Design and Flight Experiment of a Motor-Directly-Driven Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle with Extension Springs

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Aerospace Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Micro air vehicles (MAVs) are increasingly important for various applications.
• Flapping-wing MAVs offer biomimetic advantages but face control challenges.
• Resonant actuation can enhance efficiency and performance in flapping-wing MAVs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, control, and experimentally validate a motor-directly-driven flapping-wing MAV with extension springs (MDD-FWMAVES).
• To investigate resonant frequency and attitude control capabilities.
• To assess the feasibility of onboard feedback control for stable flight.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a linear extension spring for resonant flapping wing actuation.
• Employed a six-axis load cell to measure generated moments for attitude control.
• Integrated MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers with a complementary filter for attitude estimation.
• Implemented simple roll and pitch PD controllers on an ultra-compact electronic control board.

Main Results:

• Determined a resonant frequency of 19.59 Hz for the flapping-wing mechanism, experimentally confirmed at 20 Hz.
• Demonstrated linear proportionality between wing flapping variations and generated roll, pitch, and yaw moments.
• Achieved stable hovering for approximately 6 seconds with successful roll and pitch control.
• Yaw control was not achieved in the current configuration.

Conclusions:

• The MDD-FWMAVES design successfully achieved resonant flapping and demonstrated stable roll and pitch control.
• The study highlights the potential of resonant actuation for flapping-wing MAVs.
• Further improvements in the flight system and controller are needed to achieve full attitude control and enhance performance.