Visualized neural network-based vibration control for pigeon-like flexible flapping wings

This study investigates pigeon-like flexible flapping wings, which are known for their low energy consumption, high flexibility, and lightweight design. However, such flexible flapping wing systems are prone to deformation and vibration during flight, leading to performance degradation. It is thus necessary to design a control method to effectively manage the vibration of flexible wings. This paper proposes an improved rigid finite element method (IRFE) to develop a dynamic visualization model of flexible flapping wings. Subsequently, an adaptive vibration controller was designed based on non-singular terminal sliding mode (NTSM) control and fuzzy neural network (FNN) in order to effectively solve the problems of system uncertainty and actuator failure. With the proposed control, stability of the closed loop system is achieved in the context of Lyapunov’s stability theory. At last, a joint simulation using MapleSim and MATLAB/Simulink was conducted to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller in terms of trajectory tracking and vibration suppression. The obtained results have demonstrated great practical value of the proposed method in both military (low-altitude reconnaissance, urban operations, and accurate delivery, etc.) and civil (field research, monitoring, and relief for disasters, etc.) applications.