Micael S. Couceiro, N. M. Fonseca Ferreira and J. A. Tenreiro Machado Symposium on Fractional Signals and Systems Lisbon09 N.M. Fonseca Ferreira et.al. (eds.) Lisbon, Portugal, November 4-6, 2009 ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF A DRAGONFLY-INSPIRED ROBOT Micael S. Couceiro 1 , N. M. Fonseca Ferreira 1 and J. A. Tenreiro Machado 2 1 Institute of Engineering of Coimbra Rua Pedro Nunes - Quinta da Nora, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal e-mail:micaelcouceiro@gmail.com e-mail: nunomig@isec.pt 2 Institute of Engineering of Porto Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal e-mail: jtm@isep.ipp.pt Abstract. Dragonflies demonstrate unique and superior flight performances than most of the other insect species and birds. They are equipped with two pairs of independently controlled wings granting an unmatchable flying performance and robustness. In this paper it is studied the dynamics of a dragonfly-inspired robot. The system performances are analyzed in terms of time response and robustness. We study different movement, the dynamics and the level of dexterity in wing motion of the dragonfly. The development of computational simulation based on the dynamics of the robotic dragonfly allows the test of different control algorithms. The results are positive for the construction of flying platforms that effectively mimic the kinematics and dynamics of dragonflies and potentially exhibit superior flight performance than existing flying platforms. Keywords: robotic, bird, control, dynamic, aerodynamics. 1 INTRODUCTION The study of dynamic models based on insects is becoming popular and shows results that may be considered very close to reality [1, 2]. One of the models under study is based on the dragonfly [3] because it is considered a major challenge in terms of dynamics. Recent studies show that the aerodynamics of dragonflies is unstable because they use a flying method radically different from steady or quasi-steady flight that occurs in aircrafts and flapping or gliding birds [4]. This unsteady aerodynamic has not received proper attention due to the inherent level of complexity. Recently, technological advances allow the construction of robotic systems that are able to perform tasks of some complexity. In the past, there were significant advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and other areas allowing the implementation of biologically inspired robots [5]. Therefore, researchers are investing in reverse engineering based on the characteristics of animals. The progress of technology resulted in machines that can recognize facial expressions, understand speech and perform movements very similar to living beings. Some interesting examples are spiders [6], snakes [7], insects [8] and birds [9,10]. They all require an extensive study of both the physical and the behavioral aspect of real animals. The paper is organized as follow. Section two presents the state of the art in the area. Sections three and four provide an overview of the physical structure and the kinematics of the dragonfly,