BOLT (or Bipedal Ornithopter for Locomotion Transitioning) is a small flapping wing micro-air vehicle (MAV)

The robot has tiny legs that help it save energy by moving around on the surface before taking flight. In running modes, the wings also provide passive stability.

Flapping flight provides the high maneuverability necessary for operation in a partially structured indoor environment. To achieve robust intelligence for tasks such as search and indoor navigation, the maneuverability of the ornithopter is combined with a learning approach which makes minimal assumptions about the nature of disturbances and obstacles. 

BOLT

The robot combines the gearbox and wings from a commercial ornithopter (Air &nbsp;HogsTMV-wing AvengerTM) with a custom airframe, leg design, and electronics package. A single motor drives both the leg and the wings, allowing sufficiently high power density to maintain hoveringflight.The integration of an electronics package allows two-way communication and the investigation &nbsp;of the robot dynamics with a six-axis inertial measurement unit &nbsp;(IMU).Airframe Design&nbsp;BOLT’s airframe uses carbon fiber spars for structural rigidity. The lightweight properties of carbon fiber make it ideal for use in a flying platform. A rigid airframe is critical in preventing serial compliance from reducing the wing thrust. For the lightweight tail, carbon &nbsp;fiber spars have been placed in a card board pattern and a film of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is overlaid and attached to the spars with cyanoacrylate.The center of mass location of the robot is important for determining the posture of the robot when it is in the air. The battery is placed at the very posterior of the robot on the tail, the controller board is placed within the airframe. This gives the robot a vertical posture, with the majority of the wing thrust directed downward. By adjusting the position of the controller board, the robot can be set to either hover in place or fly forward at a slow rate. The airframe of the robot also protects the controller board during operation.&nbsp;Leg Design&nbsp;BOLT has a bipedal leg design, with each leg going through a symmetrical motion 180 degrees out of phase with the another. The legs are built using the SCM process ,which &nbsp;allows &nbsp;the &nbsp;implementation of a lightweight structure that transforms the output of the motor to the desired leg trajectory. &nbsp;&nbsp;Four layers of unidirectional carbon fiber pre-preg are sandwiched around PET to create the leg structure. The layers of the unidirectional carbon fiber are arranged crosswise to provide stiffness in two directions, and are mirrored across the flexure layer. The structure is designed to provide protection to the hips in case of high velocity impacts, while allowing the legs to still extend in front and below the body.&nbsp;Power, Communications, and Control BOLT uses a custom electronics package that &nbsp;incorporates a 40 MHz dsPIC processor with a motordriver, six-axis IMU, and 1 MB of Flash memory. In addition, the board has an Atmel 802.15.4 radio for communication with a laptop. A Python interface sends commands to the robot and receives data from the board’s sensors. A 60 mAh battery powers the electronics board and motor.

Describes the project, the mechanical design, airframe design, and leg design. Describes the power, communication, and control. Goes into the methods and results, followed up by a discussion. 

Experimental Dynamics of Wing Assisted Running for a Bipedal Ornithopter

This dissertation presents the development of DASH+Wings and BOLT. 

Hybrid Aerial and Terrestrial Locomotion, and Implications for Avian Flight Evolution

Length

Width

Depth

Weight

Running speed

Battery

Micro-controller

Communications

Accelerometer

Gyroscope

BOLT is a lightweight bipedal ornithopter capable of high-speed dynamic running and effecting transitions between   aerial and terrestrial locomotion modes. 

Length	28	cm
Width	17.5	cm
Depth	15	cm
Weight	11.4	g
Running speed	2.5	m/sec
Battery	Full River 60	mAh lithium polymer