Stroke plane deviation for a microrobotic fly

Wing motion in most flapping-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) is restricted to a flat stroke plane in order to simplify analysis and mechanism design. An MAV actuation and transmission design capable of controlling flapping motions and deviations from the mean stroke plane using relatively simple modifications to a proven design is presented. This allows preliminary investigation into more power-efficient wing trajectories, an important concern for small MAVs. A theoretical quasi-steady model of flapping wing flight is used to predict wing motions, and these predicted trajectories are compared to empirically observed trajectories from a test device. The ratio of average lift to average aerodynamic power is used as an efficiency metric to compare stroke trajectories.