Design and Development of a Folding Mechanism for Bat-like Bioinspired Wing

Abstract

Bat is the only mammal capable of powered flight. The most distinctive feature of the batwing is the ability to fold and unfold the wing during the upstroke and downstroke respectively, giving them high maneuverability and energy efficiency. We aim to mimic this folding capability of the batwing in a robotic counterpart. In this paper we have presented a novel single degree of freedom mechanism for wing folding and unfolding, taking into account the kinematics of a biological batwing. We discuss the aerodynamic loading and structural integrity analysis of the mechanism and utilize this to design and fabricate a working prototype.