Development of novel flapping mechanism technologies for insect-inspired micro air vehicles

Insect-inspired micro air vehicles (MAVs) have the capacity for higher lift forces and greater manoeuvrability at low flight speeds compared to conventional flight platforms, making them suitable for novel indoor flight applications. This thesis presents development studies of an actuated flapping mechanism for an insect-inspired MAV. An original theoretical understanding has shown that the kinematical constraint of a flapping mechanism fundamentally determines its complexity and performance. An under-constrained mechanism is optimal but almost always requires a linear input. A power optimisation study has demonstrated that the only technologically mature actuation devices with viable power densities for flight are rotary. Consequently, previous airborne flapping MAVs utilised constrained rotary-input mechanisms which require conventional control surfaces that significantly reduce flight manoeuvrability.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo