A Visualization System for Analysis of Micro Aerial Vehicle Scaled Flapping Wings

This paper presents a visualization system for analysis of micro aerial vehicle (MAV) scaled flapping wings. By synchronizing to the wing under test, multiple devices can be triggered at precise phases in the flapping cycle with a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. The system can control devices such as strobe lights, lasers and cameras to capture wing motion and flow visualization data at the point of interest. The system was developed, then implemented and tested under ideal and real-world conditions to evaluate several aspects of performance. The effectiveness of the system was then demonstrated in a flow visualization experiment, where it was used to capture images of the average airflow around a flapping wing at several wing phases. Performance measurements showed the high accuracy of the system, while flow visualization results demonstrated significant improvements in the quality and accuracy of images when the system was used for analysis of a flapping wing. These results indicate the potential of the developed system to considerably improve visualization analysis of MAV scaled flapping wings.