Biological Investigation of Wing Motion of the Manduca Sexta

Abstract

An investigation was conducted assessing the feasibility of reproducing the biological flapping motion of the wings of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta (M.sexta) by artificially stimulating the flight muscles for Micro Air Vehicle research. Electromyographical signals were collected using bipolar intramuscular fine wire electrodes inserted into the primary flight muscles, the dorsal longitudinal and dorsal ventral muscles, of the adult M.sexta. These signals were recorded and associated with wing movement using high speed video. The signals were reapplied into the corresponding muscle groups with the intention of reproducing similar flapping motion. A series of impulse signals were also directed into the primary flight muscles as a means of observing muscle response through measured forewing angles. This study pioneered electromyographic research on M.sexta at the Air Force Institute of Technology with tests conducted with fine wire electrodes. Through this process, the research showed the deformational structural changes that take place when a wing is removed from an insect and proved that muscular stimulation is a viable method for generating wing movement. This study also assisted in developing an understanding related to the role that a thorax-like fuselage could play in future micro aircraft designs. This study has shown that partial neuromuscular control of the primary flight muscles of M.sexta is possible with electrical stimulants which could be used to directly control insect flight.

Methods Used to Evaluate the Hawkmoth (Manduca Sexta) as a Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle

“…M.sexta are sturdy and robust, with large larval and adult stages. These insects are sometimes referred to as the white lab rat of the entomology field [19].…”

“…Some researchers reported their results as power per body mass. These have been converted to power per muscle mass by assuming a flight muscle to body ratio of 20% [19]. The power per muscle mass numbers indicated in bold font are the most pertinent values for this study, as they have been obtained directly from analyses of the flight muscles.…”

Insect–computer hybrid legged robot with user-adjustable speed, step length and walking gait

“…Within the past two decades, many researchers have been developing animal-computer hybrid robots [6,7,. Platforms of animal-computer hybrid robots include beetles (Mecynorrhina torquata) [6,7,20], hawkmoths (Agrius convolvuli and Manduca sexta) [22][23][24][25][26][27], cockroaches (Periplaneta Americana and Gromphadorhina portentosa) [29,31,[41][42][43][44][45] and spiders (Heteropoda venatoria) [46]. In these studies, control was administered by neuromuscular stimulation.…”

Fuzzy-controlled living insect legged actuator

“…What are the merits of using biological organisms for living machines compared with entirely man-made ones? Living organisms, especially insects, possess many excellent properties, including outstanding and unparalleled agility of locomotion, which has made insects among the top focuses in the development of autonomous robots for decades [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Employing living insects as the platform for legged machines by electrical stimulation on leg muscles to induce user desired motor actions and behaviors leads to significant power-saving.…”

“…antenna, compound eyes), and muscles for achieving locomotion control or appendage motion [4-7, 9-11, 38-44]. Most of the stimulation protocols proposed and tested were conducted in open-loop control manner [4][5][6][7][9][10][11]. Those researches focused on developing effective stimulation protocols, e.g.…”