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Design and Fabrication of a Bumblebee Ornithopter

Deyzi Ixtabalan Ruby Gomez

Presenters
Aerospace Engineers
Senior Astronautics Senior Aeronautics

ASU MAV research team


Mechanical Ph.D student, Michael Thompson ASU alumini: John Burnett Aerospace undergrad: Daniel Lopez Civil undergrad: Ivan Ramirez

Overview
Introduction Bumblebee Anatomy Bumblebee Ornithopter Configuration
Wing Design Body Design Equations of motion Fabrication Assembly of ornithopter

Summary/Conclusion Future Work Acknowledgements

Bumblebee

Introduction

Once believed unable to fly Fly more like flexible helicopters Difference between birds & insects
No standard configuration based on nature

Flies by creating high swirling vortices


Wings beat responsible for vortices

Biomimicry

Ornithopter
Flies by flapping its wings Inexpensive small hovering

Application
Surveillance Reconnaissance Search & rescue

Bumblebee Anatomy
Head
Eyes Mouthpart Antenna

Thorax
Wings Wing muscles Legs

Abdomen
Organs Digestive system

Figure 1. Bumblebee Anatomy

Bumblebee Ornithopter Configuration

Wing Design
Bumblebee wing looks delicate and transparent
Needs to be flexible, lightweight, & strong

Ornithopter designed wing mixture of both wings fused together unlike bee has two separate wings Matlabs trapezoidal numerical integration function was used to find area of the wing
Area 0.09 m2

Figure 2. Bumblebee Wing

Figure 3. Wing Geometry

Body Design
Body of bumblebee creates stability in flight Modeled in SolidWorks
Complete anatomy of bumblebee modeled Ornithopter able to sit on flat surface & takeoff
Figure 4. Anatomy of bumblebee in SolidWorks model

Ornithopter maintains its equilibrium by abdomen (changing body position)


Hovering Forward flight
Figure 5. Comparison between bumblebee & ornithopter

Equations of Motion
6 degrees of freedom (DOF) model of a rigid body in flight Translational motions: 1. Moving up and down (flapping); 2. Moving left and right (feathering); 3. Moving forward and backward (lagging)

Figure 6. Equations of motion

1. 2. 3.

Rotational motions: Tilting forward and backward (pitching); Turning left and right (yawing); Tilting side to side (rolling)

Equations of Motion
3DOF based on Shigeokas equations Equations show forces of
Forward Altitude Pitch direction

Simulink model used to control ornithopter


Mathematical analysis of equilibrium and hovering motion
Figure 7. 3DOF Simulink model: X, Y,

Front view of motion

Wing Movement Video

Side view of motion

Wing Movement Video

Fabrication
The ornithopter prototype manufactured using Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic via 3D printing

Figure 8. SolidWorks view of dismantled skeleton

Figure 9. 400 mc 3D Printer by Stratasys

Figure 10. 3D ABS parts

Assembly of Ornithopter

Assembly of Ornithopter
The assembled Ornithopter is approximately 8.89 cm long 3.81 cm wide 2.54 cm tall 39 cm wing span Ornithopter weighs approximately 98.6 grams including: proportional-integralderivative controller (PID controller) camera brushless motor Li-PO batteries and wings

Figure 11. Right view of ornithopter

Figure 12. Top view of ornithopter

Assembly of Ornithopter
The current wing weighs 1.80 grams Wings frame is composed of carbon fiber Forewing composed of polyethylene plastic (PE, grocery bag) Rear wing composed of polystyrene plastic (PS, envelope window)

Figure 13. Ornithopter wing

Figure 15. envelope

Figure 14. plastic bag

Assembly of Ornithopter
Micro Air Vehicle Installed with a brushless motor to increase the lifting capabilities in comparison to a brush-equipped motor Figure 16. Brushless Aluminum insulator Xcelorin (~7 grams, Keeps motor from 8500kv) motor heating up Ornithopter contains 3 LiPo batteries

Figure 17. Aluminum insulator casing

Spring Break Testing


Load Cell video

Wind Tunnel video

Spring Break Testing

Testing Results
Load cell tests indicate
Flapping frequency 10-12 Hz. at half throttle Average of 2.4 N

Wind tunnel Forward motion:


Max coefficient of drag, CD, 0.75 Max coefficient of lift, CL, 0.35 Max CD, of 1.1 Max CL, 0.5 Yield strength of ABS plastic not suitable for connecting the arm to body Improve hovering performance

Backward motion:

Issues

Power Consumption
Ornithopter uses 25% of power comsumed by Wright State Universitys Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) wing

Max power consumption for ornithopter is 0.6 watts


Wright State University used approximately 2.1 watts

Figure 18. Power vs. Thrust/Weight plot

Summary/Conclusion
Ornithopter was inspired by an actual Bumblebee Matlab was utilized to find area of the wing Structure was design and modeled in SolidWorks Equation of motion modeled in SIMULINK Fabricated through 3-D printing Total weight with all components is 98.6 grams

Future Work
Conduct Finite Element Analysis (FEA) analysis for structural integrity in movement of wing Invest in equipment: DC Bench Power Supply Heat gun Solder station Magnifying lamp Voltmeter Invest in 3D printer Individual ornithopter design and fabrication

Figure 19. Ornithopter lab equipment

Figure 20. Ornithopter equipment

Future Work
Investigate vortex shedding over the bumblebee wings with different geometries Use computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations to collect lift and drag of different wing configurations Determine the movement of different types of flapping and flapping frequencies via experimental analysis
By developing a method of flapping wing articulation we can predict lift and drag better

Partnership with biologist at ASU

Acknowledgements
This work would not have been possible without the following
Advisors: Dr. Armando Rodriguez, Dr. Bruce Steele ASU alumini: John Burnett, Undergraduate students: Ivan Ramirez Student machine shop manager Lenny Bucholz and machinist Andre Magdelano

Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities (WAESO)

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