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Insect-inspired passive wing collision recovery in flapping wing microrobots
Zixuan Li1,2,3, Long Cui1,2, Hongwei Wang1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.
Bioinspiration & Biomimetics
|January 10, 2025
Summary
Inspired by insects, a new flexible folding wing design with adaptive leading edges improves micro aerial vehicle (MAV) collision recovery. This biomimetic approach enhances MAV resilience and obstacle-crossing capabilities in dynamic environments.
Area of Science:
- Biomimetics and Bio-inspired Engineering
- Robotics and Control Systems
- Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics
Background:
- Insects utilize adaptive leading edges for collision resilience.
- Micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) face challenges in collision recovery.
- Existing MAV designs lack bio-inspired adaptive mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a novel passive, flexible, folding wing with adaptive leading edges for MAVs.
- To mimic insect stiffness anisotropy for improved collision recovery.
- To quantify the performance benefits of adaptive wings compared to rigid wings.
Main Methods:
- Designed and fabricated a passive, flexible, folding wing with adaptive leading edges.
- Systematically evaluated flight performance, including lift generation and obstacle-crossing.
- Assessed mechanical stiffness to validate functional effectiveness.
- Integrated the adaptive wing mechanism into a flapping-wing robot.
Main Results:
- Adaptive deformable wings showed variations in lift and obstacle-crossing compared to rigid wings.
- The dual-layer flapping-wing robot with adaptive wings demonstrated successful flight recovery after collision.
- A 30 cm wingspan robot successfully traversed a 16.2 cm gap, showcasing enhanced collision resilience.
Conclusions:
- The proposed adaptive folding wing design significantly enhances MAV collision recovery.
- Biomimicry of insect leading edges offers a promising strategy for robust MAV performance.
- Adaptive wing designs hold potential for improving MAV resilience in complex, dynamic environments.
