Design and Fabrication of Servo-Driven Bird-Inspired Flapping-Wing Air Vehicle

Abstract

A flapping-wing air vehicle (FWAV) is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings, like birds or insects. General bird-inspired FWAVs convert the rotational motion of the DC motor into reciprocating motion of the link to create flapping motion. However, these methods have difficulty in realizing various flapping motions like real birds. In addition, in the case of a single-joint wing used in many FWAVs, it has convenience in manufacturing due to its relatively simple structure, but has a disadvantage in that it does not efficiently generate aerodynamic forces. In this study, in order to solve these problems, both main wings are individually controlled to implement various flapping motions according to the flight situation, and a folding-wing mechanism is designed to increase lift efficiency. To verify the feasibility of flapping motion and folding motion implementation using servomotors, aerodynamic analysis using a unsteady aerodynamic model and flight dynamics simulation were performed, and a prototype was fabricated to confirm normal operation of all motions.