Micro aerial vehicles(MAVs)have flexibility and maneuverability,which can offer vast potential for applications in both civilian and military domains.Compared to Fixed-wing/Rotor-wing MAVs,Flapping Wing Micro Robots(F...Micro aerial vehicles(MAVs)have flexibility and maneuverability,which can offer vast potential for applications in both civilian and military domains.Compared to Fixed-wing/Rotor-wing MAVs,Flapping Wing Micro Robots(FWMRs)have garnered widespread attention among scientists due to their superior miniaturized aerodynamic theory,reduced noise,and enhanced resistance to disturbances in complex and diverse environments.Flying insects,it not only has remarkable flapping flight ability(wings),but also takeoff and landing habitat ability(legs).If the various functions of flying insects can be imitated,efficient biomimetic FWMRs can be produced.This paper provides a review of the flight kinematics,aerodynamics,and wing structural parameters of insects.Then,the traditional wings and folding wings of insect-inspired FWMRs were compared.The research progress in takeoff and landing of FWMRs was also summarized,and the future developments and challenges for insect-inspired FWMRs were discussed.展开更多
Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles(FMAVs)are compact and agile,capable of accessing narrow spaces that conventional vehicles struggle to reach,such as ruins,caves,or the interiors of complex structures,making them ideal...Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles(FMAVs)are compact and agile,capable of accessing narrow spaces that conventional vehicles struggle to reach,such as ruins,caves,or the interiors of complex structures,making them ideal tools for reconnaissance and rescue missions.1 However,the operation of FMAVs relies on coordinating multiple forces with different scaling effects,posing challenges to miniaturization design.展开更多
This paper studies the trajectory tracking problem of flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles(FWMAVs)in the longitudinal plane.First of all,the kinematics and dynamics of the FWMAV are established,wherein the aerodynamic ...This paper studies the trajectory tracking problem of flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles(FWMAVs)in the longitudinal plane.First of all,the kinematics and dynamics of the FWMAV are established,wherein the aerodynamic force and torque generated by flapping wings and the tail wing are explicitly formulated with respect to the flapping frequency of the wings and the degree of tail wing inclination.To achieve autonomous tracking,an adaptive control scheme is proposed under the hierarchical framework.Specifically,a bounded position controller with hyperbolic tangent functions is designed to produce the desired aerodynamic force,and a pitch command is extracted from the designed position controller.Next,an adaptive attitude controller is designed to track the extracted pitch command,where a radial basis function neural network is introduced to approximate the unknown aerodynamic perturbation torque.Finally,the flapping frequency of the wings and the degree of tail wing inclination are calculated from the designed position and attitude controllers,respectively.In terms of Lyapunov's direct method,it is shown that the tracking errors are bounded and ultimately converge to a small neighborhood around the origin.Simulations are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.展开更多
Topology optimization is an effective method to obtain a lightweight structure that meets the requirements of structural strength.Whether the optimization results meet the actual needs mainly depends on the accuracy o...Topology optimization is an effective method to obtain a lightweight structure that meets the requirements of structural strength.Whether the optimization results meet the actual needs mainly depends on the accuracy of the material properties and the boundary conditions,especially for a tiny Flapping-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle(FMAV)transmission system manufactured by 3D printing.In this paper,experimental and numerical computation efforts were undertaken to gain a reliable topology optimization method for the bottom of the transmission system.First,the constitutive behavior of the ultraviolet(UV)curable resin used in fabrication was evaluated.Second,a numerical computation model describing further verified via experiments.Topology optimization modeling considering nonlinear factors,e.g.contact,friction and collision,was presented,and the optimization results were verified by both dynamic simulation and experiments.Finally,detailed discussions on different load cases and constraints were presented to clarify their effect on the optimization.Our methods and results presented in this paper may shed light on the lightweight design of a FMAV.展开更多
The problem of flapping motion control of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings was studied in this paper.Based upon the knowledge of skeletal and muscular components of hummingbird, a dynamic model for flappi...The problem of flapping motion control of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings was studied in this paper.Based upon the knowledge of skeletal and muscular components of hummingbird, a dynamic model for flapping wing wasdeveloped.A control scheme inspired by human memory and learning concept was constructed for wing motion control ofMAVs.The salient feature of the proposed control lies in its capabilities to improve the control performance by learning fromexperience and observation on its current and past behaviors, without the need for system dynamic information.Furthermore,the overall control scheme has a fairly simple structure and demands little online computations, making it attractive for real-timeimplementation on MAVs.Both theoretical analysis and computer simulation confirms its effectiveness.展开更多
Flapping-Wing Air Vehicles(FWAVs)have been developed to pursue the efficient,agile,and quiet flight of flying animals.However,unlike lightweight FWAVs capable of vertical takeoff,relatively heavy FWAVs face challenges...Flapping-Wing Air Vehicles(FWAVs)have been developed to pursue the efficient,agile,and quiet flight of flying animals.However,unlike lightweight FWAVs capable of vertical takeoff,relatively heavy FWAVs face challenges in self-takeoff,which refers to taking off without both external device and energy input.In this study,a cliff-drop method is implemented for an independent takeoff of a heavy FWAV,relying solely on gravity.In the takeoff process using the cliff-drop method,the FWAV moves on the ground to a cliff edge using a wheel-driving motor and then descends from the cliff to achieve the necessary speed for flight.To demonstrate the cliff-drop method,the KAIST Robotic Hawk(KRoHawk)with a mass of 740 g and a wingspan of 120 cm is developed.The takeoff tests demonstrate that the KRoHawk,significantly heavier than the vertical-takeoff capable FWAVs,can successfully take off using the gravity-assisted takeoff method.The scalability of cliff-drop method is analyzed through simulations.When drop constraints are absent,the wheel-driving motor mass fraction for cliff-drop method remains negligible even as the vehicle's weight increases.When drop constraints are set to 4 m,FWAVs heavier than KRoHawk,weighing up to 4.4 kg,can perform the cliff-drop takeoffs with a wheel-driving motor mass fraction of less than 8%.展开更多
Micro aerial platforms face significant challenges in achieving long controlled endurance as most of the energy is consumed to overcome the weight of the body.In this study,we present a controllable micro blimp that a...Micro aerial platforms face significant challenges in achieving long controlled endurance as most of the energy is consumed to overcome the weight of the body.In this study,we present a controllable micro blimp that addresses this issue through the use of a helium-filled balloon.The micro blimp has a long axis of 23 cm and is propelled by four insect-sized flapping-wing thrusters,each weighing 80 mg and with a wingspan of 3.5 cm.These distributed thrusters enable controlled motions and provide the micro blimp with an advantage in flight endurance compared to multirotors or flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles at the same size scale.To enhance the performance of the controlled flight,we propose a wireless control module that enables manipulation from a distance of up to 100 m.Additionally,a smartphone application is developed to send instructions to the circuit board,allowing the blimp to turn left and right,ascend and descend,and achieve a combination of these movements separately.Our findings demonstrate that this micro blimp is one of the smallest controlled self-powered micro blimps to date.展开更多
To calculate the aerodynamics of flapping-wing micro air vehicle（MAV） with the high efficiency and the engineering-oriented accuracy,an improved unsteady vortex lattice method （UVLM） for MAV is proposed. The metho...To calculate the aerodynamics of flapping-wing micro air vehicle（MAV） with the high efficiency and the engineering-oriented accuracy,an improved unsteady vortex lattice method （UVLM） for MAV is proposed. The method considers the influence of instantaneous wing deforming in flapping,as well as the induced drag,additionally models the stretching and the dissipation of vortex rings,and can present the aerodynamics status on the wing surface. An implementation of the method is developed. Moreover,the results and the efficiency of the proposed method are verified by CFD methods. Considering the less time cost of UVLM,for application of UVLM in the MAV optimization,the influence of wake vortex ignoring time saving and precision is studied. Results show that saving in CPU time with wake vortex ignoring the appropriate distance is considerable while the precision is not significantly reduced. It indicates the potential value of UVLM in the optimization of MAV design.展开更多
Large-scale flapping-wing flying robotic birds have huge application potential in outdoor tasks,such as military reconnaissance,environment exploring,disaster rescue and so on.In this paper,a multiple modes flight con...Large-scale flapping-wing flying robotic birds have huge application potential in outdoor tasks,such as military reconnaissance,environment exploring,disaster rescue and so on.In this paper,a multiple modes flight control method and system are proposed for a large-scale robotic bird which has 2.3 m wingspan and 650 g mass.Different from small flapping wing aerial vehicle,the mass of its wings cannot be neglected and the flapping frequency are much lower.Therefore,the influence of transient aerodynamics instead of only mean value are considered in attitude estimation and controller design.Moreover,flight attitude and trajectory are highly coupled,and the robot has only three actuators----one for wings flapping and two for tail adjustment,it is very difficult to simultaneously control the attitude and position.Hence,a fuzzy control strategy is addressed to determine the command of each actuator by considering the priority of attitude stabilization,trajectory tracking and the flight safety.Then,the on-board controller is designed based on FreeRTOS.It not only satisfies the strict restrictions on mass,size,power and space but also meets the autonomous,semi-autonomous and manual flight control requirements.Finally,the developed control system was integrated to the robotic prototype,HIT-phoenix.Flight experiments under different environment conditions such as sunny and windy weather were completed to verify the control method and system.展开更多
The lack of autonomous take-off and landing capabilities of bird-like flapping-wing aerial vehicles(BFAVs)seriously restricts their further development and application.Thus,combined with the current research results o...The lack of autonomous take-off and landing capabilities of bird-like flapping-wing aerial vehicles(BFAVs)seriously restricts their further development and application.Thus,combined with the current research results on the autonomous take-off and landing technology of unmanned aerial vehicles,four types of technologies are studied,including jumping take-off and landing technology,taxiing take-off and landing technology,gliding take-off and landing technology,and vertical take-off and landing(VTOL)technology.Based on the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)-comprehensive evaluation method,a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for the autonomous take-off and landing scheme of a BFAV is established,and four schemes are evaluated concretely.The results show that under the existing technical conditions,the hybrid layout VTOL scheme is the best.Furthermore,the detailed design and development of the prototype of a BFAV with a four-rotor hybrid layout are carried out,and the vehicle performance is tested.The results prove that through the four-rotor hybrid layout design,the BFAV has good autonomous take-off and landing abilities.The power consumption analysis shows that for a fixed-point reconnaissance mission,when the mission radius is less than 3.38 km,the VTOL type exhibits longer mission duration than the hand-launched type.展开更多
Birds in nature exhibit excellent long-distance flight capabilities through formation flight,which could reduce energy consumption and improve flight efficiency.Inspired by the biological habits of birds,this paper pr...Birds in nature exhibit excellent long-distance flight capabilities through formation flight,which could reduce energy consumption and improve flight efficiency.Inspired by the biological habits of birds,this paper proposes an autonomous formation flight control method for Large-sized Flapping-Wing Flying Robots(LFWFRs),which can enhance their search range and flight efficiency.First,the kinematics model for LFWFRs is established.Then,an autonomous flight controller based on this model is designed,which has multiple flight control modes,including attitude stabilization,course keeping,hovering,and so on.Second,a formation flight control method is proposed based on the leader–follower strategy and periodic characteristics of flapping-wing flight.The up and down fluctuation of the fuselage of each LFWFR during wing flapping is considered in the control algorithm to keep the relative distance,which overcomes the trajectory divergence caused by sensor delay and fuselage fluctuation.Third,typical formation flight modes are realized,including straight formation,circular formation,and switching formation.Finally,the outdoor formation flight experiment is carried out,and the proposed autonomous formation flight control method is verified in real environment.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant numbers 52305321 and 62273246)The Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20230496)+3 种基金China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project(2023M732536 and 2024T170630)Jiangsu Province Excellence Postdoctoral Program(2023ZB218)The National Key R&D Program of China(2022YFB4702202)The Jiangsu Provincial Key Technology R&D Program(BE2021009-02).
文摘Micro aerial vehicles(MAVs)have flexibility and maneuverability,which can offer vast potential for applications in both civilian and military domains.Compared to Fixed-wing/Rotor-wing MAVs,Flapping Wing Micro Robots(FWMRs)have garnered widespread attention among scientists due to their superior miniaturized aerodynamic theory,reduced noise,and enhanced resistance to disturbances in complex and diverse environments.Flying insects,it not only has remarkable flapping flight ability(wings),but also takeoff and landing habitat ability(legs).If the various functions of flying insects can be imitated,efficient biomimetic FWMRs can be produced.This paper provides a review of the flight kinematics,aerodynamics,and wing structural parameters of insects.Then,the traditional wings and folding wings of insect-inspired FWMRs were compared.The research progress in takeoff and landing of FWMRs was also summarized,and the future developments and challenges for insect-inspired FWMRs were discussed.
基金supported by the Scientific Research Innovation Capability Support Project for Young Faculty,China(No.ZYGXQNJSKYCXNLZCXM-D1)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52272384).
文摘Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles(FMAVs)are compact and agile,capable of accessing narrow spaces that conventional vehicles struggle to reach,such as ruins,caves,or the interiors of complex structures,making them ideal tools for reconnaissance and rescue missions.1 However,the operation of FMAVs relies on coordinating multiple forces with different scaling effects,posing challenges to miniaturization design.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61933001,62061160371)Joint Funds of Equipment Pre-Research and Ministry of Education of China(6141A02033339)Beijing Top Discipline for Artificial Intelligent Science and Engineering,University of Science and Technology Beijing。
文摘This paper studies the trajectory tracking problem of flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles(FWMAVs)in the longitudinal plane.First of all,the kinematics and dynamics of the FWMAV are established,wherein the aerodynamic force and torque generated by flapping wings and the tail wing are explicitly formulated with respect to the flapping frequency of the wings and the degree of tail wing inclination.To achieve autonomous tracking,an adaptive control scheme is proposed under the hierarchical framework.Specifically,a bounded position controller with hyperbolic tangent functions is designed to produce the desired aerodynamic force,and a pitch command is extracted from the designed position controller.Next,an adaptive attitude controller is designed to track the extracted pitch command,where a radial basis function neural network is introduced to approximate the unknown aerodynamic perturbation torque.Finally,the flapping frequency of the wings and the degree of tail wing inclination are calculated from the designed position and attitude controllers,respectively.In terms of Lyapunov's direct method,it is shown that the tracking errors are bounded and ultimately converge to a small neighborhood around the origin.Simulations are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11672022)。
文摘Topology optimization is an effective method to obtain a lightweight structure that meets the requirements of structural strength.Whether the optimization results meet the actual needs mainly depends on the accuracy of the material properties and the boundary conditions,especially for a tiny Flapping-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle(FMAV)transmission system manufactured by 3D printing.In this paper,experimental and numerical computation efforts were undertaken to gain a reliable topology optimization method for the bottom of the transmission system.First,the constitutive behavior of the ultraviolet(UV)curable resin used in fabrication was evaluated.Second,a numerical computation model describing further verified via experiments.Topology optimization modeling considering nonlinear factors,e.g.contact,friction and collision,was presented,and the optimization results were verified by both dynamic simulation and experiments.Finally,detailed discussions on different load cases and constraints were presented to clarify their effect on the optimization.Our methods and results presented in this paper may shed light on the lightweight design of a FMAV.
文摘The problem of flapping motion control of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings was studied in this paper.Based upon the knowledge of skeletal and muscular components of hummingbird, a dynamic model for flapping wing wasdeveloped.A control scheme inspired by human memory and learning concept was constructed for wing motion control ofMAVs.The salient feature of the proposed control lies in its capabilities to improve the control performance by learning fromexperience and observation on its current and past behaviors, without the need for system dynamic information.Furthermore,the overall control scheme has a fairly simple structure and demands little online computations, making it attractive for real-timeimplementation on MAVs.Both theoretical analysis and computer simulation confirms its effectiveness.
基金supported by Unmanned Vehicles Core Technology Research and Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF)Unmanned Vehicle Advanced Research Center(UVARC)funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT,the Republic of Korea(2020M3C1C1A01083415).
文摘Flapping-Wing Air Vehicles(FWAVs)have been developed to pursue the efficient,agile,and quiet flight of flying animals.However,unlike lightweight FWAVs capable of vertical takeoff,relatively heavy FWAVs face challenges in self-takeoff,which refers to taking off without both external device and energy input.In this study,a cliff-drop method is implemented for an independent takeoff of a heavy FWAV,relying solely on gravity.In the takeoff process using the cliff-drop method,the FWAV moves on the ground to a cliff edge using a wheel-driving motor and then descends from the cliff to achieve the necessary speed for flight.To demonstrate the cliff-drop method,the KAIST Robotic Hawk(KRoHawk)with a mass of 740 g and a wingspan of 120 cm is developed.The takeoff tests demonstrate that the KRoHawk,significantly heavier than the vertical-takeoff capable FWAVs,can successfully take off using the gravity-assisted takeoff method.The scalability of cliff-drop method is analyzed through simulations.When drop constraints are absent,the wheel-driving motor mass fraction for cliff-drop method remains negligible even as the vehicle's weight increases.When drop constraints are set to 4 m,FWAVs heavier than KRoHawk,weighing up to 4.4 kg,can perform the cliff-drop takeoffs with a wheel-driving motor mass fraction of less than 8%.
基金co-supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation,China(No.3232010)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.12002017)the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China 111 Project(No.B08009).
文摘Micro aerial platforms face significant challenges in achieving long controlled endurance as most of the energy is consumed to overcome the weight of the body.In this study,we present a controllable micro blimp that addresses this issue through the use of a helium-filled balloon.The micro blimp has a long axis of 23 cm and is propelled by four insect-sized flapping-wing thrusters,each weighing 80 mg and with a wingspan of 3.5 cm.These distributed thrusters enable controlled motions and provide the micro blimp with an advantage in flight endurance compared to multirotors or flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles at the same size scale.To enhance the performance of the controlled flight,we propose a wireless control module that enables manipulation from a distance of up to 100 m.Additionally,a smartphone application is developed to send instructions to the circuit board,allowing the blimp to turn left and right,ascend and descend,and achieve a combination of these movements separately.Our findings demonstrate that this micro blimp is one of the smallest controlled self-powered micro blimps to date.
基金Supported by the Aviation Science Foundation of China (2007ZA56001)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(50865009)~~
文摘To calculate the aerodynamics of flapping-wing micro air vehicle（MAV） with the high efficiency and the engineering-oriented accuracy,an improved unsteady vortex lattice method （UVLM） for MAV is proposed. The method considers the influence of instantaneous wing deforming in flapping,as well as the induced drag,additionally models the stretching and the dissipation of vortex rings,and can present the aerodynamics status on the wing surface. An implementation of the method is developed. Moreover,the results and the efficiency of the proposed method are verified by CFD methods. Considering the less time cost of UVLM,for application of UVLM in the MAV optimization,the influence of wake vortex ignoring time saving and precision is studied. Results show that saving in CPU time with wake vortex ignoring the appropriate distance is considerable while the precision is not significantly reduced. It indicates the potential value of UVLM in the optimization of MAV design.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.U1613227,61803125)Guangdong Special Support Program of China(No.2017TX04X0071)the Basic Research Program of Shenzhen of China(Nos.JCYJ20180507183610564,JCYJ20190806144416980)。
文摘Large-scale flapping-wing flying robotic birds have huge application potential in outdoor tasks,such as military reconnaissance,environment exploring,disaster rescue and so on.In this paper,a multiple modes flight control method and system are proposed for a large-scale robotic bird which has 2.3 m wingspan and 650 g mass.Different from small flapping wing aerial vehicle,the mass of its wings cannot be neglected and the flapping frequency are much lower.Therefore,the influence of transient aerodynamics instead of only mean value are considered in attitude estimation and controller design.Moreover,flight attitude and trajectory are highly coupled,and the robot has only three actuators----one for wings flapping and two for tail adjustment,it is very difficult to simultaneously control the attitude and position.Hence,a fuzzy control strategy is addressed to determine the command of each actuator by considering the priority of attitude stabilization,trajectory tracking and the flight safety.Then,the on-board controller is designed based on FreeRTOS.It not only satisfies the strict restrictions on mass,size,power and space but also meets the autonomous,semi-autonomous and manual flight control requirements.Finally,the developed control system was integrated to the robotic prototype,HIT-phoenix.Flight experiments under different environment conditions such as sunny and windy weather were completed to verify the control method and system.
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2017YFB1300102)the Key R&D Program in Shaanxi Province of China(No.2020ZDLGY06-05,No 2021ZDLGY09-10)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11902103,No.11872314).
文摘The lack of autonomous take-off and landing capabilities of bird-like flapping-wing aerial vehicles(BFAVs)seriously restricts their further development and application.Thus,combined with the current research results on the autonomous take-off and landing technology of unmanned aerial vehicles,four types of technologies are studied,including jumping take-off and landing technology,taxiing take-off and landing technology,gliding take-off and landing technology,and vertical take-off and landing(VTOL)technology.Based on the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)-comprehensive evaluation method,a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for the autonomous take-off and landing scheme of a BFAV is established,and four schemes are evaluated concretely.The results show that under the existing technical conditions,the hybrid layout VTOL scheme is the best.Furthermore,the detailed design and development of the prototype of a BFAV with a four-rotor hybrid layout are carried out,and the vehicle performance is tested.The results prove that through the four-rotor hybrid layout design,the BFAV has good autonomous take-off and landing abilities.The power consumption analysis shows that for a fixed-point reconnaissance mission,when the mission radius is less than 3.38 km,the VTOL type exhibits longer mission duration than the hand-launched type.
基金This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.62233001)Shenzhen excellent scientific and technological innovation talent training project(Grant No.RCJC20200714114436040)the Basic Research Program of Shenzhen(Grant No.JCYJ20190806142816524).
文摘Birds in nature exhibit excellent long-distance flight capabilities through formation flight,which could reduce energy consumption and improve flight efficiency.Inspired by the biological habits of birds,this paper proposes an autonomous formation flight control method for Large-sized Flapping-Wing Flying Robots(LFWFRs),which can enhance their search range and flight efficiency.First,the kinematics model for LFWFRs is established.Then,an autonomous flight controller based on this model is designed,which has multiple flight control modes,including attitude stabilization,course keeping,hovering,and so on.Second,a formation flight control method is proposed based on the leader–follower strategy and periodic characteristics of flapping-wing flight.The up and down fluctuation of the fuselage of each LFWFR during wing flapping is considered in the control algorithm to keep the relative distance,which overcomes the trajectory divergence caused by sensor delay and fuselage fluctuation.Third,typical formation flight modes are realized,including straight formation,circular formation,and switching formation.Finally,the outdoor formation flight experiment is carried out,and the proposed autonomous formation flight control method is verified in real environment.
