Black-box LTI modelling of flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle dynamics

This paper presents the development of black-box linear state-space models for the flight dynamics of a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle (FWMAV), the DelFly. The models were obtained by means of system identification techniques applied to flight data recorded in a motion tracking chamber and describe the time-averaged dynamics of the vehicle in the proximity of specific stationary points in forward flight. Ordinary least squares and maximum likelihood-based estimation approaches were applied in the time domain, and decoupled models were identified for the longitudinal and the lateral dynamics. The availability of several different datasets additionally allowed for validation and for the estimation and comparison among each other of several separate models. Adequate models were obtained for both the longitudinal and the lateral dynamics. These reproduce the estimation data well and are also capable of predicting the response to validation inputs with a reasonable degree of accuracy, thus allowing for a simulation of the DelFly near the stationary points considered. The identified dynamics are stable and thus in agreement with the observed behaviour of the DelFly in the considered flight regime.