Abstract: Passively stabilized double-wing Flapping Micro Air Vehicles (FMAVs) do not require active control and exhibit good electromagnetic interference resistance, with significant research value. In this paper, the dynamic model of FMAV was established as the foundation for identifying flapping damping coefficients. Through a pendulum experiment, we ascertain the flapping damping of the damper using the energy conservation method. Besides, fitting relationships between the damper area, damper mass, and the moment of inertia are developed. The factors influencing the bottom damper damping are determined using correlation coefficients and hypothesis testing methods. Additionally, stable dampers are installed on both the top and bottom of the FMAV to achieve passive stability in simulations. The minimum damper areas for the FMAV were optimized using genetic algorithms, resulting in a minimum top damper area of 128 cm2 and a minimum bottom damper area of 80 cm2. A prototype with a mass of 25.5 g and a wingspan of 22 cm has been constructed. Prototype testing demonstrated that FMAV can take off stably with a 3 g payload and a tilt angle of 5°. During testing, the area-to-mass ratio of the FMAV reached 7.29 cm2/g, achieving passive stability with the world’s smallest area-to-mass ratio.

Key words:  , Air dampers , · Passive stabilization , · Micro air vehicles , · Genetic algorithm