Mechanism Analysis and Simplified Prototype for Flapping Motions of Ladybugs

Abstract

In nature, a wide variety of insects and animals uses flapping wings to fly. Recently flapping flight systems imitated from their flapping wings have been reported in the field of robotics. These studies have introduced distinctive flapping-wing prototypes according to the number of wings and the shape of the wing. Remarkably, in spite of recent advances, the flapping wings have only been studied in a small part of these biosystems. As considering counterless living species, many challenges still remain in understanding and studying flapping wings. Along with this consideration, our study direction is to study the flapping wings of ladybugs and then to realize a ladybug-based artificial flapping wing. What is the most important aspect from the biological point of view is to identify key mechanisms that allow the ladybug to fly. For that purpose, a simple wing prototype capable of flapping and feathering based on the flying motion of the ladybug is developed. We are now in the preliminary stage of identifying the key mechanisms by using the prototype. In this presentation, investigation results obtained from the mechanism through simulations and experiments are introduced.