Experimental testbed and prototype development for a dragonfly-inspired robot

This paper presents the design of a novel mechanical flapper for the study of the high stroke plane angle kinematics present in many biological locomotory mechanisms, in particularly, in the complex flight kinematics of dragonflies. The flapper allows these kinematics to be easily reproduced for dynamic analysis, with the ultimate goal of obtaining optimal kinematics suitable for mechanical implementation in flapping wing robots. The design and development of the mechanical flapping experimental testbed, which can flap a given wing/fin in three rotational degrees of freedom is presented in detail. An introduction to a robotic prototype, which implements these simplified kinematics, is also given; a presentation of the motivation, design and fabrication is included with some kinematic and aerodynamic validation of the mechanism.