A Robotic Mechanism to Validate the Origin of Avian Flight

A fundamental way to quantify the origin of flight is the implementation of experiments on the running bipedal with/without flapping wings in order to capture the kinematics of a bird quantitatively. To this purpose, the measured parameters should be the body rolling and the amplitude of flapping accompanied by running, while the wings can be folded and unfolded in a certain angle of attack. Here, we show the analysis and synthesis of a testrig-based bionic robot using screw theory. This paper investigates a multi-purpose bipedal robot to simulate the dynamics and kinematics of a bird from terrestrial running to aero flapping flight. The bird-like robot is composed of lower limb and forelimb mechanisms, including the motions of folding and unfolding the wings, flapping wings, and adjustment of their angle of attack. These mechanisms are integrated together with the robot’s main body in order to make a bipedal movement. The robot mounts on its test rig to create a three-degree-of-freedom model in such a way that the motion is restricted to the lateral sides and only the movement up and down is allowed.