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Building an Enhanced Flight Mill for the Study of Tethered Insect Flight

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Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities.

Enrico Ajanic¹, Mir Feroskhan², Stefano Mintchev^3,4

¹School of Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. enrico.ajanic@epfl.ch dario.floreano@epfl.ch.

Science Robotics

|October 29, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces an avian-inspired drone with morphing wings and tail surfaces. This biomimetic design enhances drone agility, speed range, and power efficiency across various flight conditions.

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Area of Science:

Aerospace Engineering
Biomimetics
Robotics

Background:

Winged drone aerodynamic designs are typically optimized for specific flight regimes, leading to trade-offs between maneuverability and range.
Birds, such as the northern goshawk, adapt their wing and tail areas to meet diverse aerodynamic demands for different flight environments.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effectiveness of an avian-inspired morphing strategy for improving drone flight capabilities.
To explore the synergistic effects of morphing wing and tail surfaces on drone performance across various flight regimes.

Main Methods:

Development of an avian-inspired drone with adaptive wing and tail morphing capabilities.
Wind tunnel testing to characterize flight performance across different morphing configurations.
Optimization studies and outdoor flight tests to validate drone capabilities.

Main Results:

The morphing strategy significantly improved drone agility, maneuverability, and stability.
Adaptive wing and tail morphing expanded the drone's flight speed range while reducing power consumption.
Synergy between morphing wing and tail surfaces demonstrated enhanced overall flight efficiency.

Conclusions:

Avian-inspired morphing surfaces offer a viable design principle for enhancing drone adaptability and performance.
This approach provides an alternative to fixed-wing designs, enabling drones to operate effectively in diverse flight conditions.
The study offers insights into the aerodynamic principles underlying avian flight and their application in drone technology.