Fruit fly scale robots can hover longer with flapping wings than with spinning wings

• Published in: Journal of the Royal Society interface Vol. 13; no. 123; p. 20160730
• Main Authors: Hawkes, Elliot W., Lentink, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 01.10.2016
• Subjects: Animals; Aviation; Diptera; Flapping Wing; Hover; Life Sciences–Engineering interface; Micro Robot; Robotics; Spinning Wing; System Performance; Trade-Off; Wings, Animal; system performance; trade-off; hover; flapping wing; micro robot; spinning wing

Hovering flies generate exceptionally high lift, because their wings generate a stable leading edge vortex. Micro flying robots with a similar wing design can generate similar high lift by either flapping or spinning their wings. While it requires less power to spin a wing, the overall efficiency de...