First Experimental Demonstration of Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking: A New Paradigm in Flapping Flight Physics

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Main Authors: Elgohary, Ahmed A., Palanikumar, Rohan, Martini, Simone, Eisa, Sameh A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Elgohary, Ahmed A.
Palanikumar, Rohan
Martini, Simone
Eisa, Sameh A.
author_facet Elgohary, Ahmed A.
Palanikumar, Rohan
Martini, Simone
Eisa, Sameh A.
contents In this letter, we report the first experimental demonstration of the recently emerged new paradigm in hovering and flapping flight physics called (Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking (NH-ES)) [doi.org/10.1103/4dm4-kc4g], which theorized that stable hovering flight physics observed in nature by flapping insects and hummingbirds can be generated via a model-free, real-time, computationally-basic, sensory-based feedback mechanism that only needs the built-in natural oscillations of the flapping wing as both the control and the propulsive input. We run experiments of moth-like, light source-seeking, on a flapping-wing body in a total model-free setting that is agnostic to morphological parameters and body/aerodynamic models. We show that the flapping body using NH-ES gains altitude and stabilizes autonomously the servos responsible for flapping, including with pitching dynamics (believed in literature to be a main reason of instability in open-loop hovering). The flapping body effectively/stably hovers about the light source, needing only feedback of local measurements of light intensity. Our results were also achieved under delay/noise effects, supporting earlier observations that NH-ES is robust against potential processing delays and noisy-sensations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_20836
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First Experimental Demonstration of Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking: A New Paradigm in Flapping Flight Physics
Elgohary, Ahmed A.
Palanikumar, Rohan
Martini, Simone
Eisa, Sameh A.
Robotics
Optimization and Control
In this letter, we report the first experimental demonstration of the recently emerged new paradigm in hovering and flapping flight physics called (Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking (NH-ES)) [doi.org/10.1103/4dm4-kc4g], which theorized that stable hovering flight physics observed in nature by flapping insects and hummingbirds can be generated via a model-free, real-time, computationally-basic, sensory-based feedback mechanism that only needs the built-in natural oscillations of the flapping wing as both the control and the propulsive input. We run experiments of moth-like, light source-seeking, on a flapping-wing body in a total model-free setting that is agnostic to morphological parameters and body/aerodynamic models. We show that the flapping body using NH-ES gains altitude and stabilizes autonomously the servos responsible for flapping, including with pitching dynamics (believed in literature to be a main reason of instability in open-loop hovering). The flapping body effectively/stably hovers about the light source, needing only feedback of local measurements of light intensity. Our results were also achieved under delay/noise effects, supporting earlier observations that NH-ES is robust against potential processing delays and noisy-sensations.
title First Experimental Demonstration of Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking: A New Paradigm in Flapping Flight Physics
topic Robotics
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20836