Hao Jinjing, Wu Jianghao, Guo Jiedong, Zhang Yanlai
Beihang University, Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Hangzhou, China.
Beihang University, School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Beijing, China.
Phys Rev E. 2025 Jun;111(6-1):064414. doi: 10.1103/l1nq-c42k.
The remarkable flight capabilities of insects stem from the subtle modulation of their wing kinematics. Dipteran insects can beat their wings hundreds of times per second, with each wing reversing its pitch direction twice per wingbeat. However, the neural signals hardly match up to such high frequencies, making it interesting to consider how insects regulate wing pitch in a timely manner. In this study, we investigate this problem through observations and simulations involving droneflies. Wing kinematics modulation is induced by imposing unilateral wing damage and recorded by high-speed videography. In tethered flight, the wing pitches passively without mechanical feedback, creating an imbalanced roll moment, which can be overcome by active actuation in free hover. Simulations, based on the torsional spring passive pitching model, suggest that insects modulate wing pitch through the coupling of aerodynamic, inertial, and wing hinge elastic forces. The model predicts the trend of wing pitch subjected to wing area loss as the observation and achieves a similar control effect of balancing roll moment with a slight adjustment to spring parameters. Based on these results, we show that insects combine passive and active mechanisms for wing pitch modulation.
昆虫卓越的飞行能力源于其翅膀运动学的精细调节。双翅目昆虫每秒能拍打翅膀数百次，每一次翅膀拍打中，每个翅膀的俯仰方向会反转两次。然而，神经信号很难与如此高的频率相匹配，这使得思考昆虫如何及时调节翅膀俯仰变得有趣。在这项研究中，我们通过对食蚜蝇的观察和模拟来研究这个问题。通过施加单侧翅膀损伤来诱导翅膀运动学调节，并通过高速摄像进行记录。在系留飞行中，翅膀在没有机械反馈的情况下被动地俯仰，产生不平衡的滚转力矩，而在自由悬停时可以通过主动驱动来克服。基于扭转弹簧被动俯仰模型的模拟表明，昆虫通过空气动力、惯性和翅膀铰链弹力的耦合来调节翅膀俯仰。该模型预测了翅膀面积损失时翅膀俯仰的趋势，与观察结果相符，并且通过对弹簧参数进行轻微调整，实现了类似的平衡滚转力矩的控制效果。基于这些结果，我们表明昆虫结合了被动和主动机制来进行翅膀俯仰调节。
