While the idea of designing miniature vehicles that mimic small insects is not new, engineers from Georgia Tech have taken it to a whole new level by proposing to use more flexible wings driven by a sinusoidal flapping action. Micro vehicles use lifting, hanging and thrusting in their wing flapping system and can coast with minimal energy usage, unlike fixed or rotary winged vehicles. "We found that the simple up and down wavelike stroke of wings at the resonance frequency is easier to implement and generates lift comparable to winged insects that employ a significantly more complex stroke," said Alexander Alexeev, Mechanical Engineering (ME) associate professor.

In smaller vehicles, “ the aerodynamics change a lot and modeling becomes important. We tried to gain insight into the flapping aerodynamics by using computational models and identifying the aerodynamic forces necessary to drive these very small flying machines," says Alexeev.

Alexeev has been working with Hassan Masoud, a ME Graduate student, and together have used 3D computer generated simulations to observe how flexible wings might work. They say that elastic wings and stroke generated lift similar to that of small insects using much more complicated strokes

These engineers now are preparing to observe how these flapping wings can be controlled more efficiently in differentially winded conditions and if non-uniform structural properties (as well as mechanical properties) and those that use asymmetrical strokes might improve performance.