Scientific papers

This is a collection of scientific papers with research results obtained with our Flapper Nimble+, or its predecessor from TU Delft, the DelFly Nimble.

Would you like your research to appear here, or do you know of other papers that could be added? Pleaselet us know, thank you!

Research with Flapper Nimble+

2026
  • Koki Hirano and Hiroyasu Tsukamoto (2026) Conformal Koopman for Embedded Nonlinear Control with Statistical Robustness: Theory and Real-World Validation. arXiv. doi web
  • Ernesto Sanchez-Laulhe, Guido C.H.E de Croon and Anibal Ollero (2026) Equilibrium State for a Tailless Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle in Forward Flight. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 11 (1) pp. 17–24. doi web
2025
  • Ziming Wang, Meagan B. Loerakker, Yiqian Wu, Shiwei Yang, Arion Pons, Yuwei Chuai, David Sirkin and Morten Fjeld (2025) In a Flap: Experiences with a Bioinspired Flying Robot. Proc. ACM Interact. Mob. Wearable Ubiquitous Technol. 9 (3) pp. 138:1–138:20. doi web
  • Krispin C V Broers and Sophie F Armanini (2025) Repeatable energy-efficient perching for flapping-wing robots using soft-grippers. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 20 (6) pp. 066017. IOP Publishing. doi web
  • Orel Awesta, Vera Hollink and Mauro Gallo (2025) Flapping-Wings Drones for Pests and Diseases Detection in Horticulture. IEEE Transactions on AgriFood Electronics pp. 1–10. doi web
  • Kazuki Numazato, Keiichiro Kan, Masaki Kitagawa, Yunong Li, Johannes Kübel and Moju Zhao (2025) Falconry-like palm landing by a flapping-wing drone based on the human gesture interaction and distance-aware flight planning. In 2025 34th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN). pp. 1400–1407. doi web
  • Ahmad Hammad, Mehmet Süer and Sophie F. Armanini (2025) A Lightweight Bioinspired SMA-Based Grasping Mechanism for Flapping Wing MAVs. Biomimetics 10 (6) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. doi web
  • Raul Tapia, Ivan Gutierrez Rodriguez, Javier Luna-Santamaria, Jose Ramiro Martinez-de Dios and Anibal Ollero (2025) Range-Only Localization System for Small-Scale Flapping-Wing Robots. arXiv. doi web
  • Tomoyuki Matsuda, Saad Hussain, Abner Asignacion and Satoshi Suzuki (2025) Design of Frontal Perching Mechanism to Vertical Surfaces for Flapping-Wing MAVs. In 16th International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition. pp. 142–147. San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. web
  • Saad Hussain, Abner Asignacion and Satoshi Suzuki (2025) Pecking Mechanism Inspired by Avian Cranial Kinesis for Flapping-Wing Aerial Manipulators. In 16th International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition. pp. 148–155. San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. web
  • Lina van Brügge and Sophie F. Armanini (2025) Dynamic Assessment and Control of an Insect-Inspired MAV With a Perching Mechanism. In AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. doi web
2024
  • S. Wang, M. den Hoed and S. Hamaza (2024) A Low-cost Fabrication Approach to Embody Flexible and Lightweight Strain Sensing on Flapping Wings: Bioinspired, soft and other novel design paradigms for aerial robotics. Bioinspired, soft and other novel design paradigms for aerial robotics IEEE. web
2023
  • Sven Pfeiffer, Veronica Munaro, Shushuai Li, Alessandro Rizzo and Guido C. H. E. de Croon (2023) Three-dimensional relative localization and synchronized movement with wireless ranging. Swarm Intelligence 17 (1) pp. 147–172. doi web
2022
  • Guillermo Gonzalez, Guido C. H. E. de Croon, Diana Olejnik and Matěj Karásek (2022) Position Controller for a Flapping-Wing Drone Using UWB. Unmanned Systems 10 (04) pp. 383–394. World Scientific Publishing Co.. doi web
  • Chenyao Wang, Sunyi Wang, Guido De Croon and Salua Hamaza (2022) Embodied airflow sensing for improved in-gust flight of flapping wing MAVs. Frontiers in Robotics and AI 9 Frontiers. doi web
  • Guido C. H. E. de Croon, Julien J. G. Dupeyroux, Christophe De Wagter, Abhishek Chatterjee, Diana A. Olejnik and Franck Ruffier (2022) Accommodating unobservability to control flight attitude with optic flow. Nature 610 (7932) pp. 485–490. Nature Publishing Group. doi web
  • Diana A. Olejnik, Sunyi Wang, Julien Dupeyroux, Stein Stroobants, Matej Karasek, Christophe De Wagter and Guido de Croon (2022) An Experimental Study of Wind Resistance and Power Consumption in MAVs with a Low-Speed Multi-Fan Wind System. In 2022 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). pp. 2989–2994. doi web
  • Chenyao Wang (2022) A Bio-inspired Sensing Approach to in-Gust Flight of Flapping Wing MAVs. web

Research with DelFly Nimble

2022
  • Sunyi Wang, Diana Olejnik, Christophe de Wagter, Bas van Oudheusden, Guido de Croon and Salua Hamaza (2022) Battle the Wind: Improving Flight Stability of a Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle Under Wind Disturbance With Onboard Thermistor-Based Airflow Sensing. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 7 (4) pp. 9605–9612. doi web
  • Diana A. Olejnik, Florian T. Muijres, Matěj Karásek, Leonardo Honfi Camilo, Christophe De Wagter and Guido C. H. E. de Croon (2022) Flying Into the Wind: Insects and Bio-Inspired Micro-Air-Vehicles With a Wing-Stroke Dihedral Steer Passively Into Wind-Gusts. Frontiers in Robotics and AI 9 Frontiers. doi web
2021
  • Sunyi Wang (2021) Thermistor-based airflow sensing on a flapping wing micro air vehicle. web
2020
  • Diana A. Olejnik, Bardienus P. Duisterhof, Matej Karásek, Kirk Y. W. Scheper, Tom van Dijk and Guido C. H. E. de Croon (2020) A Tailless Flapping Wing MAV Performing Monocular Visual Servoing Tasks. Unmanned Systems 08 (04) pp. 287–294. World Scientific Publishing Co.. doi web
  • Karan Bains (2020) System Identification of the Delfly Nimble. web
  • Jorgen Nijboer, Sophie F. Armanini, Matej Karasek and Coen C. de Visser (2020) Longitudinal Grey-Box Model Identification of a Tailless Flapping-Wing MAV Based on Free-Flight Data. In AIAA Scitech 2020 Forum. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. doi web
2019
  • K M Kajak, M Karásek, Q P Chu and G C H E de Croon (2019) A minimal longitudinal dynamic model of a tailless flapping wing robot for control design. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 14 (4) pp. 046008. IOP Publishing. doi web
2018
  • Matěj Karásek, Florian T. Muijres, Christophe De Wagter, Bart D. W. Remes and Guido C. H. E. de Croon (2018) A tailless aerial robotic flapper reveals that flies use torque coupling in rapid banked turns. Science 361 (6407) pp. 1089–1094. American Association for the Advancement of Science. doi web