Embodied airflow sensing for improved in-gust flight of flapping wing MAVs

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Aerospace Engineering
• Control Systems

Background:

• Flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) exhibit high agility but struggle with stability in wind gusts.
• Existing FWMAVs lack the robustness of biological counterparts when facing adverse wind conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enable stable in-gust flight for FWMAVs using an embodied airflow sensing approach.
• To develop an adaptive control framework to enhance FWMAV performance in turbulent wind environments.

Main Methods:

• Conducted extensive experimental campaigns on a real FWMAV to model in-gust flight dynamics.
• Developed and integrated an embodied airflow sensing system with adaptive velocity and position control loops.
• Validated the proposed framework against a standard cascaded PID controller.

Main Results:

• The adaptive control framework significantly improved flight performance in frontal wind gusts up to 2.4 m/s.
• Reduced root-mean-square errors along the wind direction by 25.15% compared to a standard PID controller.
• Demonstrated reliable flight performance enhancement in gusty conditions.

Conclusions:

• The integrated embodied airflow sensing and adaptive control framework is effective for in-gust flight of FWMAVs.
• This approach provides a foundation for advancing the capabilities of lightweight flapping wing drones in challenging weather.
• The study highlights the potential of bio-inspired sensing and control for robust aerial robot operation.