Improvement of power efficiency in flapping-wing MAVs through a semi-passive motion control approach

Among unmanned aerial systems (UASs), flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) are perhaps the newest field of research. Inspired by small size and agile flight of insects and birds, these vehicles offer a great potential for applications such as reconnaissance, surveillance, search and rescue, mapping, etc. However, practicality of these systems still depends on how we overcome various challenges ranging from control methodology to morphological construction and power supply. Further inspiration from solutions in nature is one way of approaching such problems. Through modeling synchronous muscles in insects, we have previously shown that manipulation of mechanical impedance properties at wing joints can be a very efficient method for controlling lift and thrust production in flapping-wing MAVs. In our current work, we will investigate the power requirements of this control approach through simulated flight experiments. The results indicate that these requirements are considerably lower compared to when conventional control strategies - methods that often rely on changing stroke properties such as frequency or magnitude of the flapping motion - are employed. With less power demands, we believe our proposed control strategy is able to significantly improve flight time in future flapping-wing MAVs.