Robotic Hummingbird

Development of a hummingbird-like robot with flapping wings, a topic of my PhD thesis at Université Libre de Bruxelles.

The project aimed at developing a hummingbird-like (and hummingbird-sized) flying robot that is capable of hovering flight. The project involved: 1) the development of the flapping mechanism driving the wings, 2) optimization of the wings such that sufficient lift force to carry the robot is generated, and 3) the development of control mechanisms that allow stabilization and steering of the vehicle via adjustments of the motion patterns of the flapping wings. In my thesis, I also looked at modeling, stability, and control of (near hover) flapping flight.

Here a video playlist documenting the important project milestones:

You can find more details on the project website, in the slides of my final PhD presentation, or in my PhD thesis.

The project is still on-going, my colleagues at Active Structures Laboratory have managed to achieve stable hovering flight in 2016 and are working on further robot improvements towards longer flight times and better controllability.

Related publications:

  • [DOI] A. Roshanbin, H. Altartouri, M. Karásek, and A. Preumont, “COLIBRI: A hovering flapping twin-wing robot,” International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 9, iss. 4, p. 270–282, 2017.
    [Bibtex] 
    @article{Roshanbin2017,
abstract = {This paper describes the results of a six-year project aiming at designing and constructing a flapping twin-wing robot of the size of hummingbird (Colibri in French) capable of hovering. Our prototype has a total mass of 22 g, a wing span of 21 cm and a flapping frequency of 22 Hz; it is actively stabilized in pitch and roll by changing the wing camber with a mechanism known as wing twist modulation. The proposed design of wing twist modulation effectively alters the mean lift vector with respect to the center of gravity by reorganization of the airflow. This mechanism is modulated by an onboard control board which calculates the corrective feedback control signals through a closed-loop PD controller in order to stabilize the robot. Currently, there is no control on the yaw axis which is passively stable, and the vertical position is controlled manually by tuning the flapping frequency. The paper describes the recent evolution of the various sub-systems: the wings, the flapping mechanism, the generation o...},
author = {Roshanbin, A and Altartouri, H and Kar{\'{a}}sek, Mat{\v{e}}j and Preumont, Andr{\'{e}}},
doi = {10.1177/1756829317695563},
issn = {1756-8293},
journal = {International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles},
keywords = {Hovering flapping wing robot,active stabilization,hummingbird,wing twist modulation},
month = {mar},
number = {4},
pages = {270--282},
publisher = {SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England},
title = {{COLIBRI: A hovering flapping twin-wing robot}},
url = {http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1756829317695563},
volume = {9},
year = {2017}
}
  • [DOI] M. Karásek, A. Hua, Y. Nan, M. E. Lalami, and A. Preumont, “Pitch and Roll Control Mechanism for a Hovering Flapping Wing MAV,” International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 6, iss. 4, p. 253–264, 2014.
    [Bibtex] 
    @article{Karasek2014,
abstract = {Hovering flapping flight is inherently unstable and needs to be stabilized actively. We present a control mechanism that modulates independently the wing flapping amplitude and offset by displacing joints of a flapping linkage mechanism. We demonstrate its performance by high speed camera recordings of the wing motion as well as by direct measurements of pitch moment and lift force. While flapping at 17 Hz the prototype produces 90 mN of lift and generates pitch moments from -0.7 N.mm to 1.1 N.mm. The mechanism shows low level of cross-coupling in combined pitch and roll commands.},
author = {Kar{\'{a}}sek, Mat{\v{e}}j and Hua, Alexandre and Nan, Yanghai and Lalami, Mohamed Esseghir and Preumont, Andr{\'{e}}},
doi = {10.1260/1756-8293.6.4.253},
issn = {1756-8293},
journal = {International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles},
language = {en},
month = {feb},
number = {4},
pages = {253--264},
publisher = {Multi Science Publishing},
title = {{Pitch and Roll Control Mechanism for a Hovering Flapping Wing MAV}},
url = {http://multi-science.atypon.com/doi/abs/10.1260/1756-8293.6.4.253?journalCode=ijmav http://multi-science.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article{\&}id=doi:10.1260/1756-8293.6.4.253},
volume = {6},
year = {2014}
}
  • [DOI] M. Karásek, I. Romanescu, A. Preumont, and Y. Nan, “Pitch Moment Generation and Measurement in a Robotic Hummingbird,” International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 5, iss. September, p. 299–309, 2013.
    [Bibtex] 
    @article{Karasek2013,
abstract = {Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings try to mimic their biological counterparts, insects and hummingbirds, as they can combine high agility manoeuvres with precision hovering flight. Near-hovering flapping flight is naturally unstable and needs to be stabilized actively. We present a novel mechanism for pitch moment generation in a robotic hummingbird that uses wing twist modulation via flexible wing root bars. A custom build force balance, sensitive enough to measure the cycle averaged pitch moment as well as lift force, is also presented. The introduced prototype mechanism generates pitch moment of up to ± 50g.mm. Finally we integrate a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire to actuate the wing root bar ends. We present achievable displacement versus bandwidth as well as generated pitch moment.},
author = {Kar{\'{a}}sek, Mat{\v{e}}j and Romanescu, Iulian and Preumont, Andr{\'{e}} and Nan, Yanghai},
doi = {10.1260/1756-8293.5.4.299},
issn = {17568293},
journal = {International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles},
language = {en},
month = {feb},
number = {September},
pages = {299--309},
publisher = {Multi Science Publishing},
title = {{Pitch Moment Generation and Measurement in a Robotic Hummingbird}},
url = {http://multi-science.atypon.com/doi/abs/10.1260/1756-8293.5.4.299?journalCode=ijmav},
volume = {5},
year = {2013}
}
  • [DOI] M. Karásek and A. Preumont, “Flapping flight stability in hover: A comparison of various aerodynamic models,” International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 4, iss. 3, p. 203–226, 2012.
    [Bibtex] 
    @article{Karasek2012,
author = {Kar{\'{a}}sek, Mat{\v{e}}j and Preumont, Andr{\'{e}}},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1260/1756-8293.4.3.203},
journal = {International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles},
number = {3},
pages = {203--226},
title = {{Flapping flight stability in hover: A comparison of various aerodynamic models}},
url = {http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1260/1756-8293.4.3.203},
volume = {4},
year = {2012}
}

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CategoriesProjects

Tagscontrol flapping wing hummingbird mechatronics simulation Université Libre de Bruxelles