A bioinspired robot for investigating biosonar guidance of flapping flight in bats

Abstract

Investigating how bats manage to control their complex flight apparatus using streams of biosonar echoes as inputs with an approach based on biomimetic robotics, we have designed a bioinspired flapping robot that replicates some of the features of the flight apparatus of bats: In particular, it incorporates a mechanism to translate one degree of freedom from a motor into flapping as well as folding of the wings. Throughout the flapping cycle, the wings are folding and unfolding continuously in a way that achieves maximum upward lift. Similarly to a bat, a wing membrane is stretched over the wings and pulled taut. The design is primarily 3-D printed to reduce weight and allow for rapid prototyping. Future iterations of the robot will continue to reduce the weight and add more degrees of freedom to enable greater maneuverability in the air. After flight has been achieved, acoustics in the form of ultrasonic microphones will be implemented on the robot for further navigational capabilities. It is important to optimize the robot for the maximum amount of lift while keeping the robot as light as possible to allow for a greater capacity for acoustics equipment while still maintaining the ability to fly.