Ornithopter Trajectory Generation With Stabilization

Ornithopter flight dynamics and a method for developing flight trajectories are described. These are used to study the unstable modes in hovering ornithopter flight. Stabilization is accomplished through three strategies: pitch-rate feedback control, linear quadratic regulator, and discrete-time periodic linear quadratic regulator. The discrete time controller is the only controller tested that was capable of stabilizing position of the vehicle in hover.