In this paper, we derive longitudinal nonlinear equations of motion of a hovering insect with deformable abdomen to investigate the effect of the abdominal motion to the longitudinal dynamics. The blade-element theory, which is based on experimentally obtained aerodynamic coefficients, is used for the periodic force and moment excitation to the system. Here, we focus on the role of the deformable abdomen to investigate whether or not the flexible body is a decisive factor to the longitudinal flight dynamic stability. Three cases: 1) rigid connection between the thorax and abdomen, 2) flexible connection, and 3) active connection with a feedback control, are compared to check the role of the abdomen deformation on the longitudinal flight dynamic stability, by examining eigenvalues of the linearized system model of each case. The results show that an active control of the abdominal angle can stabilize the longitudinal flight dynamics of the insect modeled in this study.

Date Published: 26 March 2015
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 9429, Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication 2015, 94291K (26 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2083847

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9429:
Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication 2015
Akhlesh Lakhtakia; Mato Knez; Raúl J. Martín-Palma, Editor(s)