DOCSLIB.ORG

Qt8f83m0xp.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Qt8f83m0xp.Pdf UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8f83m0xp Author Baek, Stanley Seunghoon Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior by Stanley Seunghoon Baek A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering - Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Ronald S. Fearing, Chair Professor J. Karl Hedrick Assistant Professor Pieter Abbeel Spring 2011 Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior Copyright 2011 by Stanley Seunghoon Baek 1 Abstract Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior by Stanley Seunghoon Baek Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering - Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences University of California, Berkeley Professor Ronald S. Fearing, Chair This thesis presents the design of autonomous flight control algorithms for a flapping- wing aerial robot with onboard sensing and computational resources. We use a 13 gram ornithopter with biologically-inspired clap-and-fling mechanism. For autonomous flight con- trol, we have developed 1.0 gram control electronics integrated with a microcontroller, inertial and visual sensors, communication electronics, and motor drivers. We have also developed a simplified aerodynamic model of ornithopter flight to reduce the order of the control system. With the aerodynamic model and the orientation estimation from on-board inertial sensors, we present flight control of an ornithopter capable of flying toward a target using onboard sensing and computational resources only. To this end, we have developed a dead-reckoning algorithm to recover from the temporary loss of the target which can occur with a visual sensor with a narrow field of view. With closed-loop height regulation of the ornithopter, we propose a method for identifying the discrepancy between the tethered flight force measure- ment and the free flight aerodynamic force. Lastly, we present a nondimensionalized analysis of a motor-driven flapping-wing system and experimentally demonstrate a resonant drive to reduce average battery power consumption for DC motor-driven flapping-wing robots. i To my wife, Jiwon ii Contents List of Figures iv List of Tables vi I Introduction and Background 1 1 Introduction 2 1.1ControlChallengesforFlapping-WingRobots................. 3 1.2AerodynamicForcesforFreeFlight....................... 4 1.3EfficientEnergeticsUsingResonantExcitation................. 4 1.4Contributions................................... 5 2 Previous Work 7 2.1FlightControlforFlapping-WingRobots.................... 8 2.2ResonantDriveforFlapping-WingRobots................... 9 II Flight Control 11 3 Ornithopter Platform and Aerodynamic Model 12 3.1OrnithopterPlatform............................... 12 3.2Designof1.0gramControlElectronics..................... 14 3.3PIDControllerforOrientationandHeightRegulation............. 16 4 Flight Forces and Altitude Regulation 18 4.1AerodynamicModel............................... 18 4.1.1 AerodynamicForces........................... 18 4.1.2 Passive Stability ............................. 20 4.2ForceMeasurements............................... 20 4.3TrackingandControlMethods.......................... 21 4.4ExperimentalResultsandDiscussion...................... 25 iii 5 Flight Control for Target Seeking 30 5.1AttitudeEstimation............................... 30 5.2PredictionofTargetLocation.......................... 32 5.2.1 TargetTrackingAlgorithm........................ 32 5.2.2 DeadReckoningtoTargetLocation................... 34 5.2.3 ControlMethod.............................. 35 5.3ExperimentalResultsandDiscussion...................... 35 III Power Efficient Design 40 6 Efficient Resonant Drive of Flapping-Wing Robots 41 6.1Analysis...................................... 42 6.2CaseStudies.................................... 44 6.2.1 CaseI:ConstantSpeed.......................... 44 6.2.2 Case II: Constant Input Voltage ..................... 46 6.3Experiments.................................... 48 IV Conclusions 56 7 Conclusions 57 7.1FlightControlofFlapping-WingRobots.................... 57 7.2ResonantExcitationofDCMotor-DrivenFlapping-WingRobots....... 58 7.3FutureWork.................................... 58 V Appendix 60 A Dynamometer for DC Motors 61 A.1EstimationofMotorProperties......................... 62 A.1.1DampingCoefficient........................... 63 A.1.2BackEMFCoefficient.......................... 63 A.1.3TorqueCoefficient............................ 65 A.2EstimationofMaximumPower......................... 65 A.3SpecificationsofSmallDCMotors........................ 66 BSchematicsofImageProc2 68 C Matlab Simulation Code for Resonant Drive 74 Bibliography 82 iv List of Figures 2.1Previousworkinsmall-scaleflapping-wingrobots................ 7 3.1Themodifiedornithopter............................. 13 3.2The1.0gramcontrolboard........................... 14 3.3BlockdiagramforthePIDcontrollers...................... 16 4.1 The coordinate systems and the forces acting on the body of ornithopter. 19 4.2Forcemeasurementsetupfortheornithopterwithaloadcell......... 21 4.3Forcemeasurementswith80%dutycycle.................... 22 4.4Measurementsofaverageforcesandwingspeeds................ 23 4.5Acameracapturedimageofafreeflyingornithopter............. 24 4.6Signalflowforclosed-loopaltituderegulation................. 25 4.7Closed-loopstepresponseofheightregulation................. 26 4.8Asequenceofvideoframesshowssuccessfulaltitudecontrol......... 27 4.9Diagramofactualforcesandmeasuredforces................. 28 4.10Closed-loopstepresponseofheightregulationwithanaddedmass...... 29 5.1 The coordinate systems and the forces generated by the wings and the propeller. 31 5.2 Prediction of target location at time k + 1 based on the current orientation and its rate at time k. .............................. 32 5.3Signalflowforclosed-looponboardcontroller.................. 34 5.4Illustrationofdeadreckoningoftargetlocation................ 35 5.5Mosaicsoftheornithopterflyingtowardthetarget.............. 36 5.6Anexperimentalresultofflightcontroloftargetseeking........... 37 5.7Asetoftrajectoriesofornithopterflightstowardthetarget.......... 39 6.1 A 5.8 gram hummingbird-inspired flapping mechanism developed at UC Berkeley 41 6.2 A load connected to a spring and a damper is driven by a DC motor through acrankarm..................................... 42 6.3 Variation of nondimensional torque in one cycle for various constant angular speed with λ = 0.1, ζm =0.1,andζ =0.1.................... 45 6.4Nondimensionaltorqueandaveragepowerforconstantmotorspeed..... 46 v 6.5 Effect of input voltages with ζm = 0.002, ζ = 0.01, and λ = 0.2535. ..... 47 6.6 Effect of damping ratio with ζm = 0.02, u = 0.25, and λ = 0.2535. ...... 49 6.7averagepowerandpowerreductionusingaspring............... 50 6.8 Measurement of motor speed and induced current with constant input voltages 51 6.9 Measurement of average power and power reduction for a flapping wing robot driven....................................... 53 6.10AnInteractiveToy’sVAMPRCornithopterwithanaddedspring....... 54 6.11 Measurement of average power and power reduction for an Interactive Toy’s VAMPRCornithopter............................... 55 A.1BenchtopdynamometerforDCmotors..................... 62 A.2AcircuitmodelforaDCmotor......................... 62 A.3Anexampleofmotorspeed,motorvoltage,andtheirratio........... 64 A.4 Motor torque vs. motor speed for various input voltages. .......... 65 B.1 Schematics of ImageProc2 - microcontroller, gyroscope, flash memory, and cellphonecameraconnector........................... 71 B.2 Schematics of ImageProc2 - motor driver, oscillator, and infrared camera con- nector....................................... 72 B.3 Schematics of ImageProc2 - wireless transceiver, accelerometer, battery mon- itor,andvoltageregulators ........................... 73 vi List of Tables 2.1Developmentsofautonomousflight....................... 9 3.1SpecificationsoftheModifiedOrnithopter................... 13 6.1Specificationsoftheflappingmechanism.................... 50 A.1SpecificationsofDidelandVampmotors..................... 67 B.1BillofmaterialforImageProc2......................... 68 B.1BillofmaterialforImageProc2......................... 69 B.1BillofmaterialforImageProc2......................... 70 vii Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my advisor, Pro- fessor Ron Fearing, for his constant support and advice since my undergraduate study at Berkeley. Without his guidance, I would have never made this work possible. He has been really supportive of my work not only with his remarkable knowledge and keen insight in the field of robotics, but also with his kind consideration and encouragement. I feel very privileged and thankful to have him as an advisor. Moreover, as a senior in life, he has always been available to give me invaluable advice whenever I needed one. I would like to thank Professor J. Karl Hedrick, for his invariant consideration and advice, for serving on my qualifying examination committee as well as my dissertation committee. His nonlinear dynamic systems class has also expanded my understanding of control systems. I am very
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ornithopter Wing Optimization
    Ornithopter Wing Optimization Sandra Mau Institute for Aerospace Studies, University of Toronto Downsview, Ontario, Canada Aug. 2003 Abstract A new ornithopter wing was designed using analytical software to theoretically produce enough lift and thrust to propel an engine-powered piloted aircraft into steady flight. Nomenclature GJtotal Total torsional stiffness of segment GJspar Torsional stiffness of segment spar GJf+r Torsional stiffness of segment fabric and ribs Xea Distance from leading edge to elastic axis Xs Distance from leading edge to spar mass centre mspar Mass of segment spar mf+r Mass of segment fabric and ribs Ispar Moment of inertia of segment spar If+r Moment of inertia of segment fabric and ribs EI Bending stiffness at elastic axis α Inboard sweep (inner crank angle) β Crank angle (outer) AR Aspect ratio Introduction After centuries of dreaming to fly with the birds, the Wright brothers gave flight to those dreams in 1903 when they built and flew the first successful powered and piloted aircraft. However, the dream of flying like the birds still eludes us to this day. Ornithopters are what innovators like Leonardo DaVinci have imagined since before the 1500s; before rigid-wing aircrafts like that of the Wrights. They are mechanical, powered, flapping-wing aircrafts – to imitate the flapping wings of a bird. This type of flight has continually been pursued throughout the ages. Some notable developments in flapping-wing flight included Alphonse Penaud’s rubber-powered model ornithopter in 1984, the gliding human-powered ornithopter of Alexander Lippisch in 1929, and Percival Spencer’s series of engine-powered, free-flight models in the 1960s.
    [Show full text]
  • Design, Fabrication and Testing of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle
    K.P.Preethi et al. Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com ISSN: 2248-9622, Vol. 6, Issue 1, (Part – 3) January 2016, pp.133-150 RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS Design, Fabrication and Testing Of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle K. P. Preethi Manohari Sai1, K. Bharadwaj2, K. Ravi Teja3, Kalyan Dagamoori4, 5 6 Kasiraju Venkata Sai Tarun , Vishnu Vijayan 1,2,3,6B.Tech Student, Department Of Aeronautical Engineering, MLR Institute Of Technology, Dundigal, Hyderabad. INDIA. 4 B.Tech Student, Department Of Aeronautical Engineering, MLR Institute Of Technology and Management, Dundigal, Hyderabad. INDIA. 5B.Tech Student, Department Of Aeronautical Engineering, GITAM UNIVERSITY, Hyderabad. INDIA. ABSTRACT: Flapping flight has the potential to revolutionize micro air vehicles (MAVs) due to increased aerodynamic performance, improved maneuverability and hover capabilities. The purpose of this project is to design and fabrication of flapping wing micro air vehicle. The designed MAV will have a wing span of 40cm. The drive mechanism will be a gear mechanism to drive the flapping wing MAV, along with one actuator. Initially, a preliminary design of flapping wing MAV is drawn and necessary calculation for the lift calculation has been done. Later a CAD model is drawn in CATIA V5 software. Finally we tested by Flying. Keywords : Flapping wing mav, Ornithopter, Components of MEMS etc. I. INTRODUCTION : An ornithopter( from Greek ornithos "bird" and are not actually aircraft. Some early manned flight pteron "wing") is an aircraft that flies by flapping its attempts may have been intended to achieve wings. Designers tend to imitated by the flapping- flapping-wing flight though probably only a glide wing flight of birds, bats, and insects.
    [Show full text]
  • Review on System Identification and Mathematical Modeling of Flapping
    applied sciences Review Review on System Identification and Mathematical Modeling of Flapping Wing Micro-Aerial Vehicles Qudrat Khan 1 and Rini Akmeliawati 2,* 1 Center for Advanced Studies in Telecommunications, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan; [email protected] 2 School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia * Correspondence: [email protected] Featured Application: The paper provides a comprehensive review on various system identifi- cation and modeling techniques for flapping wing micro-aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) that will be useful for researchers in order to obtain mathematical modeling of FWMAVs. Abstract: This paper presents a thorough review on the system identification techniques applied to flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs). The main advantage of this work is to provide a solid background and domain knowledge of system identification for further investigations in the field of FWMAVs. In the system identification context, the flapping wing systems are first categorized into tailed and tailless MAVs. The most recent developments related to such systems are reported. The system identification techniques used for FWMAVs can be classified into time-response based identification, frequency-response based identification, and the computational fluid-dynamics based computation. In the system identification scenario, least mean square estimation is used for a beetle mimicking system recognition. In the end, this review work is concluded and some recommendations for the researchers working in this area are presented. Citation: Khan, Q.; Akmeliawati, R. Keywords: system identification; mathematical modeling; aerodynamics; flapping wing micro- Review on System Identification and aerial vehicles Mathematical Modeling of Flapping Wing Micro-Aerial Vehicles.
    [Show full text]
  • Development of Small Sized Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial System
    Development of Small Sized Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial System PI: Professor A.K. Ghosh, Department of Aerospace Engineering Co-PI: Professor Deepu Philip, Department of Industrial and Management Engineering Professor J. Ramkumar, Department of Mechanical Engineering Professor Nishchal Vema, Department of Electrical Engineering Sponsor: IIT Kanpur and Prabhu Goel Foundation Product Characteristics he project aimed at developing a small sized Unmanned Aerial î Easy to assemble – modular approach, can System (UAS) based on the fixed wing platform, having long be carried on the back of a Jeep or Gypsy endurance, in a pusher configuration; capable of both civil and î Short take-off and landing: approximately T defense applications. The platform was chosen specifically to 50 feet of flat surface as runway î Autonomous flight capability – controlled accommodate future modifications to the design; larger wingspan by on-board autopilot, allows for multiple and heavier payloads. flight modes î Navigation and Flight modes: GPS based The developed UAS has long endurance - greater than seven hours, Waypoint navigation as well as loitering and good all-up weight - about 16 - 21 kilograms, in which payload flight mode for target tracking capacity varies from 2-6 kilograms. The UAS propulsion system can be î Payloads: Multiple surveillance and either electrical or gasoline, both mounted in a pusher configuration. environmental sensing payloads. The pusher configuration was chosen keeping in mind futuristic Example: EO camera, IR camera, Dual, Aerosol sensors, CO₂ sensors, etc. application of the UAS in sensitive areas where exhaust fumes from î Maximum Take Off Weight (MTOW): 16 to puller engine may affect different environmental sensors.
    [Show full text]
  • Bionic Ornithopter Owl (Stealth Flight)
    International Research Journal of Advanced Engineering and Science ISSN (Online): 2455-9024 Bionic Ornithopter Owl (Stealth Flight) G. Hemalatha1, S. Arulgnanasundari2, R. Prithviraj3, D. Godwin Sam4 1Assistant Professor, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, PPG Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India 2, 3, 4UG Scholar, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, PPG Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India Abstract—The present world has been reached to a stage wherever been designed and also the style limitation is illustrated during most of the subtle and sensitive tasks square measure largely done by this thesis. artificial hands. Drones, robots have been replaced the place of human with their uncompromised accuracy and efficiency. Regards II. BLOCK DIAGRAM this development the importance of study regarding robots or pilotless vehicles to perform sensitive works beneath human management may be a high demand of your time. We square measure concentrating on the aerial vehicles wish to integrate our ideas and works to develop a replacement kind of flight system to boost the management and manoeuvring talents of flying UAVs or drones. Our experiments will open a port for next generation flight development for drone applications. Our logic is nothing can fly efficient as the birds do. So copying from the flying behaviour of bird is possible to gain all the abilities like the bird. We developed a model that flaps its wings in fastened amplitude with variable frequencies. To do this we introduced a crank shaft mechanism to drive the wings. The model is Fig. 1. Block diagram high-powered by a 100watt dc motor with necessary case assemblies. Making it light weight was always a big challenge from the A.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comprehensive Review of Applications of Drone Technology in the Mining Industry
    drones Review A Comprehensive Review of Applications of Drone Technology in the Mining Industry Javad Shahmoradi 1, Elaheh Talebi 2, Pedram Roghanchi 1 and Mostafa Hassanalian 3,* 1 Department of Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801, USA; [email protected] (J.S.); [email protected] (P.R.) 2 Department of Mining Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; [email protected] 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801, USA * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 4 June 2020; Accepted: 13 July 2020; Published: 15 July 2020 Abstract: This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of drone technology and its applications in the mining industry. The mining industry has shown increased interest in the use of drones for routine operations. These applications include 3D mapping of the mine environment, ore control, rock discontinuities mapping, postblast rock fragmentation measurements, and tailing stability monitoring, to name a few. The article offers a review of drone types, specifications, and applications of commercially available drones for mining applications. Finally, the research needs for the design and implementation of drones for underground mining applications are discussed. Keywords: drones; remote sensing; surface mining; underground mining; abandoned mining 1. Introduction Drones, including unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and micro air vehicles (MAVs), have been used for a variety of civilian and military applications and missions. These unmanned flying systems are able to carry different sensors based on the type of their missions, such as acoustic, visual, chemical, and biological sensors. To enhance the performance and efficiency of drones, researchers have focused on the design optimization of drones that has resulted in the development and fabrication of various types of aerial vehicles with diverse capabilities.
    [Show full text]
  • (NOT) JUST for FUN Be Sure to Visit Our Logic Section for Thinking Games and Spelling/Vocabulary Section for Word Games Too!
    (NOT) JUST FOR FUN Be sure to visit our Logic section for thinking games and Spelling/Vocabulary section for word games too! Holiday & Gift Catalog press down to hear him squeak. The bottom of A new full-color catalog of selected fun stuff is each egg contains a unique shape sort to find the available each year in October. Request yours! egg’s home in the carton. Match each chick’s 000002 . FREE eyes to his respective eggshell top, or swap them around for mix-and-match fun. Everything stores TOYS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN easily in a sturdy yellow plastic egg carton with hinged lid. Toys for Ages 0-3 005998 . 11.95 9 .50 Also see Early Learning - Toys and Games for more. A . Oball Rattle & Roll (ages 3 mo+) Activity Books Part O-Ball, part vehicle, these super-grabba- ble cars offer lots of play for little crawlers and B . Cloth Books (ages 6 mo .+) teethers. The top portion of the car is like an These adorable soft cloth books are sure to ☼My First Phone (ages 1+) O-ball, while the tough-looking wheels feature intrigue young children! In Dress-Up Bear, the No beeps or lights here: just a clever little toy rattling beads inside for additional noise and fun. “book” unbuttons into teddy bear’s outfit for the to play pretend! Made from recycled materials Two styles (red/yellow and (green/blue); if you day. The front features a snap-together buckle by PLAN toys, this phone has 5 colorful buttons order more than one, we’ll assort.
    [Show full text]
  • Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior By
    Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior by Stanley Seunghoon Baek A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering - Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Ronald S. Fearing, Chair Professor J. Karl Hedrick Assistant Professor Pieter Abbeel Spring 2011 Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior Copyright 2011 by Stanley Seunghoon Baek 1 Abstract Autonomous Ornithopter Flight with Sensor-Based Seeking Behavior by Stanley Seunghoon Baek Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering - Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences University of California, Berkeley Professor Ronald S. Fearing, Chair This thesis presents the design of autonomous flight control algorithms for a flapping- wing aerial robot with onboard sensing and computational resources. We use a 13 gram ornithopter with biologically-inspired clap-and-fling mechanism. For autonomous flight con- trol, we have developed 1.0 gram control electronics integrated with a microcontroller, inertial and visual sensors, communication electronics, and motor drivers. We have also developed a simplified aerodynamic model of ornithopter flight to reduce the order of the control system. With the aerodynamic model and the orientation estimation from on-board inertial sensors, we present flight control of an ornithopter capable of flying toward a target using onboard sensing and computational resources only. To this end, we have developed a dead-reckoning algorithm to recover from the temporary loss of the target which can occur with a visual sensor with a narrow field of view. With closed-loop height regulation of the ornithopter, we propose a method for identifying the discrepancy between the tethered flight force measure- ment and the free flight aerodynamic force.
    [Show full text]
  • A NARRATIVE INQUIRY of WOMEN ELEMENTARY EDUCATORS in LEADERSHIP ROLES a Thesis Submitted in Conformity With
    SLIPPING THE BONDS: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF WOMEN ELEMENTARY EDUCATORS IN LEADERSHIP ROLES MARILYN 1. DICKSON A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Department Curriculum. Teaching, and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto 43 Marilyn I. Dickson (1998) National Library BiblioWque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 WeUimgton Street 395. rue Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON KIA ONQ Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auter a accorde me licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Caaada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduke, peter, distri-buer ou copies of this thesis m microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fb, de reproduction sur papier ou sur fonnat dectronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent Stre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. SLIPPING THE BONDS: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF WOMEN ELEMENTARY EDUCATORS IN LEADERSHIP ROLES Marilyn I. Dickson University of Toronto Doctor of Philosophy Department of Education (I 998) ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of women teachers as they moved into principal or vice principal positions.
    [Show full text]
  • Ornithopter Type Flapping Wings for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles
    Aerospace 2015, 2, 235-278; doi:10.3390/aerospace2020235 OPEN ACCESS aerospace ISSN 2226-4310 www.mdpi.com/journal/aerospace Article Ornithopter Type Flapping Wings for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles Sutthiphong Srigrarom 1,* and Woei-Leong Chan 2 1 Aerospace Systems, University of Glasgow Singapore, 500, Dover Rd., #T1A-02-24, Singapore 139651 2 Temasek Laboratories, National University of Singapore, #09-02, 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411; E-Mail: [email protected] * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +65-6908-6033. Academic Editors: David Anderson and Rafic Ajaj Received: 2 February 2015 / Accepted: 4 May 2015 / Published: 13 May 2015 Abstract: In this paper, an ornithopter prototype that mimics the flapping motion of bird flight is developed, and the lift and thrust generation characteristics of different wing designs are evaluated. This project focused on the spar arrangement and material used for the wings that could achieves improved performance. Various lift and thrust measurement techniques are explored and evaluated. Various wings of insects and birds were evaluated to understand how these natural flyers with flapping wings are able to produce sufficient lift to fly. The differences in the flapping aerodynamics were also detailed. Experiments on different wing designs and materials were conducted and a paramount wing was built for a test flight. The first prototype has a length of 46.5 cm, wing span of 88 cm, and weighs 161 g. A mechanism which produced a flapping motion was fabricated and designed to create flapping flight. The flapping flight was produced by using a single motor and a flexible and light wing structure.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward Biologically Inspired Human-Carrying Ornithopter Robot Capable of Hover
    Toward Biologically Inspired Human-Carrying Ornithopter Robot Capable of Hover April 2013 A Major Qualifying Project Report Submitted to the Faculty of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Bachelor of Science By Nicholas Deisadze Woo Chan Jo Bo Rim Seo Prof. Marko B. Popovic, Major Advisor Prof. Stephen S. Nestinger, Co-Advisor Abstract Since dawn of time humans have aspired to fly like birds. However, human carrying ornithopter that can hover by flapping wings does not exist despite many attempts to build one. This motivated our MQP team to address feasibility of heavy weight biologically inspired hovering robot. To this end, aerodynamics of flapping wing flight was analyzed by means of an analytical model and numerical simulation, and validated through physical experiments. Two ornithopter prototypes were designed, constructed and evaluated under repeatable lab conditions. A small-scale ornithopter design, weighing 2.0 kg with a 1.2 m wingspan flapping at 2.5 Hz flapping frequency, was designed with a crank-rocker drive mechanism having wings with integrated flaps for reduced upstroke induced drag. This model was activated on a force plate to measure the lift forces. Due to a low signal-to-noise ratio, this experiment was unable to validate our theoretical model. A large-scale ornithopter design, weighing 22 kg with a wing span of 3.2 m flapping at 4 Hz flapping frequency, used a spring-based drive mechanism to enhance power output during downstroke. The large-scale ornithopter was tethered to a spring and activated while data were gathered with high-speed video camera.
    [Show full text]
  • Experimental Dynamics of Wing Assisted Running for a Bipedal Ornithopter
    Experimental Dynamics of Wing Assisted Running for a Bipedal Ornithopter Kevin Peterson and Ronald S. Fearing Abstract— BOLT is a lightweight bipedal ornithopter capa- ble of high-speed dynamic running and effecting transitions between aerial and terrestrial locomotion modes. The gait dynamics of both quasi-static and dynamic locomotion are examined through the use of an on-board accelerometer, part of a one gram electronics package also containing a processor and radio. We discuss the accelerations in the context of the traditional spring-loaded inverted pendulum model seen in nearly all legged locomotion in organisms. Flapping wings are shown to provide damping along with propulsive force. The aerodynamic forces of the flapping wings also impart passive stability to the robot, enabling it to run bipedally with only a single actuator. BOLT transitions from ground running to aerial hovering in as little as one meter of runway. Overall, the advantages provided by wings in terrestrial locomotion, coupled with aerial capabilities, allow BOLT to navigate complex three dimensional environments, switching between locomotion modes when necessary. I. INTRODUCTION Fig. 1. BOLT: a bipedal ornithopter capable of both arial and terrestrial Navigating complex three dimensional environments is an locomotion. ability that is seemingly trivial for small animals, yet pro- vides significant challenges for robots today. Small, mobile robots (mass on the order of grams, linear dimensions on a hybrid robot could choose the best mode of locomotion the order of centimeters) provide many advantages when given the obstacles confronting it. exploring an environment, and are capable of operating in Many successful small terrestrial robots have been pre- small spaces unreachable by a larger robot.
    [Show full text]