Recent progress in developing a beetle-mimicking flapping-wing system

We have reported our recent progress in mimicking a beetle, Allomyrina Dichotoma, as an effort to fully mimic the beetle in near future. Features of beetles in terms of flight parameter and wing folding/unfolding mechanism are first reported, followed by design and evaluation of an artificial foldable wing and a small size motor-driven flapper. Folding and unfolding of the hind wing were triggered by electrically-activated shape memory alloy (SMA) wires. In addition, we have designed and fabricated a motor-driven flapping-wing device that can create a large flapping angle. The passive wing rotation was implemented into the flapper by means of flexible members.