  Unmanned micro aerial vehicle research is an active area of development due
to the vast potential applications. Prior work towards realizing flapping
flight has achieved some success however they have relied heavily upon the use
of rotary electric motors. These require hinges, sliders, and gears to convert
rotary motion to linear reciprocating motion required for flapping flight. This
approach is mechanically complex, prone to jamming, inefficient and does not
scale well. Therefore, a design for a novel actuator is introduced that enables
the substitution of rotary electric motors for one that generates linear
reciprocating motion directly. By eliminating the need to convert between
rotary and reciprocal motion, substantial efficiency and reliability
improvements are possible. Further improvements to the linear actuator are also
described that enable independent wing actuation without added complexity or
weight. Through bilateral control, a firm command over the flapping dynamics
and consequent flight path is possible even while passive wing rotation is
employed.
