Date of Award

12-20-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

First Advisor

Anthony N. Palazotto, PhD.

Abstract

Developments in the area of flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) of a small size and with limited range. This has lead to a great deal of interest in biomimetric designs based on flapping wing flyers, including the North American Hawkmoth (Manduca Sexta). By utilizing high speed photography and photogrammetry the dynamic flapping of the wing can be characterized for comparison with mathematical models, namely computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA).To successfully utilize high speed image capture, a method of successfully digitizing many data points in a short period of time needs to be developed. The effort coordinated several photographically oriented MATLAB functions in a sequential order to develop the eventual three dimensional output. The key function to track two dimensional points was developed in this research utilizing MATLAB code, and was an important requirement to achieving the eventual results. The increased stroke angle will be used to characterize the wing displacement at the ends of the stroke and near zero where still image photogrammetry cannot capture enough images. Specific concerns with photogrammetry in this test situation have been considered and The utilization of photogrammetry was further improved by a mechanical device to automate calibration image collection, which reduces calibration errors.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GAE-ENY-11-D02

DTIC Accession Number

ADA554192

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