Simulation and Controller Design for a Fish Robot with Control Fins.

In this paper, a nonlinear simulation block for a fish robot was designed using MATLAB Simulink. The simulation block incorporated added masses, hydrodynamic damping forces, restoring forces, and forces and moments due to dorsal fins, pectoral fins, and caudal fins into six-degree-of-freedom equations of motion. To obtain a linearized model, we used three different nominal surge velocities (i.e., 0.2 m/s, 0.4 m/s, and 0.6 m/s). After obtaining output responses by applying pseudo-random binary signal inputs to a nonlinear model, an identification tool was used to obtain approximated linear models between inputs and outputs. Utilizing the obtained linearized models, two-degree-of-freedom proportional, integral, and derivative controllers were designed, and their characteristics were analyzed. For the 0.4 m/s nominal surge velocity models, the gain margins and phase margins of the surge, pitch, and yaw controllers were infinity and 69 degrees, 26.3 dB and 85 degrees, and infinity and 69 degrees, respectively. The bandwidths of surge, pitch, and yaw control loops were determined to be 2.3 rad/s, 0.17 rad/s, and 2.0 rad/s, respectively. Similar characteristics were observed when controllers designed for linear models were applied to the nonlinear model. When step inputs were applied to the nonlinear model, the maximum overshoot and steady-state errors were very small. It was also found that the nonlinear plant with three different nominal surge velocities could be controlled by a single controller designed for a linear model with a nominal surge velocity of 0.4 m/s. Therefore, controllers designed using linear approximation models are expected to work well with an actual nonlinear model.

Mechanisms of collision recovery in flying beetles and flapping-wing robots.

At rest, beetles fold and tuck their hindwings under the elytra. For flight, the hindwings are deployed through a series of unfolding configurations that are passively driven by flapping forces. The folds lock into place as the wing fully unfolds and thereafter operates as a flat membrane to generate the aerodynamic forces. We show that in the rhinoceros beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma), these origami-like folds serve a crucial shock-absorbing function during in-flight wing collisions. When the wing collides with an object, it collapses along the folds and springs back in place within a single stroke. Collisions are thus dampened, helping the beetle to promptly recover the flight. We implemented this mechanism on a beetle-inspired wing on a flapping-wing robot, thereby enabling it to fly safely after collisions.

Mimicking nature's flyers: a review of insect-inspired flying robots.

Insects have attracted much interest from scientists and engineers as they offer an endless source of inspiration for creating innovative engineering designs. By mimicking flying insects, it may be possible to create highly efficient biomimetic drones. In this paper, we provide an overview on how the principles of insect flight, including large stroke amplitudes and wing rotations, the clap-and-fling effect and flight control have been implemented to successfully demonstrate untethered, controlled free-flight in the insect-inspired flying robots. Despite the lack of insect-like muscles, various electro-mechanical systems have been invented to actuate insect robots. Achieving controlled free-flight is a cornerstone of next-generation insect-inspired robots which in addition to flight will be equipped with multiple modes of transportation, similar to real flying insects.

Longitudinal mode model-based controller design for tailless flapping wing robot with loop shaping compensator.

In this study, the stable proportional-derivative (PD) controller gains for pitch control (longitudinal control) are obtained using the linearized and non-coupled longitudinal-mode flight dynamics model of the tailless, hover-capable, flapping wing robot named KUBeetle. To acquire a more realistic longitudinal model of KUBeetle, we incorporated the dynamics of the sensors, filters, and servo. Then, the range of PD controller gains that yield stable and sufficient stability robustness are determined using the Routh-Hurwitz, root locus, and H ∞ norm stability analyses. We observed that the stability of the closed loop controller is affected significantly by the dynamics that are incorporated. The PD controller gain with good robustness is selected based on the stability analysis. However, the low frequency gain of the PD controller was too small to attain the setpoint, although the stability margin was sufficiently high. A loop shaping compensator is designed and added to the control loop to improve the low frequency gain while sustaining the stability margin. The frequency and time domain analyses reveal that the proposed control loop can be used for stabilizing KUBeetle. To test the performance experimentally, we implemented the control loop in an onboard control system, which includes a microprocessor and MEMS sensors. The experimental results closely matched the simulation results, demonstrating that the proposed controller could maintain stability in a real system with high flapping noises.

Extremely large sweep amplitude enables high wing loading in giant hovering insects.

Beetle Allomyrina dichotoma is one of the largest insects that performs many remarkable modes of locomotion, particularly hovering flight capability. In order to stay airborne, its flexible hindwings are flapped so as to work as a thrust generator. However, the wing loading of the beetle is relatively large (38.94 ± 3.73 N m-2) compared to those of other insects and hummingbirds, indicating that it is challenging for it to achieve flight. Here, we measured the hindwing morphology and kinematics of the beetle in order to discover its flight performance. Unlike many other insects, the beetle flaps its hindwings with an extremely large sweep amplitude of about 191.33 ± 6.12 deg at high flapping frequencies ranging from 36 to 41 Hz (mean wing tip speed ≈ 13.45 ± 0.58 m s-1). These capabilities enable the beetle to produce enough lift force to stay airborne with its bulky body (4-10 g). In order to investigate how the sweep amplitude affects the beetle's flight efficiency, we utilized the unsteady blade element model to estimate the power requirements of the same vertical force production for various sweep amplitudes. The results indicate that the sweep amplitude as high as 190 deg is more beneficial for power requirements than the smaller amplitudes, which require higher frequencies resulting in higher inertial powers to produce the same vertical force. Thus, for this large beetle, high sweep amplitude may be a biological strategy for staying airborne. In addition, we thoroughly discussed the effects of input constraints on the outcome by investigating power loadings for variable sweep amplitudes at a constant vertical force, mean wing tip speed, and flapping frequency. Effect of wing surface area was also investigated and discussed to provide useful information for the development of an insect-inspired flapping-wing robot.

Design and demonstration of a bio-inspired flapping-wing-assisted jumping robot.

Jumping insects such as fleas, froghoppers, grasshoppers, and locusts take off from the ground using a catapult mechanism to push their legs against the surface of the ground while using their pairs of flapping wings to propel them into the air. Such combination of jumping and flapping is expected as an efficient way to overcome unspecified terrain or avoid large obstacles. In this work, we present the conceptual design and verification of a bio-inspired flapping-wing-assisted jumping robot, named Jump-flapper, which mimics jumping insects' locomotion strategy. The robot, which is powered by only one miniature DC motor to implement the functions of jumping and flapping, is an integration of an inverted slider-crank mechanism for the structure of the legs, a dog-clutch mechanism for the winching system, and a rack-pinion mechanism for the flapping-wing system. A prototype of the robot is fabricated and experimentally tested to evaluate the integration and performance of the Jump-flapper. This 23 g robot with assisted flapping wings operating at approximately 19 Hz is capable of jumping to a height of approximately 0.9 m, showing about 30% improvement in the jumping height compared to that of the robot without assistance of the flapping wings. The benefits of the flapping-wing-assisted jumping system are also discussed throughout the study.

Wing inertia as a cause of aerodynamically uneconomical flight with high angles of attack in hovering insects.

Flying insects can maintain maneuverability in the air by flapping their wings, and, to save energy, the wings should operate following optimal kinematics. However, unlike conventional rotary wings, insects operate their wings at aerodynamically uneconomical and high angles of attack (AoA). Although insects have continuously received attention from biologists and aerodynamicists, the high AoA operation in insect flight has not been clearly explained. Here, we used a theoretical blade-element model to examine the impact of wing inertia on the power requirement and flapping AoA, based on 3D free-hovering flight wing kinematics of a horned beetle, Allomyrinadichotoma The relative simplicity of the model allowed us to search for the best AoA distributed along the wingspan, which generate the highest vertical force per unit power. We show that, although elastic elements may be involved in flight muscles to store and save energy, the insect still has to use substantial power to accelerate its wings, because inertial energy stores should be used to overcome aerodynamic drag before being stored elastically. At the same flapping speed, a wing operating at a higher AoA requires lower inertial torque, and therefore lower inertial power output, at stroke reversals than a wing operating at an aerodynamically optimal low AoA. An interactive aerodynamic-inertial effect thereby enables the wing to flap at sufficiently high AoA, which causes an aerodynamically uneconomical flight in an effort to minimize the net flight energy.

Design and evaluation of a deformable wing configuration for economical hovering flight of an insect-like tailless flying robot.

Studies on wing kinematics indicate that flapping insect wings operate at higher angles of attack (AoAs) than conventional rotary wings. Thus, effectively flying an insect-like flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV) requires appropriate wing design for achieving low power consumption and high force generation. Even though theoretical studies can be performed to identify appropriate geometric AoAs for a wing for achieving efficient hovering flight, designing an actual wing by implementing these angles into a real flying robot is challenging. In this work, we investigated the wing morphology of an insect-like tailless FW-MAV, which was named KUBeetle, for obtaining high vertical force/power ratio or power loading. Several deformable wing configurations with various vein structures were designed, and their characteristics of vertical force generation and power requirement were theoretically and experimentally investigated. The results of the theoretical study based on the unsteady blade element theory (UBET) were validated with reference data to prove the accuracy of power estimation. A good agreement between estimated and measured results indicated that the proposed UBET model can be used to effectively estimate the power requirement and force generation of an FW-MAV. Among the investigated wing configurations operating at flapping frequencies of 23 Hz to 29 Hz, estimated results showed that the wing with a suitable vein placed outboard exhibited an increase of approximately 23.7% ± 0.5% in vertical force and approximately 10.2% ± 1.0% in force/power ratio. The estimation was supported by experimental results, which showed that the suggested wing enhanced vertical force by approximately 21.8% ± 3.6% and force/power ratio by 6.8% ± 1.6%. In addition, wing kinematics during flapping motion was analyzed to determine the reason for the observed improvement.

Experimental and numerical studies of beetle-inspired flapping wing in hovering flight.

In this paper, we measure unsteady forces and visualize 3D vortices around a beetle-like flapping wing model in hovering flight by experiment and numerical simulation. The measurement of unsteady forces and flow patterns around the wing were conducted using a dynamically scaled wing model in the mineral-oil tank. The wing kinematics were directly derived from the experiment of a real beetle. The 3D flow structures of the flapping wing were captured by using air bubble visualization while forces were measured by a sensor attached at the wing base. In comparison, the size and topology of spiral leading edge vortex, trailing edge vortex and tip vortex are well matched from experimental and numerical studies. In addition, the time history of forces calculated from numerical simulation is also similar to that from theforce measurement. A difference of average force is in order of 10 percent. The results indicate that the leading edge vortex due to rotational acceleration at the end of the stroke during flapping wing causes significant reduction of lift. The present study provides useful information on hover flight to develop a beetle-like flapping wing Micro Air Vehicle.

An experimental comparative study of the efficiency of twisted and flat flapping wings during hovering flight.

This work presents a parametric study to find a proper wing configuration for achieving economical flight using unsteady blade element theory, which is based on the 3D kinematics of a flapping wing. Power loading was first considered as a performance parameter for the study. The power loadings at each wing section along the wingspan were obtained for various geometric angles of attack (AoAs) by calculating the ratios of the vertical forces generated and the power consumed by that particular wing section. The results revealed that the power loading of a negatively twisted wing could be higher than the power loading that a flat wing can have; the power loading of the negatively twisted wing was approximately 5.9% higher. Given the relatively low average geometric AoA (α A,root ≈ 44° and α A,tip ≈ 25°), the vertical force produced by the twisted wing for the highest power loading was approximately 24.4% less than that produced by the twisted wing for the strongest vertical force. Therefore, for a given wing geometry and flapping amplitude, a flapping-wing micro air vehicle required a 13.5% increase in flapping frequency to generate the same strongest cycle-average vertical force while saving about 24.3% power. However, when force3/power2 and force2/power ratios were considered as performance indices, the twisted wings for the highest force3/power2 (α A,root ≈ 43° and α A,tip ≈ 30°) and force2/power (α A,root ≈ 43° and α A,tip ≈ 36°) required only 6.5% and 4% increases in flapping frequency and consumed 26.2% and 25.3% less power, respectively. Thus, it is preferable to use a flapping wing operating at a high frequency using the geometric AoAs for the highest power loading, force3/power2 ratio, and force2/power ratio over a flapping wing operating at a low frequency using a high geometric AoA with the strongest vertical force. Additionally, by considering both aerodynamic and inertial forces, this study obtained average geometric AoAs in the range of 30° to 40°, which are similar to those of a typical hovering insect's wings. Therefore, the operation of an aerodynamically uneconomical, high AoA in a hovering insect's wings during flight is explainable.

Design and stable flight of a 21 g insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle with angular rates feedback control.

An insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV) without feedback control eventually becomes unstable after takeoff. Flying an insect-like tailless FW-MAV is more challenging than flying a bird-like tailed FW-MAV, due to the difference in control principles. This work introduces the design and controlled flight of an insect-like tailless FW-MAV, named KUBeetle. A combination of four-bar linkage and pulley-string mechanisms was used to develop a lightweight flapping mechanism that could achieve a high flapping amplitude of approximately 190°. Clap-and-flings at dorsal and ventral stroke reversals were implemented to enhance vertical force. In the absence of a control surface at the tail, adjustment of the location of the trailing edges at the wing roots to modulate the rotational angle of the wings was used to generate control moments for the attitude control. Measurements by a 6-axis load cell showed that the control mechanism produced reasonable pitch, roll and yaw moments according to the corresponding control inputs. The control mechanism was integrated with three sub-micro servos to realize the pitch, roll and yaw controls. A simple PD feedback controller was implemented for flight stability with an onboard microcontroller and a gyroscope that sensed the pitch, roll and yaw rates. Several flight tests demonstrated that the tailless KUBeetle could successfully perform a vertical climb, then hover and loiter within a 0.3 m ground radius with small variations in pitch and roll body angles.

Optimal flapping wing for maximum vertical aerodynamic force in hover: twisted or flat?

This work presents a parametric study, using the unsteady blade element theory, to investigate the role of twist in a hovering flapping wing. For the investigation, a flapping-wing system was developed to create a wing motion of large flapping amplitude. Three-dimensional kinematics of a passively twisted wing, which is capable of creating a linearly variable geometric angle of attack (AoA) along the wingspan, was measured during the flapping motion and used for the analysis. Several negative twist or wash-out configurations with different values of twist angle, which is defined as the difference in the average geometric AoAs at the wing root and the wing tip, were obtained from the measured wing kinematics through linear interpolation and extrapolation. The aerodynamic force generation and aerodynamic power consumption of these twisted wings were obtained and compared with those of flat wings. For the same aerodynamic power consumption, the vertical aerodynamic forces produced by the negatively twisted wings are approximately 10%-20% less than those produced by the flat wings. However, these twisted wings require approximately 1%-6% more power than flat wings to produce the same vertical force. In addition, the maximum-force-producing twisted wing, which was found to be the positive twist or wash-in configuration, was used for comparison with the maximum-force-producing flat wing. The results revealed that the vertical aerodynamic force and aerodynamic power consumption of the two types of wings are almost identical for the hovering condition. The power loading of the positively twisted wing is only approximately 2% higher than that of the maximum-force-producing flat wing. Thus, the flat wing with proper wing kinematics (or wing rotation) can be regarded as a simple and efficient candidate for the development of hovering flapping-wing micro air vehicle.

Experimental study on thrust and power of flapping-wing system based on rack-pinion mechanism.

This experimental study investigates the effect of three parameters: wing aspect ratio (AR), wing offset, and flapping frequency, on thrust generation and power consumption of a flapping-wing system based on a rack-pinion mechanism. The new flapping-wing system is simple but robust, and is able to create a large flapping amplitude. The thrust measured by a load cell reveals that for a given power, the flapping-wing system using a higher wing AR produces larger thrust and higher flapping frequency at the wing offset of 0.15[Formula: see text] or 0.20[Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] is the mean chord) than other wing offsets. Of the three parameters, the flapping frequency plays a more significant role on thrust generation than either the wing AR or the wing offset. Based on the measured thrusts, an empirical equation for thrust prediction is suggested, as a function of wing area, flapping frequency, flapping angle, and wing AR. The difference between the predicted and measured thrusts was less than 7%, which proved that the empirical equation for thrust prediction is reasonable. On average, the measured power consumption to flap the wings shows that 46.5% of the input power is spent to produce aerodynamic forces, 14.0% to overcome inertia force, 9.5% to drive the rack-pinion-based flapping mechanism, and 30.0% is wasted as the power loss of the installed motor. From the power analysis, it is found that the wing with an AR of 2.25 using a wing offset of 0.20[Formula: see text] showed the optimal power loading in the flapping-wing system. In addition, the flapping frequency of 25 Hz is recommended as the optimal frequency of the current flapping-wing system for high efficiency, which was 48.3%, using a wing with an AR of 2.25 and a wing offset of 0.20[Formula: see text] in the proposed design.

Clap-and-fling mechanism in a hovering insect-like two-winged flapping-wing micro air vehicle.

This study used numerical and experimental approaches to investigate the role played by the clap-and-fling mechanism in enhancing force generation in hovering insect-like two-winged flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV). The flapping mechanism was designed to symmetrically flap wings at a high flapping amplitude of approximately 192°. The clap-and-fling mechanisms were thereby implemented at both dorsal and ventral stroke reversals. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was constructed based on three-dimensional wing kinematics to estimate the force generation, which was validated by the measured forces using a 6-axis load cell. The computed forces proved that the CFD model provided reasonable estimation with differences less than 8%, when compared with the measured forces. The measurement indicated that the clap and flings at both the stroke reversals augmented the average vertical force by 16.2% when compared with the force without the clap-and-fling effect. In the CFD simulation, the clap and flings enhanced the vertical force by 11.5% and horizontal drag force by 18.4%. The observations indicated that both the fling and the clap contributed to the augmented vertical force by 62.6% and 37.4%, respectively, and to the augmented horizontal drag force by 71.7% and 28.3%, respectively. The flow structures suggested that a strong downwash was expelled from the opening gap between the trailing edges during the fling as well as the clap at each stroke reversal. In addition to the fling phases, the influx of air into the low-pressure region between the wings from the leading edges also significantly contributed to augmentation of the vertical force. The study conducted for high Reynolds numbers also confirmed that the effect of the clap and fling was insignificant when the minimum distance between the two wings exceeded 1.2c (c = wing chord). Thus, the clap and flings were successfully implemented in the FW-MAV, and there was a significant improvement in the vertical force.

Biomechanical properties of insect wings: the stress stiffening effects on the asymmetric bending of the Allomyrina dichotoma beetle's hind wing.

Although the asymmetry in the upward and downward bending of insect wings is well known, the structural origin of this asymmetry is not yet clearly understood. Some researchers have suggested that based on experimental results, the bending asymmetry of insect wings appears to be a consequence of the camber inherent in the wings. Although an experimental approach can reveal this phenomenon, another method is required to reveal the underlying theory behind the experimental results. The finite element method (FEM) is a powerful tool for evaluating experimental measurements and is useful for studying the bending asymmetry of insect wings. Therefore, in this study, the asymmetric bending of the Allomyrina dichotoma beetle's hind wing was investigated through FEM analyses rather than through an experimental approach. The results demonstrated that both the stressed stiffening of the membrane and the camber of the wing affect the bending asymmetry of insect wings. In particular, the chordwise camber increased the rigidity of the wing when a load was applied to the ventral side, while the spanwise camber increased the rigidity of the wing when a load was applied to the dorsal side. These results provide an appropriate explanation of the mechanical behavior of cambered insect wings, including the bending asymmetry behavior, and suggest an appropriate approach for analyzing the structural behavior of insect wings.

Relationship between wingbeat frequency and resonant frequency of the wing in insects.

In this study, we experimentally studied the relationship between wingbeat frequency and resonant frequency of 30 individuals of eight insect species from five orders: Odonata (Sympetrum flaveolum), Lepidoptera (Pieris rapae, Plusia gamma and Ochlodes), Hymenoptera (Xylocopa pubescens and Bombus rupestric), Hemiptera (Tibicen linnei) and Coleoptera (Allomyrina dichotoma). The wingbeat frequency of free-flying insects was measured using a high-speed camera while the natural frequency was determined using a laser displacement sensor along with a Bruel and Kjaer fast Fourier transform analyzer based on the base excitation method. The results showed that the wingbeat frequency was related to body mass (m) and forewing area (Af), following the proportionality f ~ m(1/2)/Af, while the natural frequency was significantly correlated with area density (f0 ~ mw/Af, mw is the wing mass). In addition, from the comparison of wingbeat frequency to natural frequency, the ratio between wingbeat frequency and natural frequency was found to be, in general, between 0.13 and 0.67 for the insects flapping at a lower wingbeat frequency (less than 100 Hz) and higher than 1.22 for the insects flapping at a higher wingbeat frequency (higher than 100 Hz). These results suggest that wingbeat frequency does not have a strong relation with resonance frequency: in other words, insects have not been evolved sufficiently to flap at their wings' structural resonant frequency. This contradicts the general conclusion of other reports--that insects flap at their wings' resonant frequency to take advantage of passive deformation to save energy.

Aerodynamic forces and flow structures of the leading edge vortex on a flapping wing considering ground effect.

The aim of this work is to provide an insight into the aerodynamic performance of the beetle during takeoff, which has been estimated in previous investigations. We employed a scaled-up electromechanical model flapping wing to measure the aerodynamic forces and the three-dimensional flow structures on the flapping wing. The ground effect on the unsteady forces and flow structures were also characterized. The dynamically scaled wing model could replicate the general stroke pattern of the beetle's hind wing kinematics during takeoff flight. Two wing kinematic models have been studied to examine the influences of wing kinematics on unsteady aerodynamic forces. In the first model, the angle of attack is asymmetric and varies during the translational motion, which is the flapping motion of the beetle's hind wing. In the second model, the angle of attack is constant during the translational motion. The instantaneous aerodynamic forces were measured for four strokes during the beetle's takeoff by the force sensor attached at the wing base. Flow visualization provided a general picture of the evolution of the three-dimensional leading edge vortex (LEV) on the beetle hind wing model. The LEV is stable during each stroke, and increases radically from the root to the tip, forming a leading-edge spiral vortex. The force measurement results show that the vertical force generated by the hind wing is large enough to lift the beetle. For the beetle hind wing kinematics, the total vertical force production increases 18.4% and 8.6% for the first and second strokes, respectively, due to the ground effect. However, for the model with a constant angle of attack during translation, the vertical force is reduced during the first stroke. During the third and fourth strokes, the ground effect is negligible for both wing kinematic patterns. This finding suggests that the beetle's flapping mechanism induces a ground effect that can efficiently lift its body from the ground during takeoff.

Improvement of the aerodynamic performance by wing flexibility and elytra--hind wing interaction of a beetle during forward flight.

In this work, the aerodynamic performance of beetle wing in free-forward flight was explored by a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) simulation with measured wing kinematics. It is shown from the CFD results that twist and camber variation, which represent the wing flexibility, are most important when determining the aerodynamic performance. Twisting wing significantly increased the mean lift and camber variation enhanced the mean thrust while the required power was lower than the case when neither was considered. Thus, in a comparison of the power economy among rigid, twisting and flexible models, the flexible model showed the best performance. When the positive effect of wing interaction was added to that of wing flexibility, we found that the elytron created enough lift to support its weight, and the total lift (48.4 mN) generated from the simulation exceeded the gravity force of the beetle (47.5 mN) during forward flight.

Flight behavior of the rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus during electrical nerve stimulation.

Neuronal stimulation is an intricate part of understanding insect flight behavior and control insect itself. In this study, we investigated the effects of electrical pulses applied to the brain and basalar muscle of the rhinoceros beetle (Trypoxylus dichotomus). To understand specific neuronal stimulation mechanisms, responses and flight behavior of the beetle, four electrodes were implanted into the two optic lobes, the brain's central complex and the ventral nerve cord in the posterior pronotum. We demonstrated flight initiation, turning and cessation by stimulating the brain. The change undergone by the wing flapping in response to the electrical signal was analyzed from a sequence of images captured by a high-speed camera. Here, we provide evidence to distinguish the important differences between neuronal and muscular flight stimulations in beetles. We found that in the neural potential stimulation, both the hind wing and the elytron were suppressed. Interestingly, the beetle stopped flying whenever a stimulus potential was applied between the pronotum and one side of the optic lobe, or between the ventral nerve cord in the posterior pronotum and the central complex. In-depth experimentation demonstrated the effective of neural stimulation over muscle stimulation for flight control. During electrical stimulation of the optic lobes, the beetle performed unstable flight, resulting in alternating left and right turns. By applying the electrical signal into both the optic lobes and the central complex of the brain, we could precisely control the direction of the beetle flight. This work provides an insight into insect flight behavior for future development of insect-micro air vehicle.

Micro/nanofabrication for a realistic beetle wing with a superhydrophobic surface.

In keeping with the high interest in micro air vehicles, microfabrication technologies have been developed in an attempt to mimic insect wings via a membrane-vein structure. In this work, we present microfabrication techniques that mimic a beetle wing to construct a realistic vein-membrane structure. Full microfabrication processes as well as sophisticated manipulations are introduced for constructing a realistic artificial wing whose key morphological and mechanical parameters can be achieved close to those of the real wing. Secondly, for wing loading reduction whenever moist air is present, we successfully fabricated superhydrophobic nanopillar forests by conventional nanofabrication techniques, such as ion beam and heat treatments. The creation of the nanopillar forests, which exist on the surface of leaves and insect wings, allowed lowering the dispersive component in a hydrophobic material, and the clustered nanopillars enhanced water repellency.