"Adjusting Direction and Speed with Wing Flaps" Enables Drone 'Sensory Flight'

A ‘fly-by-feel’ control technology has been developed that enables flight by flapping wings like birds and insects, sensing wind pressure and airflow to adjust direction and speed.

Fly-by-feel allows a flying object to perceive changes in the surrounding environment without equipping sensors such as cameras and GPS (Global Positioning System).

Its strength lies particularly in its ability to perform various flight maneuvers such as hovering (stationary flight) and rotation even in unstable airflows, similar to birds and insects in nature.

Conceptual diagram of 'sensory flight' control technology developed using the flight principles of insects. Provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The Korea Research Foundation announced on the 22nd that a joint research team led by Professors Kang Dae-sik, Han Seung-yong, and Ko Je-sung from Ajou University successfully developed a fly-by-feel controller.

‘Flapping wing drones’ have a more flexible and softer structure compared to rotary-wing drones with propellers, making them more resistant to collisions. They also have excellent noise reduction effects, drawing attention as an efficient model in the ultralight drone field.

However, existing flapping wing drones use the control methods of rotary-wing drones, allowing for stationary hovering but showing limitations in long-distance flights riding the wind, thus necessitating the development of an independent control system.

The joint research team addressed this development need to solve the problem.

First, the team focused on the campaniform sensilla, bell-shaped sensory organs located on the wings of flying insects, which detect and utilize wing deformation caused by wind to quickly control flight.

Using the same principle, they developed an ultralight, highly sensitive crack sensor (measuring mechanical deformation) mimicking the campaniform sensilla, attached it to the flapping wing drone, and collected signal changes according to wing deformation.

The collected signal changes confirmed that information about wind direction and speed necessary for drone flight control was included within the wing deformation data.

Based on this, experiments showed that the joint research team’s fly-by-feel control technology classified wind direction and intensity during flight with about 80% accuracy using wing deformation information, and the flapping wing drone demonstrated the ability to move to and maintain position at a target point even in windy environments.

Additionally, in windless conditions, the flapping wing drone was experimentally confirmed to autonomously track flight paths and fly along six user-designated routes.

Professor Kang Dae-sik, Ajou University. Provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea

Professor Kang said, “This research is significant in that it developed a flapping wing drone control system based on previously unavailable wing deformation information and verified its effectiveness,” adding, “We hope the results will serve as a clue in the future development of flapping wing drones capable not only of hovering but also gliding.”

Meanwhile, this research was conducted with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Research Foundation’s mid-career research support program. The research findings were published in the September 20 issue of the international journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.