The article discusses the development of a manta ray-inspired flapping-wing blimp as an alternative to existing propeller-based designs. The design and control scheme of the blimp are presented, along with an analysis of the wing’s performance. The effects of wing shape and flapping characteristics on thrust generation are studied experimentally. The researchers demonstrate that the flapping-wing blimp has a significant range advantage over a propeller-based system. This research presents a simple, minimally viable approach to reproducing efficient flapping motion inspired by manta rays with low payload requirements.
Publication date: 18 Oct 2023
Project Page: Not provided
Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.10853
