{"ID":2877209,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20836","arxiv_id":"2508.20836","title":"First Experimental Demonstration of Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking: A New Paradigm in Flapping Flight Physics","abstract":"In this letter, we report the first experimental demonstration of the recently emerged new paradigm in hovering and flapping flight physics called (Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking (NH-ES)) [doi.org/10.1103/4dm4-kc4g], which theorized that stable 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 both the control and the propulsive input. We run experiments of 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. We show that the flapping body using NH-ES gains altitude and stabilizes autonomously the servos responsible for flapping, including with pitching dynamics (believed in literature to be a main reason of instability in open-loop hovering). The flapping body effectively/stably hovers about the light source, needing only feedback of local measurements of light intensity. Our results were also achieved under delay/noise effects, supporting earlier observations that NH-ES is robust against potential processing delays and noisy-sensations.","short_abstract":"In this letter, we report the first experimental demonstration of the recently emerged new paradigm in hovering and flapping flight physics called (Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking (NH-ES)) [doi.org/10.1103/4dm4-kc4g], which theorized that stable hovering flight physics observed in nature by flapping insects and hummi...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20836","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.20836v3","authors":"[\"Ahmed A. Elgohary\",\"Rohan Palanikumar\",\"Simone Martini\",\"Sameh A. Eisa\"]","published":"2025-08-28T14:29:07Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\",\"math.OC\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}