Gliding Mechanism with Hinged Aeroelastic Wings

Last few decades have seen a rising number of robot designs combining jumping and gliding functions. Engineers have drawn inspirations from birds for efficient gliding , namely their body morphology and flying techniques. Devices that are inspired by birds have benefited aircraft designs with the most prominent of them being the winglet. This work presents a glider design that can be coupled with jumping robots for locomotion and is able to have efficient and stable flights. A aeroelastic hinged winglet design is added to the glider, which enables the wings to have load alleviation capabilities.