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Free Flight ◽  
Unsteady Aerodynamic ◽  
Aerodynamic Model ◽  
Air Vehicles

In this paper, we introduce a numerical approach based on an unsteady aerodynamic model to study the dynamic stability of insect-like flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs). Trimmed free flight of FWMAVs is simulated by a framework that couples the unsteady potential-based aerodynamic model and a multibody dynamics code. Flight dynamic modal structures are obtained by a linearization method. This paper also briefly presents the applications of the abovementioned approach to study several problems associated with the flight dynamic stability of FWMAVs, such as the effects of body aerodynamics and wing flexibility, as well as the ground effect.

Bio-Mimetic Millimeter-Scale Flapping Wings for Micro Air Vehicles

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Kroninger ◽  
Jeffrey Pulskamp ◽  
Jessica Bronson ◽  
Ronald G. Polcawich ◽  
Eric Wetzel
Keyword(s):  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Flapping Wings ◽  
Air Vehicles

Longitudinal Flight Dynamics of Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 1115-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Orlowski ◽  
Anouck R. Girard
Keyword(s):  
Flight Dynamics ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Air Vehicles

Design and Evaluation of a Model-Based Controller for Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 2513-2528
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Nogar ◽  
Andrea Serrani ◽  
Abhijit Gogulapati ◽  
Jack J. McNamara ◽  
Michael W. Oppenheimer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Flapping Wing ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Air Vehicles
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