In this letter, we report the first experimental demonstration of the recently emerged new paradigm in flapping flight physics called (Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking (NH-ES)) [doi.org/10.1103/4dm4-kc4g], which theorized that 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 its propulsive input. We run experiments, including 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, and show that the flapping body gains altitude and stabilizes hovering about the light source autonomously needing only sensor measurements of light intensity.

翻译：本文首次实验验证了近期提出的扑翼飞行物理学新范式——自然悬停极值搜索（Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking, NH-ES）[doi.org/10.1103/4dm4-kc4g]。该理论指出，自然界中昆虫与蜂鸟所展现的悬停飞行物理机制，可通过一种无模型、实时计算、基于传感反馈的基础机制实现，该机制仅需利用扑翼固有自然振荡作为推进输入。我们在完全无模型的实验环境中，对扑翼体进行了包括类蛾趋光行为在内的测试，该环境不依赖形态参数与机体/空气动力学模型。实验表明，扑翼体仅需获取光强传感器测量值，即可自主实现高度提升并稳定悬停于光源附近。