Model-Based Predictive Control of Insect-Like Flapping Wing Aerial Micro-Robot

Abstract

This paper presents a constrained predictive control scheme for a generic class of insectlike flapping wing aerial micro-robots. The control law is based on a linearized timeaveraged model of insect flight dynamics in a forward flight, and control inputs are chosen from a specified set of wing kinematic parameters including the stroke amplitude, the mean stroke angle and the stoke plane deviation angle. These kinematic parameters are modulated according to the constrained optimization of predicted and desired future outputs of the system with consideration of explicit boundary constraints on the control inputs. The control algorithm is implemented to a practical model of the insect flight dynamics in an accelerating forward flight, and the results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.