This book introduces the topics most relevant to autonomously flying flapping wing robots: flapping-wing design, aerodynamics, and artificial intelligence. Readers can explore these topics in the context of the "Delfly", a flapping wing robot designed at Delft University in The Netherlands. How are tiny fruit flies able to lift their weight, avoid obstacles and predators, and find food or shelter? The first step in emulating this is the creation of a micro flapping wing robot that flies by itself. The challenges are considerable: the design and aerodynamics of flapping wings are still active areas of scientific research, whilst artificial intelligence is subject to extreme limitations deriving from the few sensors and minimal processing onboard. This book conveys the essential insights that lie behind success such as the DelFly Micro and the DelFly Explorer. The DelFly Micro, with its 3.07 grams and 10 cm wing span, is still the smallest flapping wing MAV in the world carrying a camera, whilst the DelFly Explorer is the world's first flapping wing MAV that is able to fly completely autonomously in unknown environments. The DelFly project started in 2005 and ever since has served as inspiration, not only to many scientific flapping wing studies, but also the design of flapping wing toys. The combination of introductions to relevant fields, practical insights and scientific experiments from the DelFly project make this book a must-read for all flapping wing enthusiasts, be they students, researchers, or engineers.

For anyone interested in the aerodynamics, structural dynamics and flight dynamics of small birds, bats, insects and air vehicles (MAVs).

'Nature's Flyers' is a detailed account of the current scientific understanding of the primary aspects of flight in nature. The author explains the physical basis of flight, drawing upon bats, birds, insects, pterosaurs and even winged seeds.

Selected, peer reviewed papers from the OPTIROB2013 International Conference on Biomechanics, Neurorehabilitation, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Systems, Robotics and Aerospace: Optimization of the Engineering Systems, June 20-23, 2013, Mamaia, Constanta Romania

This title reports on the latest research in the area of aerodynamic efficency of various fixed-wing, flapping wing, and rotary wing concepts. It presents the progress made by over fifty active researchers in the field.

A comprehensive tutorial on ultrasonic motors for practicing engineers, researchers and graduate students. "Ultrasonic Motors: Technologies and Applications" describes the operating mechanism, electromechanical coupling models, optimization design of structural parameters, testing methods, and drive/control techniques of various ultrasonic motors and their applications. Dr. Chunsheng Zhao is a professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) where he is Director of the Precision Driving Laboratory at NUAA. He is a member of the Chinese Academy of Science, and holds 54 patents in China and published more than 400 papers in the field of piezoelectric ultrasonic motors.

This book focuses on different facets of flight data analysis, including the basic goals, methods, and implementation techniques. As mass flight data possesses the typical characteristics of time series, the time series analysis methods and their application for flight data have been illustrated from several aspects, such as data filtering, data extension, feature optimization, similarity search, trend monitoring, fault diagnosis, and parameter prediction, etc. An intelligent information-processing platform for flight data has been established to assist in aircraft condition monitoring, training evaluation and scientific maintenance. The book will serve as a reference resource for people working in aviation management and maintenance, as well as researchers and engineers in the fields of data analysis and data mining.