Aerodynamic modelling of insect-like flapping flight for micro air vehicles

Insect-like flapping flight offers a power-efficient and highly manoeuvrable basis for a micro air vehicle capable of indoor flight. The development of such a vehicle requires a careful wing aerodynamic design. This is particularly true since the flapping wings will be responsible for lift, propulsion and manoeuvres, all at the same time. It sets the requirement for an aerodynamic tool that will enable study of the parametric design space and converge on one (or more) preferred configurations. In this respect, aerodynamic modelling approaches are the most attractive, principally due to their ability to iterate rapidly through various design configurations. In this article, we review the main approaches found in the literature, categorising them into steady-state, quasi-steady, semi-empirical and fully unsteady methods. The unsteady aerodynamic model of Ansari et al. seems to be the most satisfactory to date and is considered in some detail. Finally, avenues for further research in this field are suggested.