A Modified Quasisteady Aerodynamic Model for a Sub-100 mg Insect-Inspired Flapping-Wing Robot

Chenyang Wang,Weiping Zhang,Yang Zou,Junqi Hu,Jiaxin Zhao,Weijie Fu

doi:10.1155/2020/8850036

Chenyang Wang, Weiping Zhang + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8850036

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Abstract

This study proposes a modified quasisteady aerodynamic model for the sub-100-milligram insect-inspired flapping-wing robot presented by the authors in a previous paper. The model, which is based on blade-element theory, considers the aerodynamic mechanisms of circulation, dissipation, and added-mass, as well as the inertial effect. The aerodynamic force and moment acting on the wing are calculated based on the two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) wing kinematics of flapping and rotating. In order to validate the model, we used a binocular high-speed photography system and a customized lift measurement system to perform simultaneous measurements of the wing kinematics and the lift of the robot under different input voltages. The results of these measurements were all in close agreement with the estimates generated by the proposed model. In addition, based on the model, this study analyzes the 2-DOF flapping-wing dynamics of the robot and provides an estimate of the passive rotation—the main factor in generating lift—from the measured flapping kinematics. The analysis also reveals that the calculated rotating kinematics of the wing under different input voltages accord well with the measured rotating kinematics. We expect that the model presented here will be useful in developing a control strategy for our sub-100 mg insect-inspired flapping-wing robot.

Highlights

Researchers have been interested in exploring the flapping mechanism of insects and developing insectinspired flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FMAVs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Based on the blade-element theory, the aerodynamic mechanisms of the circulation, dissipation, added mass, and inertial effect are considered in developing the model
Since the deviation of the artificial wing is negligible for our robot, the aerodynamics generated on the wing are completely determined, in this model, by the wing morphology and the 2-DOF wing kinematics of flapping and rotating

Summary

Introduction

Researchers have been interested in exploring the flapping mechanism of insects and developing insectinspired flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FMAVs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. The flapping flight of insects is characterized by a high angle of attack and a high rotational component, causing a large number of separations of the boundary layer and potentially generating vortices attached to the leading and trailing edges of the wings. These complex boundary conditions make it difficult to build an accurate steady aerodynamic model. The model is generic in that it can be applied to wings of arbitrary morphology and kinematics without the use of experimental data, and the aerodynamic components of the model are linked directly to morphology and kinematics via physical relationships On this basis, Nabawy and Crowthe [17] propose a novel

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