Related papers: Bio-Inspired Synergistic Wing and Tail Morphing Ex…
We study experimentally a four-winged flapping flyer with chord-wise flexible wings in a self-propelled setup. For a given physical configuration of the flyer (i.e. fixed distance between the forewing and hindwing pairs and fixed wing…
Stationary take-off, without a running start or elevated descent, requires substantial aerodynamic forces to overcome weight, particularly for large birds such as geese exceeding 2 kg. However, the complex wing motion and…
Accurate navigation is of paramount importance to ensure flight safety and efficiency for autonomous drones. Recent research starts to use Deep Neural Networks to enhance drone navigation given their remarkable predictive capability for…
Thermal soaring saves much energy, but flying large distances in this form represents a great challenge for birds, people and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The solution is to make use of so-called thermals, which are localized, warmer…
This paper proposes Drone Squadron Optimization, a new self-adaptive metaheuristic for global numerical optimization which is updated online by a hyper-heuristic. DSO is an artifact-inspired technique, as opposed to many algorithms used…
This article presents a new control approach and a dynamic model for engineered flapping flight with many interacting degrees of freedom. This paper explores the applications of neurobiologically inspired control systems in the form of…
The co-design of robot morphology and neural control typically requires using reinforcement learning to approximate a unique control policy gradient for each body plan, demanding massive amounts of training data to measure the performance…
This study explores the impact of feathers on the hydrodynamic drag experienced by diving birds, which is critical to their foraging efficiency and survival. Employing a novel experimental approach, we analyzed the kinematics of both…
Fluid dynamics, and flight in particular, is a domain where organisms challenge our understanding of its physics. Integrating the current knowledge of animal flight, we propose to revisit the use of live animals to study physical phenomena.…
Worm-inspired robots provide an effective locomotion strategy for constrained environments by combining cyclic body deformation with alternating anchoring. For compliant robots, however, the interaction between deformable anchoring…
Flapping wings are the primary means by which dragonflies generate forces, but they are susceptible to damage due to their inherent fragility. The damage results in a reduction in wing area and a distortion of the original wing, which in…
This paper modifies an adaptive multicopter autopilot to mitigate instabilities caused by adaptive parameter drift and presents simulation and experimental results to validate the modified autopilot. The modified adaptive controller is…
Hovering insects are limited by their physiology and need to rotate their wings at the end of each back and forth motion to keep the wing's leading edge ahead of its trailing edge. The wing rotation at the end of each half-stroke pushes the…
Biologically-inspired robots are a very interesting and difficult branch of robotics dues to its very rich dynamical and morphological complexities. Among them, flying animals, such as bats, have been among the most difficult to take…
Airborne Wind Energy is a lightweight technology that allows power extraction from the wind using airborne devices such as kites and gliders, where the airfoil orientation can be dynamically controlled in order to maximize performance. The…
The co-adaptation of robot morphology and behaviour becomes increasingly important with the advent of fast 3D-manufacturing methods and efficient deep reinforcement learning algorithms. A major challenge for the application of co-adaptation…
Reinforcement learning is of increasing importance in the field of robot control and simulation plays a~key role in this process. In the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, drones), there is also an increase in the number of published…
As machine learning is increasingly deployed in autonomous systems, verification of neural network controllers is becoming an active research domain. Existing tools and annual verification competitions suggest that soon this technology will…
The performances of an original passive control system based on a biomimetic approach are assessed by investigating the flow over a bluff-body. This control device consists in a couple of flaps made from the combination of a rigid plastic…
Dragonfly beats its wings independently, resulting in its superior maneuverability. Depending on the magnitude of phase difference between the fore- and hind-wings of dragonfly, the vortical structures and their interaction with wings…