A geometric approach to the dynamics of flapping wing micro aerial vehicles: Modelling and reduction

TL;DR

This paper develops a geometric modeling framework for flapping wing micro aerial vehicles, deriving their dynamics using symmetry reduction techniques, which enhances understanding of their aerial locomotion mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel geometric approach to model FWMAV dynamics using Lagrangian reduction, extending geometric locomotion theories to aerial systems.

Findings

Derived the dynamic model of FWMAVs using geometric reduction

Formulated the equations of motion with Euler-Poincare and Euler-Lagrange equations

Provided insights into the configuration manifold structure of FWMAVs

Abstract

This paper presents a geometric framework for analysis of dynamics of flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAV) which achieve locomotion in the special Euclidean group SE(3) using internal shape changes. We review the special structure of the configuration manifold of such systems. This work addresses to extend the work in geometric locomotion to the aerial locomotion problem. Furthermore, there seems to be limited work in modelling of flapping wing bodies in a geometric framework. We derive the dynamic model of the FWMAV using Lagrangian reduction theory defined on symmetry groups. The reduction is achieved by applying Hamilton's variation principle on a reduced Lagrangian. The resultant dynamics is governed by the Euler-Poincare and Euler-Lagrange equations.