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Measurement of Differential Pressure on Wing Surface
Using an Ornithopter Modeled on Insects


 

We measured a pressure difference between an upper and a lower surface of an ornithopterfs wing using a MEMS sensor during free flight. We designed the ornithopterfs Reynolds number 5.0~103, which was the same order as that of a hawkmoth. The wing length and flapping frequency were 110 mm and 13 Hz, respectively. A MEMS differential pressure sensor was mounted on the wing. The sensor was so small and light that it doesnft disturb the flapping flight. The pressure difference was recorded for 0.85 s at 300 Hz by a data logger. During free flight, maximum and minimum pressure difference were 39 Pa during downstroke and 24 Pa during upstroke, respectively. We demonstrated that the waveform of the vertical impulse estimated by the sensor output was almost equal to that of the momentum calculated from the camera image.