Discussion of “A Review of Propulsion, Power, and Control Architectures for Insect-Scale Flapping Wing Vehicles” by E. F. Helbling and R. J. Wood (Helbling, E. F., and Wood, R. J., 2018, ASME Appl. Mech. Rev., 70(1), p. 010801)

Flying insects exhibit truly remarkable capabilities. There has been significant interest in developing small-scale flying robots by taking inspiration from flying insects. The paper by Helbling and Wood reports remarkable progress made by the research community in realizing insect-scale flapping wing vehicles and identifies research challenges and opportunities. This discussion builds upon their paper and examines the potential of insect-scale flapping wing flight from an application point of view. It summarizes requirements and mention implications of these requirements on propulsion, power, and control architecture.