TOWARDS BIOLOGICALLY-INSPIRED ACTIVE-COMPLIANT-WING MICRO-AIR-VEHICLES

自然飞行器通过动态机翼顺应性和分布式传感和驱动的组合不断调整其几何形状来实现卓越的空气动力学。这使他们能够经常进行广泛的演习，包括快速转弯，滚动，潜水，似乎轻松爬升。尽管对蝙蝠和鸟类的生理学有很好的了解，但到目前为止，具有主动动态机翼顺应能力的工程应用很少。电活性材料开发的最新进展以及高保真数值/实验方法为开发可以实现“按需”空气动力学性能的生物启发动态活性机翼提供了基础。然而，这需要首先发展一个全面的了解之间的动态耦合的机电结构的薄膜机翼和它的非定常空气动力学。在南安普顿大学和伦敦帝国理工学院之间的这一合作倡议中，我们将开发一个综合研究计划，进行高保真实验和计算，以实现对动态致动顺应性机翼中的气动机电耦合动力学的基本理解。我们的目标是利用我们的理解和设计的控制策略，使用整体驱动方案，以提高薄膜机翼的气动性能。该项目的长期目标是利用软机器人技术为微型飞行器（MAV）制造集成驱动的机翼，模仿自然飞行器的动态形状控制能力。

Natural fliers achieve exceptional aerodynamics by continuous adjustments on their geometry through a mix of dynamic wing compliance and distributed sensing and actuation. This enables them to routinely perform a wide range of manoeuvres including rapid turns, rolls, dives, and climbs with seeming ease. Despite a good knowledge of the physiology of bats and birds, engineering applications with active dynamic wing compliance capability are so far few and far-between. Recent advances in development of electroactive materials together with high-fidelity numerical/experimental methods provide a foundation to develop biologically-inspired dynamically-active wings that can achieve "on-demand" aerodynamic performance. However, this requires first to develop a thorough understanding of the dynamic coupling between the electro-mechanical structure of the membrane wing and its unsteady aerodynamics. In this collaborative initiative between the University of Southampton and Imperial College London, we will develop an integrated research programme that carries out high-fidelity experiments and computations to achieve a fundamental understanding of the dynamics of aero-electro-mechanical coupling in dynamically-actuated compliant wings. The goal is to utilise our understanding and devise control strategies that use integral actuation schemes to improve aerodynamic performance of membrane wings. The long-term goal of this project is to enable the use of soft robotics technology to build integrally-actuated wings for Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) that mimic the dynamic shape control capabilities of natural flyers.