A hovering flapping-wing microrobot with altitude control and passive upright stability

Teoh, Zhi Ern; Fuller, Sharon; Chirarattananon, Pakpong; Prez-Arancibia, N. O.; Greenberg, J. D.; Wood, Robert J.

doi:10.1109/iros.2012.6386151

Cited by 85 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…as suggested by several lines of evidence, including experiments on tethered Drosophila (34), a wind tunnel test on a flapping robotic insect (35), and a study on the dynamics of rotational motion (36). After finding the model for aerodynamic drag, we calculated the control force by subtracting drag from total force according to Eq.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flying Drosophila stabilize their vision-based velocity controller by sensing wind with their antennae

Fuller

Straw

Peek

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

138

131

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Flies and other insects use vision to regulate their groundspeed in flight, enabling them to fly in varying wind conditions. Compared with mechanosensory modalities, however, vision requires a long processing delay (~100 ms) that might introduce instability if operated at high gain. Flies also sense air motion with their antennae, but how this is used in flight control is unknown. We manipulated the antennal function of fruit flies by ablating their aristae, forcing them to rely on vision alone to regulate groundspeed. Arista-ablated flies in flight exhibited significantly greater groundspeed variability than intact flies. We then subjected them to a series of controlled impulsive wind gusts delivered by an air piston and experimentally manipulated antennae and visual feedback. The results show that an antenna-mediated response alters wing motion to cause flies to accelerate in the same direction as the gust. This response opposes flying into a headwind, but flies regularly fly upwind. To resolve this discrepancy, we obtained a dynamic model of the fly's velocity regulator by fitting parameters of candidate models to our experimental data. The model suggests that the groundspeed variability of arista-ablated flies is the result of unstable feedback oscillations caused by the delay and high gain of visual feedback. The antenna response drives active damping with a shorter delay (~20 ms) to stabilize this regulator, in exchange for increasing the effect of rapid wind disturbances. This provides insight into flies' multimodal sensory feedback architecture and constitutes a previously unknown role for the antennae.stability | sensory fusion | feedback delay | system identification | turbulence A nimals rely on input from multiple sensory modalities to regulate their motor actions. For example, to quickly grasp an object, a human uses both vision and tactile sensing. The visual system can estimate how close the object is, but only touch can accurately determine when contact is made (1). Similarly, flying insects rely on multiple senses, including vision and mechanosensation to control their flight (2). This multimodal feedback enables them to perform aerial feats, such as chasing conspecifics (3) and rapid self-righting after takeoff (4). Our neurobiological and biomechanical understanding of these behaviors is incomplete, but physiological studies and physics-based models have helped reveal salient features (5-9).The flight paths of flies often are structured into bouts of straight segments of forward motion, punctuated by rapid changes in heading termed body saccades (3,(10)(11)(12). During the straight segments, flies tend to maintain constant groundspeed despite changes in wind speed, suggesting the presence of an active feedback regulator (13,14). Recent results provide some insight into the properties of this vision-based forward velocity controller, such as its dependence on the spatial and temporal frequency of the visual stimulus, and the magnitude of the underlying sensory-motor delay (15,16). Experiments w...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flying Drosophila stabilize their vision-based velocity controller by sensing wind with their antennae

Fuller

Straw

Peek

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

138

131

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…We assume that aerodynamic drag, in addition to being proportional to velocity in the x-and y-directions ( figure 3 and [34]), is also proportional to velocity in the z-direction, although this has not yet been tested. In vector form, the drag force is thus…”

Section: Forces and Torquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling free flight of a robotic fly using an onboard vision sensor inspired by insect ocelli

Fuller

Karpelson

Censi

et al. 2014

J. R. Soc. Interface.

104

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Scaling a flying robot down to the size of a fly or bee requires advances in manufacturing, sensing and control, and will provide insights into mechanisms used by their biological counterparts. Controlled flight at this scale has previously required external cameras to provide the feedback to regulate the continuous corrective manoeuvres necessary to keep the unstable robot from tumbling. One stabilization mechanism used by flying insects may be to sense the horizon or Sun using the ocelli, a set of three light sensors distinct from the compound eyes. Here, we present an ocelli-inspired visual sensor and use it to stabilize a fly-sized robot. We propose a feedback controller that applies torque in proportion to the angular velocity of the source of light estimated by the ocelli. We demonstrate theoretically and empirically that this is sufficient to stabilize the robot's upright orientation. This constitutes the first known use of onboard sensors at this scale. Dipteran flies use halteres to provide gyroscopic velocity feedback, but it is unknown how other insects such as honeybees stabilize flight without these sensory organs. Our results, using a vehicle of similar size and dynamics to the honeybee, suggest how the ocelli could serve this role.

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“…Like Samaratype vehicles, the attitude is controller passively and the position can be controlled by the two actuators [6]. In position control for flapping wing vehicles with only one actuator, only altitude can be controlled [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revised Propeller Dynamics and Energy-Optimal Hovering in a Monospinner

Hedayatpour¹,

Mehrandezh²,

Janabi–Sharifi³

2017

Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Control, Dynamic Systems, and Robotics (CDSR'17)

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-This paper presents modelling, control and simulation results of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with only one fixed motor spinning a tilted propeller called "Monospinner". This class of rotary-wing UAVs is gaining some significant attention since they can lead to the design and development of control strategies for safe landing in case of one single or multiple rotor failure. Furthermore, the studies on monospinners can lead to the development of the most energy-efficient rotary wing UAVs with a potential to render themselves as high-endurance flying machines. In a monospinner, unlike most flying vehicles with rotary wings, hovering is defined as maintaining the altitude while rotating about an axis that is fixed with respect to the vehicle. Therefore, not all degrees of motion can be fully controlled. However, the remaining controllable states of the machine will be good enough to maintain a stable altitude, or even to track a trajectory. For this purpose, a linear time-invariant system is derived for controlling the attitude. It is shown that by controlling the attitude, the direction of that fixed axis of rotation (i.e., a precession axis) can be controlled by which the altitude of the vehicle can be kept at constant. A complete aerodynamic model of the propeller experiencing fast rotations about the precession axis is presented for the first time followed by analysing the effect a tilting rotor can have on the total power required to maintain a constant altitude. The proposed dynamic model and the design were evaluated via a nonlinear simulation system.

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A hovering flapping-wing microrobot with altitude control and passive upright stability

Cited by 85 publications

References 18 publications

Flying Drosophila stabilize their vision-based velocity controller by sensing wind with their antennae

Flying Drosophila stabilize their vision-based velocity controller by sensing wind with their antennae

Controlling free flight of a robotic fly using an onboard vision sensor inspired by insect ocelli

Revised Propeller Dynamics and Energy-Optimal Hovering in a Monospinner

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