Publications

In our recent Nature article, we developed a new theory on how flying drones and insects can estimate gravity direction by combining visual motion sensing with a model of how they move. This discovery forms a parsimonious explanation of multiple phenomena observed in biology and is also an important step for the creation of autonomous tiny drones with even fewer sensors. 

Guido C. H. E. Croon, Julien J. G. Dupeyroux, Christophe De Wagter, Abhishek Chatterjee, Diana A. Olejnik, Franck Ruffier: Accommodating unobservability to control flight attitude with optic flow. In: Nature, vol. 610, no. 7932, pp. 485–490, 2022, ISSN: 0028-0836.
 

Nature Machine Intelligence Paper

Whereas insects seem to control their flight effortlessly with the help of optical flow, robots that attempt to do the same run into problems. We propose as a solution a learning process that allows robots to see distances by means of visual appearance (colors, textures, shapes). Would it be possible that insects do the same?

The article is featured on the cover of Nature Machine Intelligence. Cover reprinted by permission from Springer Nature.

G.C.H.E. de Croon, C. De Wagter, T. Seidl: Enhancing optical-flow-based control by learning visual appearance cues for flying robots. In: Nature Machine Intelligence, vol. 3, no. 1, 2021.

Science Robotics Paper

Our recent paper in Science Robotics presents the first swarm of tiny robots that can explore unknown environments completely by themselves. No map, no memory, and no GPS! The full paper can be found here.

K N McGuire, C De Wagter, K Tuyls, H J Kappen, G C H E de Croon: Minimal navigation solution for a swarm of tiny flying robots to explore an unknown environment. In: Science Robotics, vol. 4, no. 35, 2019.

 

Delfly Book

 

 

Our book about the DelFly has been published! The book introduces the topics most relevant to autonomously flying flapping-wing robots: flapping-wing design, aerodynamics, and artificial intelligence.

 

G C H E de Croon, Mustafa Percin, B D W Remes, Rick Ruijsink, C De Wagter: The DelFly - Design, Aerodynamics, and Artificial Intelligence of a Flapping Wing Robot. Springer Netherlands, 2016, ISBN: 978-94-017-9207-3.

 

Science paper

 

 

The Delfly Nimble was featured on the cover of Science Magazine in September 2018.

 

Matěj Karásek, Florian T Muijres, Christophe De Wagter, Bart D W Remes, Guido C H E de Croon: A tailless aerial robotic flapper reveals that flies use torque coupling in rapid banked turns. In: Science, vol. 361, no. 6407, pp. 1089–1094, 2018, ISSN: 0036-8075.

 

 

 

 

 

All publications

693 entries « 12 of 14 »

2015

Journal Articles

JV Aguiar Vieira Caetano; M Percin; BW Oudheusden; BDW Remes; C Wagter; GCHE Croon; CC Visser

Error analysis and assessment of unsteady forces acting on a flapping wing micro air vehicle: Free flight versus wind-tunnel experimental methods (Journal Article)

In: Bioinspiration & Biomimetics: learning from nature, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 1–22, 2015, ISSN: 1748-3182, (harvest).

(Links | BibTeX)

GCHE Croon; D Alazard; D Izzo

Controlling spacecraft landings with constantly and exponentially decreasing time-to-contact (Journal Article)

In: IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 1241–1252, 2015, ISSN: 0018-9251.

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V Casseau; GCHE Croon; D Izzo; C Pandolfi

Morphologic and aerodynamic considerations regarding the plumed seeds of tragopogon pratensis and their implications for seed dispersal (Journal Article)

In: PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 1–17, 2015, ISSN: 1932-6203.

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J A Koopmans; S Tijmons; C De Wagter; G C H E de Croon

Passively Stable Flapping Flight From Hover to Fast Forward Through Shift in Wing Position (Journal Article)

In: International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 7, no. 4, 2015, ISBN: 10.1260/1756-8293.7.4.407.

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

W. B. Tay; S. Deng; B. W. Oudheusden; H. Bijl

Validation of immersed boundary method for the numerical simulation of flapping wing flight (Journal Article)

In: Computers & Fluids, vol. 115, pp. 226-242, 2015.

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W. B. Tay; B. W. Oudheusden; H. Bijl

Numerical simulation of a flapping four-wing micro-aerial vehicle (Journal Article)

In: Journal of Fluids and Structures, vol. 55, pp. 237-261, 2015.

(Links | BibTeX)

JV Caetano; M Percin; BW van Oudheusden; B Remes; C de Wagter; GCHE de Croon; CC de Visser

Error analysis and assessment of unsteady forces acting on a flapping wing micro air vehicle: free flight versus wind-tunnel experimental methods (Journal Article)

In: Bioinspiration & biomimetics, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 056004, 2015.

(BibTeX)

JV Caetano; MB Weehuizen; CC De Visser; GCHE De Croon; M Mulder

Rigid-body kinematics versus flapping kinematics of a flapping wing micro air vehicle (Journal Article)

In: Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, vol. 38, no. 12, pp. 2257–2269, 2015.

(BibTeX)

Proceedings Articles

J L Verboom; S Tijmons; C De Wagter; B Remes; R Babuska; G C H E de Croon

Attitude and altitude estimation and control on board a Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (Proceedings Article)

In: 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 5846–5851, IEEE, 2015.

(BibTeX)

Mustafa Perçin; Bas Oudheusden; Bart Remes

Force generation and wing deformation characteristics of the ’DelFly II’ MAV in hovering flight conditions (Proceedings Article)

In: International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Flight Competition, 2015, (International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Flight Competition 2015, IMAV 2015 ; Conference date: 15-09-2015 Through 18-09-2015).

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JL Verboom; S Tijmons; C Wagter; B Remes; R Babuska; GCHE Croon

Attitude and altitude estimation and control on board a Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (Proceedings Article)

In: Okamura, A (Ed.): Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 5846–5851, IEEE Society, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-4799-6923-4, (Harvest; ICRA 2015, Seattle, WA, USA ; Conference date: 26-05-2015 Through 30-05-2015).

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JV Aguiar Vieira Caetano; CC Visser; GCHE Croon; M Mulder

Effects of eigenmodes, forward velocity and flapping frequency in force generation mechanisms of a flapping-wing mav (Proceedings Article)

In: Riyanto, B; Budiyono, A (Ed.): Proceedings of the international conference on intelligent unmanned systems, pp. 1–6, s.n., 2015, (International conference on intelligent unmanned systems, ICIUS 2015, Bali, Indonesia ; Conference date: 26-08-2015 Through 29-08-2015).

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HW Ho; C Wagter; BDW Remes; GCHE Croon

Optical flow for self-supervised learning of obstacle appearance (Proceedings Article)

In: Zhang, J; Knoll, A (Ed.): Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International conference on intelligent robots and systems (IROS2015), pp. 1–7, IEEE Society, 2015, (International conference on intelligent robots and systems (IROS2015), Hamburg, Germany ; Conference date: 28-09-2015 Through 02-10-2015).

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SF Armanini; CC Visser; GCHE Croon

Black-box LTI modelling of flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle dynamics (Proceedings Article)

In: s.n., (Ed.): Proceedings of the AIAA atmospheric flight mechanics conference, pp. 1–16, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. (AIAA), United States, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-62410-340-7, (harvest AIAA 2015-0234; AIAA atmospheric flight mechanics conference, Kissimmee, USA ; Conference date: 05-01-2015 Through 09-01-2015).

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S Deng; T Xiao; M Percin; BW Oudheusden; H Bijl; BDW Remes

Numerical simulation of an X-wing flapping wing MAV by means of a deforming overset grid method (Proceedings Article)

In: s.n., (Ed.): Proceedings of the 22nd AIAA computational fluid dynamics conference, pp. 1–12, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. (AIAA), United States, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-62410-366-7, (harvest AIAA 2015-2615; 22nd AIAA computational fluid dynamics conference, Dallas, USA ; Conference date: 22-06-2015 Through 26-06-2015).

(Links | BibTeX)

JV Aguiar Vieira Caetano; SF Armanini; CC Visser; GCHE Croon; M Mulder

Data-informed quasi-steady aerodynamic model of a clap-and-fling flapping wing MAV (Proceedings Article)

In: Riyanto, B; Budiyono, A (Ed.): Proceedings of the international conference on intelligent unmanned systems, pp. 1–6, s.n., 2015, (International conference on intelligent unmanned systems, ICIUS 2015, Bali, Indonesia ; Conference date: 26-08-2015 Through 29-08-2015).

(Links | BibTeX)

LNC Sikkel; EJJ Smeur; GCHE Croon; BDW Remes; QP Chu

Robust rotorcraft control using an incremental sliding mode controller (Proceedings Article)

In: Bordeneuve-Guibe, J; Drouin, A; Roos, C (Ed.): Proceedings of the 3rd CEAS specialist conference on guidance, navigation and control, pp. 1–17, Springer, 2015, ISBN: 978-3-319-17517-1, (3rd CEAS specialist conference on guidance, navigation and control, Toulouse, France ; Conference date: 13-04-2015 Through 15-04-2015).

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J V Caetano; S F Armanini; De C C Visser; De G C H E Croon; M Mulder

Data-Informed Quasi-Steady Aerodynamic Model of a Clap-and-Fling Flapping Wing MAV (Proceedings Article)

In: Int. conf. on Intelligent Unmanned Systems (ICIUS), Bali, Indonesia, 2015.

(BibTeX)

SF Armanini; M Polak; JE Gautrey; A Lucas; JF Whidborne

Decision-making for unmanned flight in icing conditions (Proceedings Article)

In: Abbink, F; Hermans, C (Ed.): Proceedings of the 5th CEAS air and space conference, CEAS 2015, pp. 1–15, NVvL, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-906913-20-5, (5th CEAS air and space conference, CEAS 2015 ; Conference date: 07-09-2015 Through 11-09-2015).

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Sophie F Armanini; C C de Visser; G C H E de Croon

Black-box LTI modelling of flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle dynamics (Proceedings Article)

In: AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, Virginia, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-62410-340-7.

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C Fuchs; C Borst; GCHE Croon; MM Paassen; M Mulder

An ecological approach to the supervisory control of UAV swarms (Proceedings Article)

In: Fumeaux, C; Sanagavarapu, A (Ed.): Proceedings of the 18th international symposium on aviation psychology, ISAP2015, pp. 177–182, Wright State University, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-5108-0408-1, (18th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, ISAP2015 ; Conference date: 04-05-2015 Through 07-05-2015).

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Masters Theses

S. Van Lochem

Ecological Interface Design for Collaboration of Multiple UAVs in Remote Areas (Masters Thesis)

Delft University of Technology, 2015, (Borst, C. (mentor); De Croon, G.C.H.E. (mentor); Mulder, M. (mentor); Van Paassen, M.M. (mentor)).

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

K. G. Van Hecke

Persistent self-supervised learning principle: Study and demonstration on flying robots (Masters Thesis)

Delft University of Technology, 2015, (De Croon, G.C.H.E. (mentor); Van der Maaten, L.J.P. (mentor); Izzo, D. (mentor); Hennes, D. (mentor)).

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

T. Szabó

Autonomous Collision Avoidance for Swarms of MAVs: Based solely on RSSI measurements (Masters Thesis)

Delft University of Technology, 2015, (Mulder, J.A. (mentor); de Croon, G.C.H.E. (mentor); de Visser, C.C. (mentor); Scheper, K.Y.W. (mentor); Verhoeven, C.J.M. (mentor)).

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

M Paz Gomes Verdugo

Event-based Optical Flow using a Dynamic Vision Sensor for MAV Landing (Masters Thesis)

Delft University of Technology, Delft, NL, 2015.

(BibTeX)

Miscellaneous

G. C. H. E. Croon

Distance estimation with efference copies and optical flow maneuvers: a stability-based strategy (Miscellaneous)

2015.

(Links | BibTeX)

PhD Theses

M Percin

Aerodynamic mechanisms of flapping flight (PhD Thesis)

Delft University of Technology, 2015, ISBN: 9789462598430, (embargo 31-12-2016).

(Links | BibTeX)

2014

Journal Articles

W B Tay; B W Oudheusden; H Bijl

Numerical simulation of X-wing type biplane flapping wings in 3D using the immersed boundary method (Journal Article)

In: Bioinspiration & biomimetics, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 036001, 2014.

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C Fuchs; C Borst; GCHE de Croon; MM van Paassen; M Mulder

An Ecological Approach to the Supervisory Control of UAV Swarms (Journal Article)

In: International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 211–229, 2014, ISSN: 1756-8293.

(Links | BibTeX)

C Fuchs; C Borst; GCHE Croon; MM Paassen; M Mulder

An Ecological Approach to the Supervisory Control of UAV Swarms (Journal Article)

In: International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 211–229, 2014, ISSN: 1756-8293.

(Links | BibTeX)

M Percin; BW Oudheusden; HE Eisma; BDW Remes

Three-dimensional vortex wake structure of a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle in forward flight configuration (Journal Article)

In: Experiments in Fluids: experimental methods and their applications to fluid flow, vol. 55, no. 9, art.nr. 1806, pp. 1–16, 2014, ISSN: 0723-4864, (harvest Published online 21-8-2014).

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D Izzo; LF Simoes; GCHE Croon

An evolutionary robotics approach for the distributed control of satellite formations (Journal Article)

In: Evolutionary Intelligence, vol. 7, no. 7, pp. 107–118, 2014, ISSN: 1864-5909.

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S Deng; M Percin; BW Oudheusden; BDW Remes; H Bijl

Experimental Investigation on the Aerodynamics of a Bio-inspired Flexible Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle. (Journal Article)

In: International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 2014, no. 6, pp. 105–116, 2014, ISSN: 1756-8293.

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C De Wagter; S Tijmons; B D W Remes; G C H E de Croon

Autonomous Flight of a 20-gram Flapping Wing MAV with a 4-gram Onboard Stereo Vision System (Journal Article)

In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), pp. 4982–4987, 2014, ISSN: 10504729.

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

M Percin; BW van Oudheusden; HE Eisma; BDW Remes

Three-dimensional vortex wake structure of a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle in forward flight configuration (Journal Article)

In: Experiments in Fluids, vol. 55, no. 9, pp. 1–16, 2014.

(BibTeX)

Shuanghou Deng; Mustafa Percin; Bas van Oudheusden; Bart Remes; Hester Bijl

Experimental investigation on the aerodynamics of a bio-inspired flexible flapping wing micro air vehicle (Journal Article)

In: International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 105–115, 2014.

(BibTeX)

TA Noyon; WB Tay; BW Van Oudheusden; H Bijl

Effect of chordwise deformation on unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in hovering flapping flight (Journal Article)

In: International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 265–277, 2014.

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W B Tay; Van B W Oudheusden; H Bijl

Numerical simulation of X-wing type biplane flapping wings in 3D using the immersed boundary method (Journal Article)

In: Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 36001, 2014, ISSN: 1748-3190.

(Abstract | BibTeX)

T Gillebaart; WB Tay; AH Zuijlen; H Bijl

A modified ALE method for fluid flows around bodies moving in close proximity (Journal Article)

In: Computers & Structures, vol. 145, pp. 1–11, 2014.

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Proceedings Articles

S F Armanini; J L Verboom; G C H E de Croon; C C de Visser

Determination of trim curves for a flapping-wing MAV (Proceedings Article)

In: IMAV 2014: International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition 2014, Delft, The Netherlands, August 12-15, 2014, pp. 212–217, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2014.

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

J V Caetano; M Percin; C C de Visser; B van Oudheusden; G C H E de Croon; C De Wagter; B D W Remes; M Mulder

Tethered vs. free flight force determination of the DelFly II Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (Proceedings Article)

In: 2014 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), pp. 942–948, IEEE, 2014, ISBN: 978-1-4799-2376-2.

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

EJJ Smeur; QP Chu; GCHE Croon; BDW Remes; C Wagter; E Horst

Modelling of a Hybrid UAV Using Test Flight Data (Proceedings Article)

In: Croon, GCHE; Kampen, E; Wagter, C; Visser, CC (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition 2014, pp. 196–203, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2014, (The International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition 2014 ; Conference date: 12-08-2014 Through 15-08-2014).

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S Tijmons; GCHE Croon; BDW Remes; C Wagter; HM Ruijsink; EJ Kampen; QP Chu

Off-board processing of Stereo Vision images for Obstacle Avoidance on a flapping Wing MAV (Proceedings Article)

In: s.n., (Ed.): Proceedings of the PEGASUS - AIAA Student Conference, pp. 1–16, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. (AIAA), United States, 2014, (The PEGASUS - AIAA Student Conference ; Conference date: 23-04-2014 Through 25-04-2014).

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BDW Remes; P Esden-Tempski; F Tienen; EJJ Smeur; C Wagter; GCHE Croon

Lisa-S 2.8g autopilot for GPS-based flight of MAVs (Proceedings Article)

In: Remes, BDW; Esden-Tempski, P; Tienen, F; Smeur, EJJ; wagter, C; Croon, GCHE (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Micro Air Vehicle conference and competitions, pp. 280–285, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2014, (The International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competitions ; Conference date: 12-08-2014 Through 15-08-2014).

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S Deng; M Percin; BW Oudheusden; BDW Remes

Force and Flow field measurements of a bio-inspired flapping-wing MAV Delfly Micro in Hovering flight (Proceedings Article)

In: s.n., (Ed.): Proceedings of the 32nd AIAA Applied Aerodynamic Conference, pp. 1–10, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. (AIAA), United States, 2014, (AIAA 2014-2564; The 32nd AIAA Applied Aerodynamic Conference ; Conference date: 16-06-2014 Through 20-06-2014).

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JV Aguiar Vieira Caetano; M Percin; CC Visser; BW Oudheusden; GCHE Croon; C Wagter; BDW Remes; M Mulder

Tethered vs. Free Flight Force Determination of the DelFly II Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (Proceedings Article)

In: Valavanis, KP (Ed.): Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, pp. 942–948, IEEE Society, 2014, (The IEEE International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems ; Conference date: 27-05-2014 Through 30-05-2014).

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A Tenaglia; M Percin; BW Oudheusden; S Deng; BDW Remes

Vortex Formation and Force Generation Mechanisms of the DelFly II in Hovering Flight (Proceedings Article)

In: s.n., (Ed.): Proceedings of the International micro air vehicle conference and competition IMAV 2014, pp. 204–211, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2014, (2014 International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition (IMAV 2014) ; Conference date: 12-08-2014 Through 15-08-2014).

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JV Aguiar Vieira Caetano; MB Weehuizen; CC Visser; GCHE Croon; C Wagter; BDW Remes; M Mulder

Rigid vs. Flapping: The Effects of Kinematic Formulations in Force Determination of a free Flying Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (Proceedings Article)

In: Valavanis, KP (Ed.): Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, pp. 949–959, IEEE Society, 2014, (The IEEE International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems ; Conference date: 27-05-2014 Through 30-05-2014).

(Links | BibTeX)

C Fuchs; C Borst; GCHE Croon; MM Paassen; M Mulder

An Ecological Approach to the Supervisory Control of UAV Swarms (Proceedings Article)

In: Croon, GCHE (Ed.): Proceedings of the international Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competitions, pp. 188–195, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2014, (The International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competitions ; Conference date: 12-08-2014 Through 15-08-2014).

(Links | BibTeX)

C Wagter; S Tijmons; BDW Remes; GCHE Croon

Autonomous Flight of a 20-gram Flapping Wing MAV with a 4-gram Onboard Stereo Vision System (Proceedings Article)

In: s.n., (Ed.): Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2014), pp. 4982–4987, IEEE Society, 2014, (The 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2014) ; Conference date: 31-05-2014 Through 07-06-2014).

(Links | BibTeX)

693 entries « 12 of 14 »