Longitudinal modelling and control of a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle

A simulation model, flight-dynamics oriented, of a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle (MAV) is presented here. The model, based on animal flapping flight, integrates the aerodynamic forces computed along each wing to determine the global motion of the MAV with respect to an inertial reference frame. After some analytic simplifications, and taking into account the periodic nature of the system inputs, an averaged model is derived, and a simple, nonlinear closed-loop control law is designed for the dynamics along the vertical and pitch axis, allowing an efficient stabilization of the naturally unstable model. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.