Improvement of an aerodynamic model for biomimetic flapping-wing robots

Abstract

Biomimetic flapping-wing robot is a new type of miniature air vehicle mimicking birds or insects to fly, with many unique advantages that traditional fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircrafts do not possess. Unsteady aerodynamics at low Reynolds number is the main theory applied to the flight analysis of such air vehicles with flapping-wings, and it is still a big challenge. Various models have recently been built for flapping-wing robots. However, these models are just approximate and need improvement. In this paper, we first design the flight parameters of a flapping-wing robot with geometric similarity, introduce a basic aerodynamic model, and then address optimization of the important flight parameters including duration of downstroke and upstroke, wingspan, chord width of the aerofoil and angle of attack. We perform simulations to illustrate and verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the improved model.