Effect of flapping-frequency on attitude estimation of a tailless flapping-Wing micro air vehicle

Abstract

It is well known that the amount of lift generated by the flapping motion of an insect-mimicking Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FW-MAV) depends on its flapping frequency. However, the effect of flapping frequency on attitude estimation and control of a FW-MAV platform is hardly explored and thus, warrants investigation. In this paper, we propose attitude estimation and control of FWMAV via measured flapping frequency of a tailless KUBeetle-S model developed at Konkuk University that uses a rack-pinion mechanism to emulate the high amplitude flapping motion of a beetle. Pitch, roll and yaw moments are generated using the Stroke Plane Change (SPC) and Trailing Edge Control (TEC) mechanisms. A telemetry system was developed to provide an interface to view real time attitude data and enable post-processing and analysis in MATLAB. Moving average, complementary and Kalman filters were applied to examine the signal in both the time and frequency domain. A novel approach to estimate flapping frequency of FW-MAVs using data from an onboard accelerometer is presented. This method has the potential to allow for direct control of the flapping frequency and by doing so reduce weight and increase the manoeuvrability of the platform.