Study on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of Ornithopter with Different Wing Shapes and Wing Materials

Ornithopters are complex models that can carry complex missions and maneuver in tight spaces than the conventional UAVs. In this study, an ornithopter with flapping motion is developed with a wingspan of 60 cm. The study focuses on the wing shapes and wing materials used for the wing that could aid in improving the UAV performance. Using a three-gear mechanism system driven by a brushless DC motor, the flapping wing mechanism capable of producing flapping motion is built. Four sets of wings are fabricated using polycarbonate fabric—plain as well as printed with wing shapes—butterfly and semi-elliptical. An IMU sensor is used to measure the orientation of the ornithopter such as the pitch rate, roll rate, and yaw rate. The lift is measured using load cell in ten cycles and at two different flapping frequencies (low and high). The frequency that provided the best lift measurements is used to measure the orientation of the ornithopter. The results show that the lift characteristics remained almost the same for both fabric materials. There is a net lift produced for plain polycarbonate fabric butterfly-shaped wing and for the printed polycarbonate fabric semi-elliptical-shaped wing. The latter shows a better lift characteristic among all wings with a lowest negative peak of − 2.66 N.