Experimental Demonstration of the Vibrational Stabilization Phenomenon in Bio-Inspired Flying Robots

Bio-inspired flying robots (BIFRs) are micro-air-vehicles that use biomimetic actuation (oscillatory flapping wing) for lift, propulsion, and control. The dynamic behavior of these bio-inspired systems is quite intricate to study as it is typically described by a multibody, multi-time-scale, nonlinear, time-varying dynamical system. However, this rich dynamics lead to unconventional stabilization mechanisms whose study essentially necessitates a mathematically rigorous analysis. Our recent efforts using differential geometric control theory revealed a vibrational stabilization mechanism induced on the body pitching due to the interaction between the fast wing flapping dynamics and the slow body dynamics. In this effort, we construct an experimental setup allowing for two degrees of freedom for the body; vertical motion and pitching motion. The objective is to experimentally verify and demonstrate the vibrational stabilization phenomenon in insect flight and its mimicking BIFRs.