COLIBRI: A Robotic Hummingbird

This paper describes the results of a 7 years project aiming at designing, constructing and testing a tail-less hovering flapping twin-wing robot of the size of a hummingbird. The paper focuses on some recent improvements in the field of flapping mechanism and wing aerodynamics. Of particular interest is the fluidstructure interaction resulting from the flexibility of the leading edge bar of the wing.