Limit-Cycle Oscillation Suppression of Bioinspired Ornithopter: Wind Tunnel Testing

This study experimentally shows that an oscillatory behavior observed in a trim flight of an ornithopter has a stable limit-cycle oscillation (LCO) characteristics and that the magnitude of the LCO in body pitch dynamics can be suppressed by active tail motion. A free flight of the tested ornithopter is emulated in the wind tunnel using a specially devised tether that provides the minimal mechanical interference to the flight of ornithopter. Due to the symmetric wing motion in forward trim flight, the longitudinal flight dynamics is more focused than the lateral one. The non-contact type sensors are used to measure the time histories of the flight state variables such as wing and tail motions, body pitch angle, and altitude. The tail motion for the pitch LCO reduction is achieved by two actuators: 1) Servo motor for the rigid-body motion of the tail elevation angle, and 2) Macro-Fiber Composite strain actuator for the elastic deformation of the tail camber. The performances of the LCO suppressions are compared in the root-mean-square-error sense and the harmonically activated in-phase tail motion linked to wing motion is observed to effectively reduce the pitch LCO.