TY - JOUR
T1 - Dipteran wing motor-inspired flapping flight versatility and effectiveness enhancement
AU - Harne, R. L.
AU - Wang, K. W.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/3/6
Y1 - 2015/3/6
N2 - Insects are a prime source of inspiration towards the development of small-scale, engineered, flapping wing flight systems. To help interpret the possible energy transformation strategies observed in Diptera as inspiration for mechanical flapping flight systems, we revisit the perspective of the dipteran wing motor as a bistable click mechanism and take a new, and more flexible, outlook to the architectural composition previously considered. Using a representative structural model alongside biological insights and cues from nonlinear dynamics, our analyses and experimental results reveal that a flight mechanism able to adjust motor axial support stiffness and compression characteristics may dramatically modulate the amplitude range and type of wing stroke dynamics achievable. This corresponds to significantly more versatile aerodynamic force generation without otherwise changing flapping frequency or driving force amplitude. Whether monostable or bistable, the axial stiffness is key to enhance compressed motor load bearing ability and aerodynamic efficiency, particularly compared with uncompressed linear motors. These findings provide new foundation to guide future development of bioinspired, flapping wing mechanisms for micro air vehicle applications, and may be used to provide insight to the dipteran muscle-to-wing interface.
AB - Insects are a prime source of inspiration towards the development of small-scale, engineered, flapping wing flight systems. To help interpret the possible energy transformation strategies observed in Diptera as inspiration for mechanical flapping flight systems, we revisit the perspective of the dipteran wing motor as a bistable click mechanism and take a new, and more flexible, outlook to the architectural composition previously considered. Using a representative structural model alongside biological insights and cues from nonlinear dynamics, our analyses and experimental results reveal that a flight mechanism able to adjust motor axial support stiffness and compression characteristics may dramatically modulate the amplitude range and type of wing stroke dynamics achievable. This corresponds to significantly more versatile aerodynamic force generation without otherwise changing flapping frequency or driving force amplitude. Whether monostable or bistable, the axial stiffness is key to enhance compressed motor load bearing ability and aerodynamic efficiency, particularly compared with uncompressed linear motors. These findings provide new foundation to guide future development of bioinspired, flapping wing mechanisms for micro air vehicle applications, and may be used to provide insight to the dipteran muscle-to-wing interface.
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U2 - 10.1098/rsif.2014.1367
DO - 10.1098/rsif.2014.1367
M3 - Article
C2 - 25608517
AN - SCOPUS:84923239866
SN - 1742-5689
VL - 12
JO - Journal of the Royal Society Interface
JF - Journal of the Royal Society Interface
IS - 104
M1 - 20141367
ER -