Single-loop control and trajectory following of a flapping-wing microrobot

Inspired by the agility of flying insects and the recent development on an insect-scale aerial vehicle, we propose a single-loop adaptive flight control suite designed with an emphasis on the ability to track dynamic trajectories as a step towards the goal of performing acrobatic maneuvers as observed in real insects. Instead of the conventional approach of having cascaded control loops, the proposed controller directly regulates the commanded torques to stabilize the attitude and lateral position in a single loop. The method is verified by performing trajectory following flights with the insectlike robot. The results show that the position errors during trajectory following flights are comparable to those observed from steady hovering flights.