Despite significant interest for over a decade in developing micro air vehicles (MAVs) that mimic the flight performance exhibited by insects, no design has achieved this challenge. This has principally been due to limitations in actuation devices, which have resulted in constrained flapping motions that require conventional rudder and aileron control surfaces. Recent advances in “artificial muscle” actuation technologies mean that reproducing the complex wing kinematics of insects with sufficient power density for MAV flight has become feasible. Consequently, there is a need to analyse the wing kinematics of insects and how they are modulated for controlled, manoeuvrable flight. It is also important to understand how wing kinematics affect the unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms that crucially augment lift and thrust force production. In this paper a biomimetic analysis of insect wing kinematics based on established biological literature is presented, that aims to aid the development of agile and controllable flapping MAVs.
References
1.
JonesK.D. and PlatzerM.F., Bio-inspired design of flapping wing micro air vehicles – an engineer's perspective, 44th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, 2006.
2.
LentinkD.BradshawN.L. and JongeriusS.R., Novel micro aircraft inspired by insect flight, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A, 146A, Supplement 1, 2007, pp. S133–S134.
3.
Pornsin-SirirakN.TaiY.C.HoC.M. and KeenonM., Microbat – a palm-sized electrically powered ornithopter, 2001 NASA/JPL Workshop on Biomorphic Robotics, Pasadena, 2001.
4.
YangL.J.HsuC.K.HsiaoF.Y. and ShenY.K., A Micro-Aerial-Vehicle(MAV) with Figure-of-Eight Flapping Induced by Flexible Wing Frames, 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Orlando, Florida, 2009.
5.
ConnA.T.BurgessS.C.LingC.S. and VaidyanathanR., The design optimisation of an insect-inspired micro air vehicle, International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, 3, 2008, pp. 12–27.
6.
FinioB.EumB.OlandC. and WoodR.J., Asymmetric flapping for a robotic fly using a hybrid power-control actuator, IEEE/RSJ IROS, St. Louis, MO, 2009.
7.
BurgessS.C.LingC.S.ConnA.T.AraromiO.WangJ., and VaidyanathanR., Development of a novel Electro Active Polymer (EAP) actuator for driving the wings of flapping micro air vehicle, in: HernandezS.BrebbiaC.A. (Eds.), Computer Aided Optimum Design in Engineering XI, Southampton, WIT Press, 2009, pp. 207–217.
8.
WillmottA.P. and EllingtonC.P., The mechanics of flight in the hawkmoth, Manduca Sexta. I. Kinematics of hovering and forward flight, Journal of Experimental Biology, 200, 1997, pp. 2705–2722.
9.
ShyyW.LianY.TangJ.ViieruD. and LiuH., Aerodynamics of low Reynolds number flyers, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008.
10.
GrodnitskyD.L., Evolution and classification of insect flight kinematics, Evolution, 49, 1995, pp. 1158–1162.
11.
EllingtonC.P., The novel aerodynamics of insect flight: Applications to micro-air vehicles. Journal of Experimental Biology, 202, 1999, pp. 3439–3448.
12.
BrodskyA.K., The Evolution of Insect Flight, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994.
13.
DudleyR., The Biomechanics of Insect Flight: Form, Function, Evolution, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2000.
14.
EllingtonC.P., The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. III. Kinematics, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, 305, 1984, pp. 41–78.
15.
BergouA.J.XuS. and WangZ.J., Passive wing pitch reversal in insect flight, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 591, 2007, pp. 321–337.
16.
FischerH.WolfH. and BüschgesA., The locust tegula: Kinematic parameters and activity pattern during the wing stroke, Journal of Experimental Biology, 205, 2002, pp. 1531–1545.
17.
WakelingJ.M. and EllingtonC.P., Dragonfly flight III. Lift and power requirements, Journal of Experimental Biology, 200, 1997, pp. 583–600.
18.
MayburyW.J. and LehmannF.-O., The fluid dynamics of flight control by kinematic phase lag variation between two robotic insect wings, Journal of Experimental Biology, 207, 2004, pp. 4707–4726.
19.
TaylorG.K.NuddsR.L. and ThomasA.L.R., Flying and swimming animals cruise at a Strouhal number tuned for high power efficiency, Nature, 425, 2003, pp. 707–711.
20.
TaylorG.K., Mechanics and aerodynamics of insect flight control, Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 76, 2001, pp. 449–471.
21.
TaylorG.K. and ThomasA.L.R., Animal flight dynamics II. Longitudinal stability in flapping flight, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 214, 2002, pp. 351–370.
22.
DicksonW.B.StrawA.D.PoelmaC. and DickinsonM.H., An Integrative Model of Insect Flight Control, Proceedings of the 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, 2006.
23.
HedrickT.L. and DanielT.L., Flight control in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta: The inverse problem of hovering, Journal of Experimental Biology, 209, 2006, pp. 3114–3130.
24.
TaylorG.K. and ŻbikowskiR., Nonlinear time-periodic models of the longitudinal flight dynamics of desert locusts Schistocerca gregaria, Journal of the Royal Society: Interface, 2, 2005, pp. 197–221.
25.
TaylorG.K.BomphreyR.J. and 't HoenJ., Insect flight dynamics and control, Proceedings of the 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, 2006.
26.
DickinsonM.H.LehmannF.-O. and SaneS.P., Wing rotation and the aerodynamic basis of insect flight, Science, 284, 1999, pp. 1954–1960.
27.
FryS.N.SayamanR. and DickinsonM.H., The aerodynamics of free-flight maneuvers in Drosophila, Science, 300, 2003, pp. 495–498.
28.
GundryJ. and EllingtonC.P., The kinematics of hoverfly flight, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A, 146A, Supplement 1, 2007, pp. S115.
29.
SaneS.P., The aerodynamics of insect flight, Journal of Experimental Biology, 206, 2003, pp. 4191–4208.
30.
SaneS.P. and DickinsonM.H., The aerodynamic effects of wing rotation and a revised quasi-steady model of flapping flight, Journal of Experimental Biology, 205, 2002, pp. 1087–1096.
31.
LehmannF.-O., The mechanisms of lift enhancement in insect flight, Naturwissenschaften, 91, 2004, pp. 101–122.
32.
BirchJ.M. and DickinsonM.H., The influence of wing–wake interactions on the production of aerodynamic forces in flapping flight, Journal of Experimental Biology, 206, 2003, pp. 2257–2272.
33.
SrygleyR.B. and ThomasA.L.R., Unconventional lift-generating mechanisms in free-flying butterflies, Nature, 420, 2002, pp. 660–664.
34.
Weis-FoghT., Quick estimates of flight fitness in hovering animals, including novel mechanisms for lift production, Journal of Experimental Biology, 59, 1973, pp. 169–230.
35.
MardenJ.H., Maximum lift production during takeoff in flying animals, Journal of Experimental Biology, 130, 1987, pp. 235–258.
36.
DickinsonM.H. and GötzK.G., Unsteady aerodynamic performance on model wings at low Reynolds numbers, Journal of Experimental Biology, 174, 1993, pp. 45–64.
37.
LehmannF.-O., and PickS., The aerodynamic benefit of wing–wing interaction depends on stroke trajectory in flapping insect wings, Journal of Experimental Biology, 210, 2007, pp. 1362–1377.
38.
ConnA.T.BurgessS.C. and LingC.S., Design of a parallel crank-rocker flapping mechanism for insect-inspired micro air vehicles. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 221, 2007, pp. 1211–1222.
39.
SnodgrassR.E., Principles of Insect Morphology. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1935.
