Abdominal Undulation with Compliant Mechanism Improves Flight Performance of Biomimetic Robotic Butterfly

2025-03-09

AI Summary

This work addresses three critical challenges in flapping-wing aerial vehicles (FWAVs): insufficient lift generation, limited endurance, and pitch instability. Inspired by the active abdominal undulation observed in butterflies, we propose a novel wing–abdomen cooperative locomotion paradigm. A custom-designed flexible coupling mechanism enables synchronized actuation of wing flapping and periodic abdominal undulation. Through theoretical modeling, high-speed motion capture, and three controlled experimental configurations—abdomen absent, abdomen fixed, and abdomen undulating—we systematically quantify the aerodynamic effects. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that active abdominal undulation significantly enhances lift (+17%), extends flight duration (+23%), and suppresses pitch oscillation amplitude (−31%). This study establishes wing–abdomen cooperation as a fundamental design dimension for FWAVs and provides a new biomechanical principle and structural framework for developing efficient, stable micro-scale bioinspired flyers.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Mobility, Driving & Flight
• Intelligent Robots: Manipulation
• Computer Vision: Video Understanding & Activity Analysis

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data generation and simulation

Abstract

Abdominal Undulation with Compliant Mechanism Improves Flight Performance of Biomimetic Robotic ButterflThis paper presents the design, modeling, and experimental validation of a biomimetic robotic butterfly (BRB) that integrates a compliant mechanism to achieve coupled wing-abdomen motion. Drawing inspiration from the natural f light dynamics of butterflies, a theoretical model is developed to investigate the impact of abdominal undulation on flight performance. To validate the model, motion capture experi ments are conducted on three configurations: a BRB without an abdomen, with a fixed abdomen, and with an undulating abdomen. The results demonstrate that abdominal undulation enhances lift generation, extends flight duration, and stabilizes pitch oscillations, thereby improving overall flight performance. These findings underscore the significance of wing-abdomen interaction in flapping-wing aerial vehicles (FWAVs) and lay the groundwork for future advancements in energy-efficient biomimetic flight designs.

Problem

• Enhances lift generation in robotic butterflies
• Extends flight duration using abdominal undulation
• Stabilizes pitch oscillations for improved flight

Innovation

• Compliant mechanism enables coupled wing-abdomen motion
• Abdominal undulation enhances lift and flight stability
• Motion capture validates improved biomimetic flight performance