Flies compensate for unilateral wing damage through modular adjustments of wing and body kinematics.
Using high-speed videography, we investigated how fruit flies compensate for unilateral wing damage, in which loss of area on one wing compromises both weight support and roll torque equilibrium. Our results show that flies control for unilateral damage by rolling their body towards the damaged wing and by adjusting the kinematics of both the intact and damaged wings. To compensate for the reduction in vertical lift force due to damage, flies elevate wingbeat frequency. Because this rise in frequency increases the flapping velocity of both wings, it has the undesired consequence of further increasing roll torque. To compensate for this effect, flies increase the stroke amplitude and advance the timing of pronation and supination of the damaged wing, while making the opposite adjustments on the intact wing. The resulting increase in force on the damaged wing and decrease in force on the intact wing function to maintain zero net roll torque. However, the bilaterally asymmetrical pattern of wing motion generates a finite lateral force, which flies balance by maintaining a constant body roll angle. Based on these results and additional experiments using a dynamically scaled robotic fly, we propose a simple bioinspired control algorithm for asymmetric wing damage.
Experimental Zoology Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Florian T
0000-0002-5668-0653
FT
Muijres
Department of Biology, University of Washington , Seattle, WA , USA.
Nicole A
NA
Iwasaki
Department of Biology, University of Washington , Seattle, WA , USA.
Michael J
MJ
Elzinga
Division of Biology and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA; Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
Johan M
JM
Melis
Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Division of Biology and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
Michael H
MH
Dickinson
Drosophila; aerodynamics; biomechanics; flapping flight; flight control