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Non-Jumping Take off Performance in Beetle Flight (Rhinoceros Beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus)

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Abstract

In recent decades, the take-off mechanisms of flying animals have received much attention in insect flight initiation. Most of previous works have focused on the jumping mechanism, which is the most common take-off mechanism found in flying animals. Here, we presented that the rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus, takes off without jumping. In this study, we used 3-Dimensional (3D) high-speed video techniques to quantitatively analyze the wings and body kinematics during the initiation periods of flight. The details of the flapping angle, angle of attack of the wings and the roll, pitch and yaw angles of the body were investigated to understand the mechanism of take-off in T. dichotomus. The beetle took off gradually with a small velocity and small acceleration. The body kinematic analyses showed that the beetle exhibited stable take-off. To generate high lift force, the beetle modulated its hind wing to control the angle of attack; the angle of attack was large during the upstroke and small during the downstroke. The legs of beetle did not contract and strongly release like other insects. The hind wing could be considered as a main source of lift for heavy beetle.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace and Information Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea

    Tien Van Truong & Kwang Joon Yoon

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    Tien Van Truong

  3. KoreaInstitute of Ocean Science and Technology, PO Box 29, Ansan, 425-600, South Korea

    Tuyen Quang Le

  4. Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea

    Hoon Cheol Park

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Min Jun Kim

  6. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea

    Doyoung Byun

Authors
  1. Tien Van Truong
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  2. Tuyen Quang Le
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  3. Hoon Cheol Park
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  4. Kwang Joon Yoon
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  5. Min Jun Kim
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  6. Doyoung Byun
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Correspondence to Doyoung Byun.

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Truong, T.V., Le, T.Q., Park, H.C. et al. Non-Jumping Take off Performance in Beetle Flight (Rhinoceros Beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus). J Bionic Eng 11, 61–71 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(14)60020-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(14)60020-2

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