Separate camber wing (SCW) device to enhance lift and payload on servo-driven flapping robot

This study introduces the separate camber wing (SCW), an airfoil device that is separate from the main wing, to enhance the lift and payload capacity of bird-inspired flapping robots. The SCW is installed on the dorsal side of the robot body. It comes in two configurations: single-surface and double-surface. A series of tests was conducted to compare the performance of these configurations with that of conventional ones, such as the hole and continuous configurations. Wind tunnel experiments showed that the single-surface configuration produced promising results. At an angle of attack between 15 and 25∘, the single-surface configuration generated a lift ranging from 0.46 to 0.63 N while providing sufficient thrust to counteract drag. Indoor flight tests demonstrated that the single-surface configuration could maintain flight altitude along the trajectory while carrying a payload of up to 20 g. Outdoor flight tests verified that the maximum safe payload capacity for a flapping robot with a single-surface configuration is 17.5 grams. These results suggest that the single-surface type of SCW device can increase the flapping robot's payload from 5 to 17.5 g, equivalent to 38.9% of the robot's weight.