'American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)'
Doi
Abstract
This article presents a new control approach for engineered
flapping flight with many interacting degrees of freedom. This paper explores the applications of neurobiologically
inspired control systems in the form of Central Pattern Generators (CPG) to generate wing trajectories for potential flapping flight MAVs. We present a rigorous mathematical and control theoretic framework to design complex three dimensional motions of flapping wings. Most
flapping flight demonstrators are mechanically limited in generating the wing trajectories. Because CPGs lend themselves to more biological examples of flight, a novel
robotic model has been developed to emulate the flight of bats. This model has shoulder and leg joints totaling 10 degrees of freedom for control of wing properties. Results of wind tunnel experiments and numerical simulation of CPG-based flight control validate the effectiveness of the proposed neurobiologically inspired control approach