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Improvement of Artificial Foldable Wing Models by Mimicking the Unfolding/Folding Mechanism of a Beetle Hind Wing

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Abstract

In an attempt to realize a flapping wing micro-air vehicle with morphing wings, we report on improvements to our previous foldable artificial hind wing. Multiple hinges, which were implemented to mimic the bending zone of a beetle hind wing, were made of small composite hinge plates and tiny aluminum rivets. The buck-tails of rivets were flared after the hinge plates were assembled with the rivets so that the folding/unfolding motions could be completed in less time, and the straight shape of the artificial hind wing could be maintained after fabrication. Folding and unfolding actions were triggered by electrically-activated Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires. For wing folding, the actuation characteristics of the SMA wire actuator were modified through heat treatment. Through a series of flapping tests, we confirmed that the artificial wings did not fold back and arbitrarily fluctuate during the flapping motion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Konkuk University, Seoul, 143-701, Korea

    Azhar Muhammad, Quoc Viet Nguyen, Hoon Cheol Park & Nam Seo Goo

  2. National Research Laboratory for Biomimetics and Microsystems, Konkuk University, Seoul, 143-701, Korea

    Azhar Muhammad, Quoc Viet Nguyen, Hoon Cheol Park, Doyoung Byun & Nam Seo Goo

  3. Departmenet of Aerospace Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, 143-701, Korea

    Doyoung Byun

  4. Artificial Muscle Research Center, Konkuk University, Seoul, 143-701, Korea

    Hoon Cheol Park, Do Y. Hwang, Doyoung Byun & Nam Seo Goo

Authors
  1. Azhar Muhammad
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  2. Quoc Viet Nguyen
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  3. Hoon Cheol Park
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  4. Do Y. Hwang
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  5. Doyoung Byun
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  6. Nam Seo Goo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hoon Cheol Park.

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Muhammad, A., Nguyen, Q.V., Park, H.C. et al. Improvement of Artificial Foldable Wing Models by Mimicking the Unfolding/Folding Mechanism of a Beetle Hind Wing. J Bionic Eng 7, 134–141 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(09)60185-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(09)60185-2

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