Wingbeat Generation for a 15 DOF Flexible-Wing Aerial Vehicle Using Cosine Wave Functions

Abstract

Birds and conventional airplanes control their flight in a different manner. Conventional airplanes maneuver themselves by means of moving surfaces, while birds can bend, twist and deform their wings and adapt to unforeseen conditions such as wind gusts. However, if planes can do exactly as the birds do they can gain agility, more lift, less drag while consuming less fuel. This work aims to address this issue. Therefore, approaches of wingbeat generation for a 15 DOF flexible-wing aerial vehicle are developed in this paper. A computationally cost-effective cosine wave function-based algorithm that computes a set of wingbeats enabling the aerial vehicle to follow a desired trajectory in a realistic manner is discussed. The flexible-wing aerial vehicle is modeled similar to a seagull with an articulated skeleton. Motion of the aerial vehicle is simulated by applying joint torques and aerodynamic forces over a period of time in forward dynamics simulation. Wing and tail feather motions generate lift in the aerial vehicle, which makes it possible for the aerial vehicle to trace predefined paths. The solidworks mechanical design is used as input into Matlab SimMechanics for visualization. The results are promising for the construction of bird-like aerial vehicles.