Remote Sensing on a Bird-inspired Flapping Wings Robot Combined with LiDAR

The flapping wing robot (FWR), inspired by avian aerodynamics, is a distinct category of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Different to general UAVs, such as quadcopters, FWRs are featured by their superior aerodynamic capabilities, minimal noise generation, inherent stealth, and lower energy consumption. As a result, they are rapidly becoming vital tools in a variety of civilian and military activities including environmental monitoring, disaster detection, search and rescue operations, ecological conservation, and military manoeuvres. Our study introduces the comprehensive integration of a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) module, serving as a visual perception device, with a large FWR that is equipped with 2-meter, two-segment wings. Based on this setup, the geospatial information of targeted area is captured and compared to the existed topographic data.