A Bio-inspired Sensing Approach to in-Gust Flight of Flapping Wing MAVs

Flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) are known for their flight agility and maneuverability. However, their in-gust flight performance and stability is still inferior to their biological counterparts. To this end, a simplified in-gust dynamic model, which could capture the main gust effects on FWMAVs, has been identified with real in...

Embodied airflow sensing for improved in-gust flight of flapping wing MAVs

Flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) are known for their flight agility and maneuverability. These bio-inspired and lightweight flying robots still present limitations in their ability to fly in direct wind and gusts, as their stability is severely compromised in contrast with their biological counterparts. To this end, this work aims at...

Thermistor-based airflow sensing on a flapping wing micro air vehicle

Flow sensing exists widely in nature to help animals perform certain tasks. It has also been widely adopted in engineering applications with different types of sensing instrumentation. In particular, in the field of aerospace engineering, airflow sensing is crucial to vehicle state evaluation and flight control. This project surveys the key...

Flow Visualization around a Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle in Free Flight Using Large-Scale PIV

Flow visualizations have been performed on a free flying, flapping-wing micro air vehicle (MAV), using a large-scale particle image velocimetry (PIV) approach. The PIV method involves the use of helium-filled soap bubbles (HFSB) as tracer particles. HFSB scatter light with much higher intensity than regular seeding particles, comparable to that...

Autonomous Door and Corridor Traversal with a 20-Gram Flapping Wing MAV by Onboard Stereo Vision

Autonomous flight of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles (FWMAVs) is a major challenge in the field of robotics, due to their light weight and their flapping-induced body motions. An FWMAV is presented weighing a mere 20 g while all its sensors and processing for autonomous flight are onboard. The navigation is based on a 4-g stereo vision camera...

Studying the effect of the tail on the dynamics of a flapping-wing MAV

The effects of horizontal tail geometry and position on longitudinal flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle dynamics were studied using wind tunnel and free-flight experiments. Linearised models were used to analyse the effect on the dynamic properties of the ornithopter. Results show higher steady-state velocity and increased pitch damping for...

Aerodynamic Characterization of ‘DelFly Micro’ in Forward Flight Configuration by Force Measurements and Flow Field Visualization

This study explores the flow structures and unsteady force generation mechanisms of a flapping-wing micro air vehicle ‘DelFly Micro’ in forward flight configuration. Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (Stereo-PIV) measurements were performed to acquire three dimensional flow fields in the wake. Six components of forces and moments were...

Flapping wing actuation using resonant compliant mechanisms: An insect-inspired design

The realization of a wing actuation mechanism for a flapping wing micro air vehicle requires a move away from traditional designs based on gears and links. An approach inspired by nature’s flyers is better suited. For flapping flight two wing motions are important: the sweeping and the pitching motion. The current design is set up to exploit...