Biological studies show that birds and bats can obtain airflow information with mechanoreceptors on their wing and body surfaces and use it to help achieve ultra-stable, highly maneuverable and extremely energy efficient flight. Inspired by these studies, an attitude control method for micro air vehicles (MAVs) using the flow information (pressure and shear) is studied. A nonlinear three-axis attitude dynamics model that relates the pressure and shear information to the attitude motion is developed. To tackle the flow field perception errors, measurement noises, and un-modeled dynamics, a nonlinear robust controller is implemented to track the attitude commands. A delta wing configured MAV, with forty two sensors on wing and rudder surfaces, is used as an exemplary design to validate the proposed attitude control method. The simulation results, under both steady and unsteady flow conditions, show that the proposed method can help the MAV achieving accurate and robust attitude control with small amplitudes of lateral damping.
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