As Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) become smaller, the correspondingly smaller payload capacity greatly limits the type and number of sensors which can be carried. Biologically inspired visual sensors based on optical flow show great promise due to the small size of the image sensors needed to capture visual data, but the high computational cost is a limiting factor. Current optical flow sensors are either small with very low resolution, or high resolution with large computing requirements, making them unsuitable for the primary sensor for MAVs. This paper presents an optical flow sensor specifically de signed for the needs of MAVs, combining very small size with adequate resolution and the capability of processing many image sensors in a single FPGA. Initial results indicate that per formance is sufficient for MAVs, and optical flow calculations can be performed in real-time with image sensors operating at 320×240 resolution at up to 120 FPS. FPGA resource usage estimates indicate that a 15×15 mm FPGA can calculate 2D optical flow for up to 11 image sensors simultaneously.

Flapping wings have the potential to revolutionize the field of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs), however the effect of flapping motion on the performance of such wings has not been studied in detail. This paper presents a parametric study of flapping wing propulsion, using two types of passive flapping wings and three flapping motions. Each combination of wing type and flapping motion was tested over a range of amplitudes and frequencies ranging from 1.4-36deg and 5-50 Hz respectively. Wing performance was evaluated by measuring lift force and mechanical efficiency for all tests. The performance of Wing A was found to be significantly higher than Wing B, with up to twice the maximum lift and efficiency. Overall, Wing A with the triangular flapping motion was found to be the most suitable for MAVs. This research has the potential to significantly improve the performance of flapping wing propulsion, resulting in new capabilities and applications for MAVs.

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a system for motion control and analysis of high speed passively twisting flapping wings. The developed system is capable of flapping the wing under test with several controlled waveforms at frequencies up to 30 Hz, while capturing data about wing motion, lift force, and angle of attack. Performance was tested with sinusoidal, triangular, trapezoidal and square waveforms, with average position error below 5% for all cases up to and including 25 Hz. Wing control and data capture were found to be of high accuracy, and measurements showed significant differences in wing performance with different flapping motions, indicating a need for continuation of this research.