Modeling and Analysis of a Simple Flexible Wing—Thorax System in Flapping-Wing Insects

Abstract

Small-scale flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) are an emerging robotic technology with many applications in areas including infrastructure monitoring and remote sensing. However, challenges such as inefficient energetics and decreased payload capacity preclude the useful implementation of FWMAVs. Insects serve as inspiration to FWMAV design owing to their energy efficiency, maneuverability, and capacity to hover. Still, the biomechanics of insects remain challenging to model, thereby limiting the translational design insights we can gather from their flight. In particular, it is not well-understood how wing flexibility impacts the energy requirements of flapping flight. In this work, we developed a simple model of an insect drive train consisting of a compliant thorax coupled to a flexible wing flapping with single-degree-of-freedom rotation in a fluid environment. We applied this model to quantify the energy required to actuate a flapping wing system with parameters based off a hawkmoth Manduca sexta. Despite its simplifications, the model predicts thorax displacement, wingtip deflection and peak aerodynamic force in proximity to what has been measured experimentally in flying moths. We found a flapping system with flexible wings requires 20% less energy than a flapping system with rigid wings while maintaining similar aerodynamic performance. Passive wing deformation increases the effective angle of rotation of the flexible wing, thereby reducing the maximum rotation angle at the base of the wing. We investigated the sensitivity of these results to parameter deviations and found that the energetic savings conferred by the flexible wing are robust over a wide range of parameters.

HiFly-Dragon: A Dragonfly Inspired Flapping Flying Robot with Modified, Resonant, Direct-Driven Flapping Mechanisms

“…Insect-inspired FW-MAVs have been actively investigated in recent decades. The flapping wings not only propel the vehicle to move but also generate aerodynamic forces and torques for attitude control [1] and even sense their surrounding environment by measuring and interpreting the variations of the wing loading, which ensures their exceptional stability and maneuverability at an extremely small scale [2,3]. Several notable bio-inspired flapping wing robots have achieved taking off and hovering in the air, including the Harvard RoboBee [4], the DelFly [5], the Nano Hummingbird [6], the KUBeetle [7], and the BionicOpter [8], inspired by the extraordinary flight capabilities of bees, fruit-flies, hummingbirds, beetles, and dragonflies.…”

Analysis of aerodynamic characteristics of flexible flapping wings mimicking hummingbirds

“…Flapping wing flight is a flight mode commonly adopted by almost all flying organisms in nature [1]. It is the result of biological evolution and is the most effective flight mode at low speed [2][3]. Compared with the fixed-wing and rotor flight modes, flapping wing flight can generate lift and thrust at the same time only by relying on the flapping of the airfoil.…”

Moth resonant mechanics are tuned to wingbeat frequency and energetic demands

“…While there is little question that insects exhibit resonant mechanics (8,9,14,15), direct measurements of resonant wingbeats have been limited to phylogenetically isolated species with disparate methods that complicate across-species comparisons (5,(16)(17)(18)(19). Furthermore, without independent, comparative measurements of each flight apparatus component, one cannot distinguish the specific traits that facilitate resonance tuning from traits that counteract resonance tuning due to competing constraints.…”