Design and Prototyping a Butterfly-Inspired Flapping-Wing MAV: Novel Applications of Drones for Met Gala Fashion Event

摘要

This paper aims to design and build a prototype of an autonomous flapping-wing drone that mimics the butterfly and its propulsion motion for Met Gala fashion event. The drone must be autonomous, generate lift by flapping its wings and capable of flying after target. To design this butterfly-inspired flapping-wing drone, an engineering analysis was performed. The sizing process of this flapping-wing includes mission definition, wing shape and aspect ratio selection, weight estimation, constraint analysis, as well as motor and battery selection and solution to target tracking and following. A prototype has been manufactured and made to flap. Target is being tracked by placing a BLE beacon disguised in the form of a flower ring and incorporating a controller with compatibility with Bluetooth. A code has been written that activate the motors once a strong enough signal is detected, and a flow chart of autonomous target tracking is presented. A solution to obstacle detection and collision avoidance has been presented. This design indicates a novel application of drones within fashion.