Natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami often destroy urban environments, trapping people in collapsed buildings (Figure 1). Search-and-rescue tasks for such victims have improved significantly with the development of a number of intelligent sensing devices. The core search-and-rescue tasks are, however, still performed manually by a rescue team, leaving the possibility for secondary accidents and the inefficiency of moving around in and searching a complex environment on foot, as remaining issues. Following the technological advances in micro sensors and actuators, the development of autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs), which can move freely around and inside destroyed indoor environments, has received considerable attention in the last decade.

Figure 1: Turkey earthquake in February, 2002. 150 people were killed in collapsed buildings (AP)

The question that first arises is with regard to the type of MAVs to be used for urban search-and-rescue. Unlike airplanes for mass transportation, which require distinct thrust and lift forces, MAVs for urban search-and-rescue must be operated at low speed and with a small payload. Such MAVs can be the conventional fixed-wing, rotary-wing or ducted fan designs, but, at small scales, MAVs with flapping wings can be considered as an alternative option.

(a) Flapping motion	(b) Vortex formation
Figure 2: Hardware-in-the-loop optimizer

Objective
The flapping-wing MAVs can achieve much higher efficiencies by exploiting low Reynolds Number aerodynamics. The project is aimed at developing a system that enables the analysis and synthesis of the flapping-wing MAVs. Such a system under development is the hardware-in-the-loop optimizer where an optimal flapping motion is found by experimentally quantifying the aerodynamics. The project is also aimed at designing and developing flapping-wing MAVs with new mechanisms.

Results
The hardware-in-the-loop optimizer developed so far has enabled the visualizations of flapping motion (Figure 2(a)) and air flow (Figure 2(b)). The strobe light synchronized to the flapping frequency enables the observation of flapping behavior and air flow in slow motion. Having the sensors that measure lift forces equipped, the system will have the capability of optimization in the near future.

Note: this description does not make sense. This page will be updated in the near future.