Analysis of Kinematics of Flapping Wing UAV Using OptiTrack Systems

Abstract

An analysis of the kinematics of a flapping membrane wing using experimental kinematic data is presented. This motion capture technique tracks the positon of the retroreflective marker(s) placed on the left wing of a 1.3-m-wingspan ornithopter. The time-varying three-dimensional data of the wing kinematics were recorded for a single frequency. The wing shape data was then plotted on a two-dimensional plane to understand the wing dynamic behaviour of an ornithopter. Specifically, the wing tip path, leading edge bending, wing membrane shape, local twist, stroke angle and wing velocity were analyzed. As the three characteristic angles can be expressed in the Fourier series as a function of time, the kinematics of the wing can be computationally generated for the aerodynamic study of flapping flight through the Fourier coefficients presented. Analysis of the ornithopter wing showed how the ornithopter closely mimics the flight motions of birds despite several physical limitations.

Bio-Inspired Morphing Tail for Flapping-Wings Aerial Robots Using Macro Fiber Composites

“…The use of reflective twodimensional dots as markers ensures that the entire mesh weight does not affect the results of the experiments. Therefore, this method is particularly indicated when aerodynamic surfaces are involved: e.g., [21] shows the kinematic results that are related to a flappingwings analysis.…”

“…Therefore, this work takes a medium-sized flapping-wings system analyzed in [21] as a model. This commercially available system is interesting due to its robustness and modularity.…”

“…The tail design is similar to the geometry found in nature, as the intention is to imitate animal behavior. Our design has a triangular shape, similar to the one of the commercial ornithopter of the Carbonsail company presented in [21], but with its structural part consisting of two fiber sheets coming from the base. Fiberglass is the material used for the basic structure, due to their low weight and high resistance.…”

SMA Actuated Low-Weight Bio-Inspired Claws for Grasping and Perching Using Flapping Wing Aerial Systems

“…In [38] the authors characterized the physical and kinematic data of the above ornithopter, which can be summarized in Table I. The data in Table 1 were used in the design and positioning of the hardware and also for valuing the performance of the developed applications.…”

Computer Vision in Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles—A Systematic Mapping Study

“…Flapping-Wing: This class of micro-UAV reproduces the flight of birds or insects [47][48][49]. It has an extremely low payload capability and low endurance owing to its reduced size.…”