Scholarship & Research
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/1
Browse
17 results
Search Results
Item Computationally modeling the aeroelastic physics of flapping-wing flight(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2023) Schwab, Ryan Keith; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mark Jankauski; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Flying insects use flapping wings to achieve flight at minuscule sizes. These flapping wings deform elastically under both inertial and aerodynamic loading. While conventional aircraft are often designed to reduce flexibility in their wings, insects harness the benefits of wing flexibility through elastic potential energy storage and enhancement of flapping wing- specific aerodynamic phenomena. Aircraft at insect size scales could have an inexhaustible number of uses ranging from monitoring of congested piping networks in oil refineries, to extraterrestrial land surveyance in thin atmospheres. If these micro air vehicles are to be realized, however, they will need to harness the aerodynamic benefits of flapping wings in order to overcome unfavorable ratios of lift to drag forces and inefficiencies of DC motors at such small sizes. Study of flapping wing aeroelastics is complicated due to the large-amplitude rotations of the wings, unsteady dynamics of the fluid regime, and small size and weight scales of the wings. While some experimental work focuses on techniques like measuring kinematics through motion tracking with high-speed videography, and partial flow field measurements through particle image velocimetry, it is difficult to conduct experiments that paint a full picture of the fluid-structure interaction of these wings. Instead, this research focuses on high-fidelity computational modeling through bilaterally coupled computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis software to understand the fluid-structure interaction of flapping wings. In this work, a reduced order modeling technique capable of calculating the bulk aeroelastic physics of flapping wings at computational efficiencies suitable for parameter optimization studies was also validated. Finally, the influence of tapered wing thickness on aeroelastics and energetic efficiency was studied. While wing tapering reduced mean thrust, it had a greater reduction on the energetic requirement to produce flapping kinematics and was therefore more energetically efficient.Item Using sparse coding as a preprocessing technique for insect detection in pulsed LIDAR data(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2022) Zsidisin, Connor Reece; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Brad WhitakerThis research proposes using sparse coding as a preprocessing technique on insect lidar based data. This preprocessing technique will be used in conjunction with the Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), Random UnderSampling Boosting (RUSBoost), and neural network algorithms to automatically detect insects. The project aims to increase the effectiveness of these algorithms by using new images created by sparse coding. The K-Singular Value Decomposition (KSVD) algorithm will be used to train a dictionary on images that contain the majority class (non-insects). This trained dictionary will be used along with Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) to reconstruct all lidar images. The difference between the original image and the reconstructed image will be taken and processed by the feature extraction function and then used to train and test the models. Using a complete and an overcomplete dictionary our results show that the algorithms are able to detect insects at a higher rate. Using an overcomplete dictionary we are able to classify 93.18% of insect containing images in the testing dataset. Using the complete dictionary we were able to maintain 99.70% of non-insect images while increasing the percentage of insects classified to 84.09%.Item Toward the design and characterization of a dynamically similar artificial insect wing(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2019) Reid, Heidi Elita; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mark JankauskiMicro air vehicles (MAVs) are a useful tool for numerous tasks, such as environmental mapping, search and rescue, and military reconnaissance. As MAV applications require them to operate at smaller and smaller length scales, traditional propulsion mechanisms (e.g. fixed wings, rotating propellers) cannot meet these demands. Conversely, flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) can to realize flight at sub centimeter-lengths. However, FWMAVs face design challenges that preclude autonomous flight, including inefficient energetics and reliable on-board sensing. A comprehensive understanding of flying insect biomechanics may provide valuable design insights to help overcome the challenges experienced by FWMAVs. Insect wings have biological sensors that provide feedback to control attitude and wing deformation improves both inertial and aerodynamic power economy. Consequently, the insect wing can guide the design FWMAV-employed artificial insect wings. The present work aims to (1) dynamically characterize real insect wings via experimental modal analysis, and (2) develop dynamically similar artificial wings to be used on FWMAVs or in controlled studies. To our knowledge, no existing artificial insect wing models are isospectral and isomodal with respect to their biological counterparts. Isomodality and isospectrality imply they have identical frequency response functions and vibration mode shapes, and thus will deform similarly under realistic flapping conditions. We measured the frequency response function and vibration modes of fresh Manduca sexta forewings using an electrodynamic shaker and planar scanning vibrometer and estimated the wings' mass distribution via a cut-and-weigh procedure. Based upon our results, we designed and constructed the artificial wings using fused filament fabrication to print a polylactic acid vein structure, based upon the actual vein size and arrangement present in biological wings. Thin polymer films were manually layered over the vein structure and trimmed to fit the wing boundaries to produce a flat wing structure. We determined that the biological and artificial wings have nearly identical natural frequencies, damping ratios, gain, and shape for the first vibration mode. The second mode exhibited complex modal behavior previously unreported in literature, which likely has significant implications to flapping wing aerodynamics. We demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating economical, realistic artificial wings for robotic applications moving forward.Item Scanning wing-beat-modulation LIDAR for insect studies(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2017) Tauc, Martin Jan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Joseph A. ShawThe spatial distributions of flying insects are not well understood since most sampling methods - Malaise traps, sticky traps, vacuum traps, light traps - are not suited to documenting movements or changing distributions of various insects on short time scales. These methods also capture and kill the insects. To noninvasively monitor the spatial distributions of flying insects, we developed and implemented a scanning lidar system that measured wing-beat-modulation. Transmitting and receiving optics were mounted to a telescope that was attached to a scanning mount. As it scanned, the lidar collected and analyzed the light scattered from insect wings of various species. Mount position and pulse time-of-flight determined spatial location and spectral analysis of the backscattered light provided clues to insect identity. During one day of a four day field campaign at Grand Teton National Park in June of 2016, 76 'very likely' insects and 662 'somewhat likely' insects were detected, with a maximum range to the insect of 87:6m for 'very likely' insects.Item Insects associated with Montana's huckleberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium globulare) plants and the bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2016) Dolan, Amelia Clare; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael A. IvieA key factor in understanding the success of any crop plant is knowledge of the underlying interactions between that plant and its insect associates. However, no research project has ever explored the insect community associated with Montana's huckleberries, a culturally and economically important specialty crop in the state. Additionally, baseline knowledge on the composition and distribution of Montana's insect fauna is lacking in many ways. Without baseline knowledge of what insects are present, monitoring and/or conservation efforts are impossible. In 2014 and 2015, insects were sampled from huckleberry plants at 21 study sites in the mountains of Northwest and Southwest Montana to identify possible pollinators and potential threats. Bumble bees, andrenids, and vespids were found to be the most frequent flower visitors, while a variety of Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera were collected from the plants' leaves and stems. An attempt was made to distinguish between actual biological associates and casual plant visitors. Over 30 possible associates were identified. Several new host plant records were documented and an undescribed species of Pristiphora (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) was discovered. Bumble bees collected from huckleberry study sites, bumble bees collected across the state during the summer of 2015, and historic museum specimens were used to compile the first inventory of Bombus species in Montana. Over 12,000 Bombus records were examined and 28 species have now been confirmed to be present in the state while four additional species are predicted to occur here. Data have been made available to the public through an online database in order to inform future research and conservation efforts.Item Partial characterization of an entomopoxvirus isolated from grasshoppers(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1978) Kussman, Herbert CarlItem The early embryology of Aulocara elliotti (Thomas) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) with studies on the effects of maternal age and environment of the developmental rate of the egg(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1973) Wessel, Margaretha HardersItem Protozoan and viral pathogens of grasshoppers(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1969) Henry, John EdwardItem Studies on the development of muscle in embryos of Aulocara elliotti (Thomas) (Orthoptera, Acrididae) using the fluorescent antibody technique(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1967) Horvath, Bela ZoltanItem The leafhoppers of Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1928) Fox, David Egbert