Design, aerodynamics and autonomy of the DelFly

Croon, Guido C. H. E. de; Groen, Mark; Wagter, Christophe De; Remes, B. D. W.; Ruijsink, R.; Oudheusden, B.W. van

doi:10.1088/1748-3182/7/2/025003

Cited by 186 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Nonetheless, drone researchers have effectively reproduced natural flight in many different ways. Examples include robotic insects such as RoboBee 19 and the four-winged DelFly 8 , and bird-sized drones such as the Nano Hummingbird 9 (Fig. 2c).…”

Section: Actuation Power and Manufacturingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science, technology and the future of small autonomous drones

Floreano

Wood

2015

Nature

1,091

552

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Drones, a popular nickname for unmanned aerial vehicles and micro aerial vehicles, often conjure up images of unmanned aeroplanes that fly thousands of miles for espionage and to deploy munitions. However, over the past few years, an increasing number of public and private research laboratories have been working on small, human-friendly drones that one day may autonomously fly in confined spaces and in close proximity to people. The development of these small drones, which is the main focus of this Review, has been supported by the miniaturization and cost reduction of electronic components (microprocessors, sensors, batteries and wireless communication units), largely driven by the portable electronic device industry. These improvements have enabled the prototyping and commercialization of small (typically less than 1 kg) drones at smartphone prices.Small drones will have important socio-economic impacts (Fig. 1). Images from drones that are capable of flying a few metres above the ground will fill a gap between expensive, weather-dependent and lowresolution images provided by satellites and car-based images limited to human-level perspectives and the availability of accessible roads. Specialized flying cameras and cloud-based data analytics will allow farmers to continuously monitor the quality of crop growth. Such platforms will enable construction companies to measure work progress in real time. Drones will let mining companies obtain precise volumetric data of excavations. Energy and infrastructure companies will be able to exhaustively survey pipelines, roads and cables. Humanitarian organizations could immediately assess and adapt aid efforts in continuously changing refugee camps. Transportation drones that are capable of safely taking off and landing in the proximity of buildings and humans will allow developing countries -without a suitable road network -to rapidly deliver goods and to finally unleash the full potential of their e-commerce telecommunication infrastructure. Transportation drones will also help developed countries to improve the quality of service in congested or remote areas, and will enable rescue organizations to quickly deliver medical supplies in the field and on demand. Inspection drones that are capable of flying in confined spaces will help fire-fighting and emergency units to assess dangers faster and more safely, logistic companies to detect cracks in the inner and outer shells of ships, road maintenance companies to measure signs of wear and tear in bridges and tunnels, security companies to improve building safety by monitoring areas outside the range of surveillance cameras, and disaster mitigation agencies to inspect partially collapsed buildings where ground clutter is an obstacle for terrestrial robots. Coordinated teams of autonomous drones will enable missions that last longer than the flight time of a single drone by allowing some drones to temporarily leave the team for battery replacement. Drone teams will permit rescue organizations to quickly deploy dedicated commu...

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Section: Actuation Power and Manufacturingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science, technology and the future of small autonomous drones

Floreano

Wood

2015

Nature

1,091

552

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“…7 that represents the beginning of the out-stroke. The leading edge foil separates from the upper wing (peel motion [23]) while the after part of the foil closer to trailing edge lags considerably behind it until a t * = 0.3. Furthermore, a selection of 50% of the chord conserves the kinematic information, as the dashed line of x w2 will better represent the position of the CG of the wing, presented in Fig.…”

Section: Wing Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rigid-Body Kinematics Versus Flapping Kinematics of a Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle

Caetano

Weehuizen

Visser

et al. 2015

Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics

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“…With [2] and [3], we shift from swimming to flying, by taking inspiration from insects. Insects, like hummingbirds, are capable of extremely rapid and precise aerial maneuvers.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The focus of [2] is on the effects of the structural flexibility of wings in the flapping flight of a butterfly. In [3], the authors show how flapping aerodynamics can lead to a most-advanced complete autonomous system: the Delfly robot from Delft University. At large, the use of flexible flapping wings is an example of a new emerging topic named 'soft robotics' since it aims at solving robotics problems by exploiting the characteristics of soft organs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%