Controllability issues for insect like flapping wing micro-air vehicle

The problem of flight control mechanics for insect-like flapping wing micro-air vehicle (FMAV) was studied under theoretical modeling and simulation. The theoretical analysis results indicates: i) the coupling between the forces and torques acts on flying insect; ii) the successful flight control techniques developed for helicopter and the linear ideas can not be directly applied to insect-like FMAV. A method of designing the decoupled control mechanics of insect-like FMAV was proposed, which controlled the three aerodynamics forces and torques independently by adjusting the wing kinematics parameters, the flip start time and mid-stroke angle of attack. This research clearly indicates that the insect-like FMAV is controllable only if the kinematic parameters of attack angle can be adjusted freely.