The effect of wing flexibility on aerodynamic force production has emerged as a central question in insect flight research. However, physical and computational models have yielded conflicting results regarding whether wing deformations enhance or diminish flight forces. By experimentally stiffening the wings of live bumblebees, we demonstrate that wing flexibility affects aerodynamic force prod...

This paper describes a feasibility study that is included with the research, development and testing of a micro communications sonobuoy deployable by Maritime Fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (M-UAV) and rotor wing Quad Copters which are both currently being developed by the University of Adelaide. The micro communications sonobuoy is developed to act as a seamless communication relay betwee...

The aim of this work is to present the development a bio-inspired approach for robotic tail using Macro Fiber Composites (MFC) as actuators. use technology will allow achieving closer nature tail, aiming mimic bird behavior. change its shape, performing morphing, providing new type actuation methodology in flapping control systems. intended first step demonstrating potential these technologies ...

Introduction Flapping birds and insects are often likened to revolving propeller blades or rotors because their wings generate lift by steadily pushing air downward. Two influential aerodynamic models of flight in insects (Ellington, 1984c) and birds (Rayner, 1979) drew much inspiration from the extensive theoretical work on rotor aerodynamics. These models focused primarily on the far-field wa...

Bats exhibit extraordinary flight capabilities that arise by virtue of a variety of unique mechanical features. These flying mammals have developed powerful muscles that provide the folding and extension of their wing-membrane during flight (morphing). Although observing and gaining inspiration from these animals can provide significant insight into the physical requirements of flapping flight,...

Flapping flight is ubiquitous in Nature, yet cilia and flagella, not wings, prevail in the world of micro-organisms. This paper addresses this dichotomy. We investigate experimentally the dynamics of a wing, flapped up and down and free to move horizontally. The wing begins to move forward spontaneously as a critical frequency is exceeded, indicating that ‘flapping flight’ occurs as a symmetry-...

Three-dimensional numerical simulations are used to investigate the hydrodynamic performance and the wake patterns of a sunfish in steady swimming. Immersed boundary method for deformable attaching bodies (IBM-DAB) are used to handle complex moving boundaries of one solid body (fish body) attached with several membranes (fins). The effects of the vortices shed from both the dorsal and anal fins...

In this paper, the energetics of a flapping wing micro air vehicle is analyzed with the objective of design of flapping wing air vehicles. The salient features of this study are: (i) design of an energy storage mechanism in the air vehicle similar to an insect thorax which stores part of the kinetic energy of the wing as elastic potential energy in the thorax during a flapping cycle; (ii) inclu...

Insect wing shapes are diverse and a renowned source of inspiration for the new generation of autonomous flapping vehicles, yet the aerodynamic consequences of varying geometry is not well understood. One of the most defining and aerodynamically significant measures of wing shape is the aspect ratio, defined as the ratio of wing length (R) to mean wing chord (c). We investigated the impact of a...

Real-time and drift-free state estimation is essential for the flight control of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Due to vibration caused by particular flapping motion stringent constraints scale, weight, power, divergence actually becomes an open challenge wing platforms’ longterm stable flight. Unlike conventional MAVs, direct adoption mature strategies, such as inertial or vision-based methods,...