Kinematics and statics of a microraptor-inspired robot in screw coordinates

Microraptor , a small paravian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period, is characterized by its distinctive four-winged morphology composed of forelimb wings, hindlimb wings, and a tail wing. Inspired by this configuration, a Microraptor-inspired robot is developed to investigate the kinetostatic behavior of multi-winged aerial mechanisms. A unified screw-theoretic framework is established to analyze wing kinematics during gliding and the corresponding static responses under external loads. Joint velocities are formulated in screw coordinates and incorporated into the static equilibrium equations, enabling an integrated treatment of kinematic and static analyses within a consistent framework. The proposed formulation is validated through numerical simulations and comparison with a vector-based kinetostatic approach. The results show close agreement between the two methods, demonstrating the effectiveness and internal consistency of the proposed screw-theoretic framework for Microraptor-inspired multi-wing robotic systems.