Modeling Synchronous Muscle Function in Insect Flight: a Bio-Inspired Approach to Force Control in Flapping-Wing MAVs

Authors:
Hosein Mahjoubi;Katie Byl
Affiliations:
Robotics Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA 93106;Robotics Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA 93106
Venue:
Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems
Year:
2013

Citing 3
Cited 1

Flapping flight for biomimetic robotic insects: part I-system modeling

IEEE Transactions on Robotics
The First Takeoff of a Biologically Inspired At-Scale Robotic Insect

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A Robot Joint With Variable Stiffness Using Leaf Springs

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Efficient Flight Control via Mechanical Impedance Manipulation: Energy Analyses for Hummingbird-Inspired MAVs

Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems

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Abstract

Micro-aerial vehicles (MAV) and their promising applications--such as undetected surveillance or exploration of environments with little space for land-based maneuvers--are a well-known topic in the field of aerial robotics. Inspired by high maneuverability and agile flight of insects, over the past two decades a significant amount of effort has been dedicated to research on flapping-wing MAVs, most of which aim to address unique challenges in morphological construction, force production, and control strategy. Although remarkable solutions have been found for sufficient lift generation, effective methods for motion control still remain an open problem. The focus of this paper is to investigate general flight control mechanisms that are potentially used by real insects, thereby providing inspirations for flapping-wing MAV control. Through modeling the insect flight muscles, we show that stiffness and set point of the wing's joint can be respectively tuned to regulate the wing's lift and thrust forces. Therefore, employing a suitable controller with variable impedance actuators at each wing joint is a prospective approach to agile flight control of insect-inspired MAVs. The results of simulated flight experiments with one such controller are provided and support our claim.