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The Limits of Turning Control in Flying Insects

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Flying Insects and Robots

Abstract

This chapter provides insights into the turning flight of insects, considering this specific behavior from experimental and numerical perspectives. The presented analyses emphasize the need for a comparative approach to flight control that links an insect’s maneuverability with the physical properties of its body, the properties and response delays of the sensory organs, and the precision with which the muscular system controls the movements of the wings.

In particular, the chapter focuses on the trade-off between lift production and the requirement to produce lateral forces during turning flight. Such information will be useful not only for a better understanding of the evolution and mechanics of insect flight but also for engineers who aim to improve the performance of the future generation of biomimetic micro-air vehicles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neurobiology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Fritz-Olaf Lehmann

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  1. Fritz-Olaf Lehmann
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Correspondence to Fritz-Olaf Lehmann .

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

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Lehmann, FO. (2009). The Limits of Turning Control in Flying Insects. 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_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89393-6_17

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