Avian wing elements have been shown to experience both dorsoventral bending and torsional loads during flapping flight. However, not all birds use continuous flapping as a primary flight strategy. The pelecaniforms exhibit extraordinary diversity in flight mode, utilizing flapping, flap-gliding, and soaring. Here we (1) characterize the cross-sectional geometry of the three main wing bone (hume...

Flapping wing miniature aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) offer advantages over traditional fixed wing or quadrotor MAV platforms because they are more maneuverable than fixed wing aircraft and are more energy efficient than quadrotors, while being quieter than both. Currently, autonomy in FWMAVs has only been implemented in flapping vehicles without independent wing control, limiting their level of con...

The turning flight of six microchiropteran bat species is described. The bats' abilities to turn tightly were determined by their abilities to fly slowly and to generate high lateral accelerations. Rhinolophus ferrumequinum developed high lateral accelerations by flapping its banked wings while flying at very low speed. Plecotus auritus turned at relatively low speed and at low lateral accelera...

In order to study the role of the passive deformation in the aerodynamics of insect wings, we computationally model the three-dimensional fluid–structure interaction of an elastic rectangular wing at a low aspect ratio during hovering flight. The code couples a viscous incompressible flow solver based on the immersedboundary method and a nonlinear finite-element solver for thin-walled structure...

The aerial environment in the operating domain of small-scale natural and artificial flapping wing fliers is highly complex, unsteady and generally turbulent. Considering flapping flight in an unsteady wind environment with a periodically varying lateral velocity component, we show that body rotations experienced by flapping wing fliers result in the reorientation of the aerodynamic force vecto...

Flapping-wing kinematics for insect flight has been studied for decades, especially since engineers became interested in flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs). Previous work mainly focused on understanding kinematic patterns employed by different insects from the perspective of their trajectories and aerodynamics, and on optimization of kinematic parameters to enhance the understanding. How...

Control of ornithopters is challenging due to the unsteady flow generated by the flapping wings. The research presented in this paper is aimed at developing a sensor-based control methodology. Specifically, a distributed pressure sensing system embedded in the flapping wing surfaces is utilized to provide real-time aerodynamic force estimates to facilitate the development of feedback for an orn...

The aim of the article is the kinematic and geometric design of a flapping wing UAV, in order to develop an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, capable of executing reconnaissance and video-surveillance missions. To define the characteristic dimensions of the vehicle a biological study was initially carried out, analyzing, for example, the weight-wingspan ratio for the correct kinematics of the flight. On...

Flapping flippers or fins are widely employed in biomimetic and bioinspired aquatic robots that imitate natural swimmers, such as fish dolphins. This article involves robotic biomimetics of the penguin, which is often overlooked an excellent swimmer benefiting from agile wings. To achieve equivalent swimming skills robot, wing motion a real penguin was investigated. Based on findings, we develo...

Insect wings demonstrate elaborate three-dimensional deformations and kinematics. These deformations are key to understanding many aspects of insect flight including aerodynamics, structural dynamics and control. In this paper, we propose a template-based subdivision surface reconstruction method that is capable of reconstructing the wing deformations and kinematics of free-flying insects based...