Feasibility study of an actuator for flapping flight using fluid-structure interaction analysis

An actuator for a middle-sized flapping flight robot is quantitatively investigated. Flapping flight like that of insects is a potentially useful method of travel for micro robots. Some insect-mimicking robots have been developed, which have actuators with two or more degrees of freedom per wing. For the detailed design of such an actuator, it is necessary to deal with the interaction between the behavior of the actuator and the aerodynamic forces generated by the actuation. In particular, the torque and power requirements of each degree of freedom are essential in the choice of a suitable motor, but it is impossible to determine these without considering the interaction between the driving force of the actuator and the reaction force of the wing from the surrounding airflow. Here, we achieved an analysis of the mechanical aspects of flapping flight, actuator and wing, using finite element analysis based on the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method, which can treat the fluid-structure interaction problem properly. We worked out the spec of motors for the 2DOF actuator, and investigated the structural tolerance. We developed a useful tool for the design of flapping flight robots