A 26-Gram Butterfly-Inspired Robot Achieving Autonomous Tailless Flight

TL;DR

This paper introduces irPulse lightweight, butterfly-inspired robot that achieves autonomous, stable tailless flight using low-frequency wingbeats and a hierarchical control system, mimicking biological flight dynamics.

Contribution

It presents the first onboard, closed-loop controlled flight of a tailless butterfly-inspired robot at this scale, integrating biomechanical traits with a novel control architecture.

Findings

Achieved stable autonomous climbing and turning maneuvers.

Demonstrated flight stability in oscillatory dynamical regimes.

Validated the design as a model for butterfly flight dynamics.

Abstract

The flight of biological butterflies represents a unique aerodynamic regime where high-amplitude, low-frequency wingstrokes induce significant body undulations and inertial fluctuations. While existing tailless flapping-wing micro air vehicles typically employ high-frequency kinematics to minimize such perturbations, the lepidopteran flight envelope remains a challenging and underexplored frontier for autonomous robotics. Here, we present \textit{AirPulse}, a 26-gram butterfly-inspired robot that achieves the first onboard, closed-loop controlled flight for a tailless two-winged platform at this scale. It replicates key biomechanical traits of butterfly flight, utilizing low-aspect-ratio, compliant carbon-fiber-reinforced wings and low-frequency flapping that reproduces characteristic biological body undulations. Leveraging a quantitative mapping of control effectiveness, we introduce a hierarchical control architecture featuring state estimator, attitude controller, and central pattern generator with Stroke Timing Asymmetry Rhythm (STAR), which translates attitude control demands into smooth and stable wingstroke timing and angle-offset modulations. Free-flight experiments demonstrate stable climbing and directed turning maneuvers, proving that autonomous locomotion is achievable even within oscillatory dynamical regimes. By bridging biological morphology with a minimalist control architecture, \textit{AirPulse} serves as both a hardware-validated model for decoding butterfly flight dynamics and a prototype for a new class of collision-resilient aerial robots. Its lightweight and compliant structure offers a non-invasive solution for a wide range of applications, such as ecological monitoring and confined-space inspection, where traditional drones may fall short.