QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wang, H. Articles by Yin, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wang, H. Articles by Yin, C.

The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 745-757 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00183

Measuring wing kinematics, flight trajectory and body attitude during forward flight and turning maneuvers in dragonflies

Hao Wang^1,*, Lijiang Zeng¹, Hao Liu² and Chunyong Yin¹

¹ State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
² Computer and Information Division, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Japan

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: whao98{at}mails.tsinghua.edu.cn)

Accepted 29 November 2002

A robust technique for determining the wing kinematics, body position and attitude of a free-flight dragonfly is described. The new method is based on a projected comb-fringe technique combined with the natural landmarks on a dragonfly, allowing us to establish the local body-centered coordinate system with high accuracy, and to measure the body attitude at any instant. The kinematic parameters, including wingbeat frequency, flapping angle, angle of attack, torsional angle and camber deformation, required no assumptions to be made with respect to wing geometry, deformability (except the assumption of rigid leading edges) or bilateral wing symmetry. Two typical flight behaviors, forward flight and turning maneuvers, of dragonflies Polycanthagyna melanictera Selys were measured and analyzed.

Key words: free flight, dragonfly, Polycanthagyna melanictera, insect wing, wing deformation, kinematics, fringe pattern projection, attitude

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Wang, N. Ando, and R. Kanzaki Active control of free flight manoeuvres in a hawkmoth, Agrius convolvuli J. Exp. Biol., February 1, 2008; 211(3): 423 - 432. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F.-O. Lehmann When wings touch wakes: understanding locomotor force control by wake wing interference in insect wings J. Exp. Biol., January 15, 2008; 211(2): 224 - 233. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. K. Wang and M. Sun A computational study of the aerodynamics and forewing-hindwing interaction of a model dragonfly in forward flight J. Exp. Biol., October 1, 2005; 208(19): 3785 - 3804. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. N. Fry, R. Sayaman, and M. H. Dickinson The aerodynamics of hovering flight in Drosophila J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2005; 208(12): 2303 - 2318. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. J. Maybury and F.-O. Lehmann The fluid dynamics of flight control by kinematic phase lag variation between two robotic insect wings J. Exp. Biol., December 15, 2004; 207(26): 4707 - 4726. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]