DIVERGENT-RAY PROJECTION METHOD FOR MEASURING THE FLAPPING ANGLE, LAGANGLE, AND TORSIONAL ANGLE OF A BUMBLEBEE WING

A divergent-ray projection (DRP) method was developed for measuring th e flapping angle, lag angle, and torsional angle of a bumblebee wing d uring beating motion. This new method can measure the spatial coordina tes of an insect wing by digitizing the images that are projected by t wo divergent laser rays from different directions. The advantage of th e DRP method is its ability to measure those three angles simultaneous ly using only one high-speed camera. The resolution of the DRP method can be changed easily by adjusting system parameters to meet the needs of different types of objects. The measurement results for these angl es of a bumblebee wing prove the effectiveness of the DRP method in st udying the flight performance of insects. (C) 1996 Society of Photo-Op tical Instrumentation Engineers.