Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Dissertation.pdf (2.72 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Modeling and Nonlinear Control of Highly Maneuverable Bio-Inspired Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles

Alkitbi, Mubarak
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1431082462

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Over the past decade, the promise of achieving the level of maneuverability exhibited in insect flight has prompted the research community to develop bio-inspired flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FW-MAVs) . Flying insects employ their wings to produce lift to perform complex maneuvers. Mimicking insect capabilities could enable FW-MAVs to perform missions in tight spaces and cluttered environments, otherwise unattainable by fixed- or rotary-wing UAVs. The inherent mechanism of flapping-wing flight requires periodically-varying actuation, requiring the use of averaging methods for analysis and design of controllers for flapping-wing MAVs. The main objective of this research is establishing a rigorous theoretical framework from a control theory point of view that combines averaging theory and robust nonlinear control theory towards the design of flight controllers for general models of FW-MAVs. The point of departure of this work is the adoption of Kane's method to obtain equations of motion for multi-actuated, multi-body flapping-wing MAVs. The first contribution of the present work is the formulation of a framework which investigates the effect of multiple actuation, including the presence of a movable appendage (abdomen), on vehicle controllability. The resulting formulation establishes a mathematically precise framework which lays the groundwork for the development of theoretically sound control design strategies. The second contribution is the development of a novel wingbeat forcing function that ensures continuity of the wing motion across consecutive flapping cycles. The proposed wingbeat is differentiable, does not require manipulations of the waveform within each period, and is amenable to a rigorous application of averaging theory. A noticeable feature of the proposed method is its capability of generating sufficient aerodynamic forces and moments using only two physical actuators, thus satisfying the desired feature of minimal-actuation. Using the smallest possible number of actuators in controlling a FW-MAV remains a highly desirable feature due to the constraints posed by extreme miniaturization. The framework presented in this investigation encompasses various actuation mechanisms. This analysis is particularly important as the choice of an input from a set of physical actuators must be carefully vetted against the constraints imposed by stringent size and weight constraints for such vehicles. As a consequence, it is crucial that candidate control inputs satisfy minimal-actuation requirement, alongside achieving robust stable maneuvers for FW-MAV. The effectiveness of multiple wing kinematic parameters were evaluated within the context of the developed theoretical framework. A nonlinear controller was developed for the control of the longitudinal model of a minimally-actuated FW-MAV model using the proposed wingbeat function. The flight controller exhibits an inner-outer loop architecture, where inner-loop controller stabilizes the vehicle pitching dynamics by generating appropriate wing-bias command in the wingbeat function. The controlled pitch dynamics is employed as a virtual control input to regulate the longitudinal and vertical dynamics, while the output of the outer-loop is used as a reference input for the inner-loop. The performance of the developed controller was tested and validated in various case studies. Simulation results illustrated that even in the presence of sizable modeling uncertainties, controller is capable of letting the vehicle model to track satisfactory the reference trajectories.
Andrea Serrani (Advisor)
157 p.
Engineering

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Alkitbi, M. (2015). Modeling and Nonlinear Control of Highly Maneuverable Bio-Inspired Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1431082462

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Alkitbi, Mubarak. Modeling and Nonlinear Control of Highly Maneuverable Bio-Inspired Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles. 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1431082462.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Alkitbi, Mubarak. "Modeling and Nonlinear Control of Highly Maneuverable Bio-Inspired Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1431082462

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1431082462
802
© 2015, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Modeling and Nonlinear Control of Highly Maneuverable Bio-Inspired Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles by Mubarak Alkitbi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.