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Bio-inspired wing-folding mechanism of micro air vehicle (MAV)

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Abstract

Over the past few years, many researchers have shown an interest in micro air vehicle (MAV), since it can be used for rescue mission and investigation of danger zone which is difficult for human being to enter. In recent years, many researchers try to develop high-performance MAVs, but a little attention has been given to the wing-folding mechanism of wings. When the bird and the flying insects land, they usually fold their wings. If they do not fold their wings, their movement area is limited. In this paper, we focused on the artificial wing-folding mechanism. We designed a new artificial wing that has link mechanism. With the wing-folding mechanism, the wing span was reduced to 15%. In addition, we set feathers separately on the end of wings like those of real birds. The wings make thrust force by the change of the shape of the feathers. However, the wings could not produce enough lift force to lift it. Therefore, we have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to optimize the wings design to get stronger lift force by flapping.

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Acknowledgements

This works was supported by the Precise Measurement Technology Promotion Foundation, Urakami Foundation for Food and Food Culture University, JSPS Kakenhi Grant Number 254202224, and Waseda University Grants Special Research Projects (Project Number 2014S-097).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate of Modern Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku, 169-8555, Tokyo, Japan

    Tomohiro Jitsukawa, Hisaya Adachi & Takamichi Abe

  2. Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku, 169-8555, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroshi Yamakawa & Shinjiro Umezu

Authors
  1. Tomohiro Jitsukawa
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  2. Hisaya Adachi
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  3. Takamichi Abe
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  4. Hiroshi Yamakawa
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  5. Shinjiro Umezu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shinjiro Umezu.

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Cite this article

Jitsukawa, T., Adachi, H., Abe, T. et al. Bio-inspired wing-folding mechanism of micro air vehicle (MAV). Artif Life Robotics 22, 203–208 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-016-0339-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-016-0339-9

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