Wake development behind paired wings with tip and root trailing vortices: consequences for animal flight force estimates

Study of Mosquito Aerodynamics for Imitation as a Small Robot and Flight in a Low-Density Environment

In terms of their flight and unusual aerodynamic characteristics, mosquitoes have become a new insect of interest. Despite transmitting the most significant infectious diseases globally, mosquitoes are still among the great flyers. Depending on their size, they typically beat at a high flapping frequency in the range of 600 to 800 Hz. Flapping also lets them conceal their presence, flirt, and help them remain aloft. Their long, slender wings navigate between the most anterior and posterior wing positions through a stroke amplitude about 40 to 45°, way different from their natural counterparts (>120°). Most insects use leading-edge vortex for lift, but mosquitoes have additional aerodynamic characteristics: rotational drag, wake capture reinforcement of the trailing-edge vortex, and added mass effect. A comprehensive look at the use of these three mechanisms needs to be undertaken-the pros and cons of high-frequency, low-stroke angles, operating far beyond the normal kinematic boundary compared to other insects, and the impact on the design improvements of miniature drones and for flight in low-density atmospheres such as Mars. This paper systematically reviews these unique unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of mosquito flight, responding to the potential questions from some of these discoveries as per the existing literature. This paper also reviews state-of-the-art insect-inspired robots that are close in design to mosquitoes. The findings suggest that mosquito-based small robots can be an excellent choice for flight in a low-density environment such as Mars.

Aerodynamics of manoeuvring flight in brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus)

In this study, we explicitly examine the aerodynamics of manoeuvring flight in animals. We studied brown long-eared bats flying in a wind tunnel while performing basic sideways manoeuvres. We used particle image velocimetry in combination with high-speed filming to link aerodynamics and kinematics to understand the mechanistic basis of manoeuvres. We predicted that the bats would primarily use the downstroke to generate the asymmetries for the manoeuvre since it has been shown previously that the majority of forces are generated during this phase of the wingbeat. We found instead that the bats more often used the upstroke than they used the downstroke for this. We also found that the bats used both drag/thrust-based and lift-based asymmetries to perform the manoeuvre and that they even frequently switch between these within the course of a manoeuvre. We conclude that the bats used three main modes: lift asymmetries during downstroke, thrust/drag asymmetries during downstroke and thrust/drag asymmetries during upstroke. For future studies, we hypothesize that lift asymmetries are used for fast turns and thrust/drag for slow turns and that the choice between up- and downstroke depends on the timing of when the bat needs to generate asymmetries.

Lift calculations based on accepted wake models for animal flight are inconsistent and sensitive to vortex dynamics

There are three common methods for calculating the lift generated by a flying animal based on the measured airflow in the wake. However, these methods might not be accurate according to computational and robot-based studies of flapping wings. Here we test this hypothesis for the first time for a slowly flying Pacific parrotlet in still air using stereo particle image velocimetry recorded at 1000 Hz. The bird was trained to fly between two perches through a laser sheet wearing laser safety goggles. We found that the wingtip vortices generated during mid-downstroke advected down and broke up quickly, contradicting the frozen turbulence hypothesis typically assumed in animal flight experiments. The quasi-steady lift at mid-downstroke was estimated based on the velocity field by applying the widely used Kutta-Joukowski theorem, vortex ring model, and actuator disk model. The calculated lift was found to be sensitive to the applied model and its different parameters, including vortex span and distance between the bird and laser sheet-rendering these three accepted ways of calculating weight support inconsistent. The three models predict different aerodynamic force values mid-downstroke compared to independent direct measurements with an aerodynamic force platform that we had available for the same species flying over a similar distance. Whereas the lift predictions of the Kutta-Joukowski theorem and the vortex ring model stayed relatively constant despite vortex breakdown, their values were too low. In contrast, the actuator disk model predicted lift reasonably accurately before vortex breakdown, but predicted almost no lift during and after vortex breakdown. Some of these limitations might be better understood, and partially reconciled, if future animal flight studies report lift calculations based on all three quasi-steady lift models instead. This would also enable much needed meta studies of animal flight to derive bioinspired design principles for quasi-steady lift generation with flapping wings.

The complex aerodynamic footprint of desert locusts revealed by large-volume tomographic particle image velocimetry

Particle image velocimetry has been the preferred experimental technique with which to study the aerodynamics of animal flight for over a decade. In that time, hardware has become more accessible and the software has progressed from the acquisition of planes through the flow field to the reconstruction of small volumetric measurements. Until now, it has not been possible to capture large volumes that incorporate the full wavelength of the aerodynamic track left behind during a complete wingbeat cycle. Here, we use a unique apparatus to acquire the first instantaneous wake volume of a flying animal's entire wingbeat. We confirm the presence of wake deformation behind desert locusts and quantify the effect of that deformation on estimates of aerodynamic force and the efficiency of lift generation. We present previously undescribed vortex wake phenomena, including entrainment around the wing-tip vortices of a set of secondary vortices borne of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in the shear layer behind the flapping wings.

Multibody system dynamics for bio-inspired locomotion: from geometric structures to computational aspects

This article presents a set of generic tools for multibody system dynamics devoted to the study of bio-inspired locomotion in robotics. First, archetypal examples from the field of bio-inspired robot locomotion are presented to prepare the ground for further discussion. The general problem of locomotion is then stated. In considering this problem, we progressively draw a unified geometric picture of locomotion dynamics. For that purpose, we start from the model of discrete mobile multibody systems (MMSs) that we progressively extend to the case of continuous and finally soft systems. Beyond these theoretical aspects, we address the practical problem of the efficient computation of these models by proposing a Newton-Euler-based approach to efficient locomotion dynamics with a few illustrations of creeping, swimming, and flying.