Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Springy Shells, Pliant Plates and Minimal Motors: Abstracting the Insect Thorax to Drive a Micro-Air Vehicle

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Flying Insects and Robots

Abstract

The skeletons of the wing-bearing segments of advanced insects show unexploited potential in the design of biomimetic flapping MAVs. They consist of thin, springy, composite shells, cyclically deformed by large, enclosed muscles to flap the wings as first-order levers over lateral fulcra. The wings are light, flexible, membrane-covered frameworks, with no internal muscles, whose deformations in flight are encoded in their structure; they are ‘smart’ aerofoils. Both thorax and wings are apparently resonant structures, storing energy elastically, and tuned to deform appropriately at their operating frequencies. The form of the basic wing stroke is determined structurally, but is modulated by a series of controlling muscles, contracting tonically to alter the positions of skeletal components over the course of several stroke cycles. Fuel economy through lightness, low wing inertia and cyclic energy storage are all desirable in a flapping MAV. Furthermore, the insects’ peculiar combination of structural automation with modulation has great potential in achieving versatile kinematics with relatively few actuators. Aspects of the thoracic functioning of an advanced fly can be simulated in a simple card flapping model, combining the properties of a closed four-bar linkage with the elastic lateral buckling of a domed shell. Instructions for building this are included. Addition of further degrees of freedom, along with biomimetic smart wings, would seem to allow other crucial kinematic variables to be introduced and controlled with minimum actuation, and ways are suggested how this might be achieved in a sophisticated mechanism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Avadhanula, S., Wood, R.J., Steltz, E. Yan, J., Fearing, R.S.: Lift force improvements for the Micromechanical Flying Insect. IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems 1350–1356 (October 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Banala, S., Agrawal, S.K.: Design and optimization of a mechanism for out-of-plane insect wing-like motion with twist. Transactions ASME, Journal of Mechanical Design 127, 817–824 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Betts, C.R.: The kinematics of Heteroptera in free flight. Journal of Zoology B 1, 303–315 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Conn, A.T., Burgess, S.C., Ling, S.C.: Design of a parallel crank-rocker flapping mechanism for insect-inspired micro air vehicles. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers C. Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science 221(10), 1211–1222 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Dickinson, M.H., Lehmann, E.O., Sane, S.P.: Wing rotation and the aerodynamic basis of insect flight. Science 284, 1954–1960 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dudley, R.: The Biomechanics of Insect Flight. Princeton University Press. Princeton, N.J. (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ellington, C.P.: The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. III. Kinematics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B 305, 41–78 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ellington, C.P.: The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. IV Aerodynamic mechanisms. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B 305, 79–113 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ennos, A.R.: A comparative study of the flight mechanism of Diptera. Journal of Experimental Biology 127, 355–372 (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ennos, A.R.: The kinematics and aerodynamics of the free flight of some Diptera. Journal of Experimental Biology 142, 49–85 (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ennos, A.R.: Mechanical behaviour in torsion of insect wings, blades of grass, and other cambered structures. Procedings of the Royal Society London B 259, 15–18 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Galinski, C., Zbikowski, R.: Insect-like flapping wing mechanism based on a double spherical Scotch yoke. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 2(3), 223–235 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Greenwalt, C.H.: The wings of insects and birds as mechanical oscillators. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 104, 605–611 (1960)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Khan, Z.A., Agrawal, S.K.: Design of flapping mechanisms based on transverse bending mechanisms in insects. Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Orlando, Florida, 2323–2328 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Madangopal, R., Khan, Z.A., Agrawal, S.K.: Biologically inspired design of small flapping wing air vehicles using four-bar mechanisms and quasi-steady aerodynamics. Journal of Mechanical Design 127(4), 809–816 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Madangopal, R., Khan, Z.A., Agrawal, S.K.: Energetics-based design of small flapping-wing micro air vehicles. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 11(4), 433–438 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. McIntosh, S.H., Agrawal, S.K., Khan, Z.A.: Design of a mechanism for biaxial rotation of a wing for a hovering vehicle. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 11(2), 145–153 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Mukerjee, S., Sanghi, S.: Design of a six-link mechanism for a micro air vehicle. Defence Science Journal 54, 271–276 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Nachtigall, W.: Mechanics and aerodynamics of flight. In: G.J. Goldsworthy, C.H. Wheeler (eds.) Insect Flight, pp. 1–28. CRC Press Inc. Boca Baton (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Neville, A.C.: Biology of Fibrous Composites: Development Beyond the Cell Membrane. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Newman, D.J.S., Wootton, R.J.: An approach to the mechanics of pleating in dragonfly wings. Journal of Experimental Biology 125, 361–372 (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Steltz, E., Wood, R.J., Avadhanula, S., Fearing, R.S.: Characterization of the Micromechanical Flying Insect by optical position sensing. Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona 1–4, 1252–1257 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Vincent, J.F.V.: Insect cuticle: a paradigm for natural composites. In: J.F.V. Vincent, J.D. Currey (eds.) The Mechanical Properties of Biological Materials, pp. 183–210. Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology 34. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Vogel, S.: Cats’ Paws and Catapults. 382 pp. W.W. Norton and Company New York (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Wakeling, J.M., Ellington, C.P.: Dragonfly flight. II. Velocities, accelerations and kinematics of flapping flight. Journal of Experimental Biology 200, 557–582 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Weis-Fogh, T.: Quick estimates of flight fitness in hovering animals, including novel mechanisms for lift production. Journal of Experimental Biology 59, 169–230 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Wilmott, A.P., Ellington, C.P. The mechanics of flight in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. I. Kinematics of hovering and forward flight. Journal of Experimental Biology 200, 2705–2722 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Wisser, A., Nachtigall, W.: Functional-morphological investigations on the flight muscles and their insertion points in the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala (Insecta, Diptera). Zoomorphology 104, 188–195 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Wisser, A., Nachtigall, W.: Mechanism of wing rotating regulation in Calliphora (Insecta, Diptera). Zoomorphology 111, 111 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Wood, R.J.: Design, fabrication and analysis of a 3 DOF, 3 cm flapping-wing MAV. IEEE/RSJ IROS, San Diego, CA, (October 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Wood, R.J.: The first take off of a biologically-inspired at-scale robotic insect. IEEE Transactions on Robotics 24 (2), 341–347 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Wootton, R.J.: Support and deformability in insect wings. Journal of Zoology London 193, 447–468 (1981)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Wootton, R.J.: Functional morphology of insect wings. Annual Review of Entomology Palo Alto 37, 113–140 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Wootton, R.J.: Leading edge section and asymmetric twisting in the wings of flying butterflies. Journal of Experimental Biology 180, 105–117 (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Wootton, R.J., Herbert, R.C., Young, P.G., Evans, K.E.: Approaches to the structural modelling of insect wings. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B 358, 1577–1587 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Zbikowski, R., Galinski, C., Pedersen, C.B.: Four-bar linkage mechanism for insectlike flapping wings in hover: Concept and an outline of its realization. Journal of Mechanical Design 127, 817–824 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biosciences, Exeter University, EX4 4QD, Exeter, UK

    Robin J. Wootton

Authors
  1. Robin J. Wootton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robin J. Wootton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Dario Floreano

  2. Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Jean-Christophe Zufferey

  3. Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Australia

    Mandyam V. Srinivasan

  4. Dept. Zoology, University Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom

    Charlie Ellington

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wootton, R.J. (2009). Springy Shells, Pliant Plates and Minimal Motors: Abstracting the Insect Thorax to Drive a Micro-Air Vehicle. In: Floreano, D., Zufferey, JC., Srinivasan, M., Ellington, C. (eds) Flying Insects and Robots. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89393-6_15

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89393-6_15

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-89392-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-89393-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation