This dissertation addresses the question, how and why do 'flying' snakes (Chrysopelea) undulate through the air? Instead of deploying paired wings or wing-like surfaces, flying snakes jump, splay their ribs into a bluff-body airfoil, and undulate through the air. Aerial undulation is the dominant feature of snake flight, but its effects on locomotor performance and stability are unknown. Chapter 2 describes a new non-equilibrium framework to analyze gliding animals and how the pitch angle affects their translational motion. Chapter 3 combines flying snake glide experiments and detailed dynamic modeling to address what is aerial undulation and how each kinematic component affects rotational stability and translational performance. Chapter 4 combines the kinematic data of Chapter 3, with elements of the non-equilibrium framework of Chapter 2, to examine the kinematics of snake flight in greater detail. This chapter also tests if our current understanding of flying snake aerodynamics is sufficient to explain the observed center of mass motion. / Ph. D.

abstract: This thesis aims to design of wings for a laminate biped robot for providing locomotion stabilization during jump gliding. The wings are designed to collapse down during the jumping phase to maximize jump height and deployed back for gliding phase using anisotropic buckling in tape spring hinges. The project aims to develop a reliable dynamics model which can be utilized for design and evaluation of optimized systems for jump-gliding. The aerodynamic simulations are run on a vortex-lattice code which provides numeric simulations of the defined geometric bodies. The aerodynamic simulations assist in improving the design parameters such as planform, camber and twist to achieve the best possible Coefficient of Lift for maximizing glide distance. The aerodynamic simulation output is then plugged into a dynamics model built in Python, which is validated and correlated with experimental testing of a key wing designs. The experimental results are then utilized to improve the dynamics model and obtain better designs for improved performance. The simulation model informs the aerodynamic design of wings for sustaining glide for the biped platform and maximizing glide length to increase range. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Aerospace Engineering 2020

Space exploration drives the human expansion inthe universe. Succeeding in this challenge demands familiarityof the near earth space environment, achieved through soundingrocket experiments that often are lost upon return from space. Afuture proof solution is needed and this study aims to investigatethe aerodynamics of a modular self returning glider attachment.To aid conceptual design, simulations were first performedusing potential theory in the software XFLR5. The resultingdesign was then analysed further using Computational FluidDynamics (CFD) in Simscale after which a glider prototype wasbuilt and tested.The study shows that while it is possible to fulfill the projectrequirements when only modelling the wing surfaces, the gliderfuselage contributes to a destructive drag and pitching moment.Consequently, future prototypes demand increasing the lift orreducing the drag, as well as ensuring longitudinal stability. Moreresources need to be invested into further CFD modelling andprototype testing. / Utforskning av rymden driver denmänskliga expansionen ut i universum. För att lyckas meddet krävs dock kunskap om rymden närmast oss, vilketuppnås genom experiment i sondraketer som ofta förlorasvid återkomst. En framtidssäker metod behövs och därförundersöks aerodynamiken av en modulär och självåtervändande glidarlösning.För att underlätta genomförandet av den konceptuella designen så gjordes först simuleringar i XFLR5 med potentialteori.Den resulterande glidaren analyserades sedan vidare iflödesmekaniska beräkningsprogram (CFD), vartefter en prototypbyggdes och testades i verkligheten.Studien visar att det är möjligt att uppfylla projektkravengenom att modellera vingarna, men glidarens flygkropp bidraremellertid till ett destruktivt luftmotstånd och longitudinelltvridmoment. Därför måste framtida prototyper designas föratt uppnå större lyftkraft, minska flygkroppens dragkraft ochsamtidigt uppnå longitudinell stabilitet. Mer resurser måsteläggas på djupare CFD-modellering och prototyptestning. / Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2021, KTH, Stockholm