Passive Aerodynamic Drag Balancing in a Flapping-Wing Robotic Insect

Abstract

Flapping-wing robotic platforms based on Dipteran insects have demonstrated lift to weight ratios greater than 1, but research into regulating the aerodynamic forces produced by their wings has largely focused on active wing trajectory control. In an alternate approach, a flapping-wing drivetrain design that passively balances aerodynamic drag torques is presented. A discussion of the dynamic properties of this millimeter-scale underactuated planar linkage accompanies an experimental test of an at-scale device. This mechanism introduces a novel strategy for regulating forces and torques from flapping wings, using passive mechanical elements to potentially simplify control systems for mass and power limited flapping-wing robotic platforms.