Pub Date : 2019-08-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319869647
Hang Zhang, Bifeng Song, Haifeng Wang, J. Xuan
The wind disturbance rejection capability of a quadrotor fixed-wing hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (QFHUAV) in the quadrotor mode is an important factor restricting its large-scale applications. In this paper, based on static equilibrium analysis of the quadrotor mode of a QFHUAV with a wind disturbance, a method for analyzing and evaluating the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode is presented. The six degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) static equilibrium equations of the QFHUAV are established in headwind and crosswind situations. The maximum wind velocity that satisfies the equilibrium equations under the constraints of the maximum thrust and torque of the quadrotor propulsion system is used to determine the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. A QFHUAV with a twin-boom is used as an example to analyze and evaluate its wind disturbance rejection capability in the quadrotor mode. The configuration parameters, quadrotor propulsion system parameters, and aerodynamic parameters affecting the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode are presented, discussed, and explained. The yawing moment from the wind disturbance is the main factor threatening the safe flight of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. The rotor disk angle, the maximum thrust of the quadrotor propulsion system, and the moment arms of the components of the quadrotor propulsion system thrust are the main factors affecting the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. Increasing these parameter values is an effective approach to improve the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. From the perspective of wind disturbance rejection capability, tailless and X-type layouts are better choices for QFHUAVs. The correctness of results obtained by the proposed method is verified by two flight test schemes.
{"title":"A method for evaluating the wind disturbance rejection capability of a hybrid UAV in the quadrotor mode","authors":"Hang Zhang, Bifeng Song, Haifeng Wang, J. Xuan","doi":"10.1177/1756829319869647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319869647","url":null,"abstract":"The wind disturbance rejection capability of a quadrotor fixed-wing hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (QFHUAV) in the quadrotor mode is an important factor restricting its large-scale applications. In this paper, based on static equilibrium analysis of the quadrotor mode of a QFHUAV with a wind disturbance, a method for analyzing and evaluating the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode is presented. The six degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) static equilibrium equations of the QFHUAV are established in headwind and crosswind situations. The maximum wind velocity that satisfies the equilibrium equations under the constraints of the maximum thrust and torque of the quadrotor propulsion system is used to determine the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. A QFHUAV with a twin-boom is used as an example to analyze and evaluate its wind disturbance rejection capability in the quadrotor mode. The configuration parameters, quadrotor propulsion system parameters, and aerodynamic parameters affecting the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode are presented, discussed, and explained. The yawing moment from the wind disturbance is the main factor threatening the safe flight of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. The rotor disk angle, the maximum thrust of the quadrotor propulsion system, and the moment arms of the components of the quadrotor propulsion system thrust are the main factors affecting the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. Increasing these parameter values is an effective approach to improve the wind disturbance rejection capability of the QFHUAV in the quadrotor mode. From the perspective of wind disturbance rejection capability, tailless and X-type layouts are better choices for QFHUAVs. The correctness of results obtained by the proposed method is verified by two flight test schemes.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319869647","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48861278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319861371
H. Phan, S. Aurecianus, T. Kang, H. Park
For an insect-like tailless flying robot, flapping wings should be able to produce control force as well as flight force to keep the robot staying airborne. This capability requires an active control mechanism, which should be integrated with lightweight microcontrol actuators that can produce sufficient control torques to stabilize the robot due to its inherent instability. In this work, we propose a control mechanism integrated in a hover-capable, two-winged, flapping-wing, 16.4 g flying robot (KUBeetle-S) that can simultaneously change the wing stroke-plane and wing twist. Tilting the stroke plane causes changes in the direction of average thrust and the wing twist distribution to produce control torques for pitch and roll. For yaw (heading change), root spars of left and right wings are adjusted asymmetrically to change the wing twist during flapping motion, resulting in yaw torque generation. Changes in wing kinematics were validated by measuring wing kinematics using three synchronized high-speed cameras. We then performed a series of experiments using a six-axis force/torque load cell to evaluate the effectiveness of the control mechanism via torque generation. We prototyped the robot by integrating the control mechanism with sub-micro servos as control actuators and flight control board. Free flight tests were finally conducted to verify the possibility of attitude control.
{"title":"KUBeetle-S: An insect-like, tailless, hover-capable robot that can fly with a low-torque control mechanism","authors":"H. Phan, S. Aurecianus, T. Kang, H. Park","doi":"10.1177/1756829319861371","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319861371","url":null,"abstract":"For an insect-like tailless flying robot, flapping wings should be able to produce control force as well as flight force to keep the robot staying airborne. This capability requires an active control mechanism, which should be integrated with lightweight microcontrol actuators that can produce sufficient control torques to stabilize the robot due to its inherent instability. In this work, we propose a control mechanism integrated in a hover-capable, two-winged, flapping-wing, 16.4 g flying robot (KUBeetle-S) that can simultaneously change the wing stroke-plane and wing twist. Tilting the stroke plane causes changes in the direction of average thrust and the wing twist distribution to produce control torques for pitch and roll. For yaw (heading change), root spars of left and right wings are adjusted asymmetrically to change the wing twist during flapping motion, resulting in yaw torque generation. Changes in wing kinematics were validated by measuring wing kinematics using three synchronized high-speed cameras. We then performed a series of experiments using a six-axis force/torque load cell to evaluate the effectiveness of the control mechanism via torque generation. We prototyped the robot by integrating the control mechanism with sub-micro servos as control actuators and flight control board. Free flight tests were finally conducted to verify the possibility of attitude control.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":"90 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319861371","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65534660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319861368
K. D. Song, Jaehwan Kim, J. W. Kim, Yeonjoon Park, J. Ely, H. Kim, Sang H. Choi
This paper reports the development of an experimental airship drone powered by microwave as a precursor toward a large-scale airship drone for cargo transportation in mind under the collaboration with U.S. Federal Highway Administration and universities. Research work on a 2.2-m long airship drone powered by X-band microwave has provided sufficient data for the design and analysis for the operation of airship drone. A block of 16 rectenna array sheets of X-band was placed on each side of the airship drone (total 32 sheets) to collect and convert microwave power into direct current power for running the electrical propulsion system. The demonstration of the airship drone operation, powered only by microwave, was successfully performed inside the High Intensity Radiation Facility chamber located at NASA Langley Research Center. The data show the feasibility of practical use of microwave power for a transportation airship drone.
{"title":"Preliminary operational aspects of microwave-powered airship drone","authors":"K. D. Song, Jaehwan Kim, J. W. Kim, Yeonjoon Park, J. Ely, H. Kim, Sang H. Choi","doi":"10.1177/1756829319861368","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319861368","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports the development of an experimental airship drone powered by microwave as a precursor toward a large-scale airship drone for cargo transportation in mind under the collaboration with U.S. Federal Highway Administration and universities. Research work on a 2.2-m long airship drone powered by X-band microwave has provided sufficient data for the design and analysis for the operation of airship drone. A block of 16 rectenna array sheets of X-band was placed on each side of the airship drone (total 32 sheets) to collect and convert microwave power into direct current power for running the electrical propulsion system. The demonstration of the airship drone operation, powered only by microwave, was successfully performed inside the High Intensity Radiation Facility chamber located at NASA Langley Research Center. The data show the feasibility of practical use of microwave power for a transportation airship drone.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319861368","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42267792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829318822325
J. Gerdes, Hugh Alan Bruck, Satyandra K. Gupta
A new flapping wing aerial vehicle (FWAV) simulation methodology is presented that combines models of the key subsystems: (1) the actuator, (2) the battery, and (3) the wings. This approach captures component interactions that are inherently coupled in order to realize system-level designs for optimal system performance. The approach demonstrates that coupling between wing sizing, flapping motions, and loading conditions propagate into the motor–battery model to alter system-level performance properties. For the actuator subsystem model, a generalized servo motor using empirically derived coefficients to describe torque and angular velocity bandwidth in terms of voltage and current. This model is coupled with a lithium polymer battery model accounting for the nonlinear voltage drop and capacity derating effects associated with loading conditions. For aerodynamic predictions of the wing subsystem, a blade element model for predicting aerodynamic forces is coupled with an elastic wing deformation model that accounts for bending and twisting of the blade elements. System-level performance is then modeled in a design case study by coupling all of the subsystem models to account for relevant interactions, which generates a design trade space spanning a range of wing sizes, airspeeds, and flapping condition. The results from the simulation offer insight into vehicle configuration settings that provide maximum performance in terms of lift and endurance for the Robo Raven II flapping wing aerial vehicle. Experimental validation of the modeling approach shows good predictive accuracy. In addition, the presented framework offers a generalized approach for coupling interacting subsystems to improve overall predictive accuracy and identify areas where component-level improvements may offer system-level performance gains.
{"title":"A simulation-based approach to modeling component interactions during design of flapping wing aerial vehicles","authors":"J. Gerdes, Hugh Alan Bruck, Satyandra K. Gupta","doi":"10.1177/1756829318822325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829318822325","url":null,"abstract":"A new flapping wing aerial vehicle (FWAV) simulation methodology is presented that combines models of the key subsystems: (1) the actuator, (2) the battery, and (3) the wings. This approach captures component interactions that are inherently coupled in order to realize system-level designs for optimal system performance. The approach demonstrates that coupling between wing sizing, flapping motions, and loading conditions propagate into the motor–battery model to alter system-level performance properties. For the actuator subsystem model, a generalized servo motor using empirically derived coefficients to describe torque and angular velocity bandwidth in terms of voltage and current. This model is coupled with a lithium polymer battery model accounting for the nonlinear voltage drop and capacity derating effects associated with loading conditions. For aerodynamic predictions of the wing subsystem, a blade element model for predicting aerodynamic forces is coupled with an elastic wing deformation model that accounts for bending and twisting of the blade elements. System-level performance is then modeled in a design case study by coupling all of the subsystem models to account for relevant interactions, which generates a design trade space spanning a range of wing sizes, airspeeds, and flapping condition. The results from the simulation offer insight into vehicle configuration settings that provide maximum performance in terms of lift and endurance for the Robo Raven II flapping wing aerial vehicle. Experimental validation of the modeling approach shows good predictive accuracy. In addition, the presented framework offers a generalized approach for coupling interacting subsystems to improve overall predictive accuracy and identify areas where component-level improvements may offer system-level performance gains.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829318822325","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43001072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319842547
DuHyun Gong, Dawoon Lee, Sang-Joon Shin, Sangyong Kim
This paper presents the design process and experimental results of a brand new flapping and trailing edge control mechanism for a flapping wing micro air vehicle. The flapping mechanism, whose main components are fabricated from string, is suggested and optimized further by a modified pattern search method. The trailing edge control mechanisms for pitching and rolling moments are designed to be attached onto the present flapping mechanism in a modularized fashion. Prototypes of both mechanisms are fabricated and experimentally tested in order to examine the feasibility of the designs. It is expected that the present flapping mechanism will generate enough lift for the total weight of the vehicle. The present control mechanism is found to be able to supply sufficient control moment.
{"title":"String-based flapping mechanism and modularized trailing edge control system for insect-type FWMAV","authors":"DuHyun Gong, Dawoon Lee, Sang-Joon Shin, Sangyong Kim","doi":"10.1177/1756829319842547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319842547","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents the design process and experimental results of a brand new flapping and trailing edge control mechanism for a flapping wing micro air vehicle. The flapping mechanism, whose main components are fabricated from string, is suggested and optimized further by a modified pattern search method. The trailing edge control mechanisms for pitching and rolling moments are designed to be attached onto the present flapping mechanism in a modularized fashion. Prototypes of both mechanisms are fabricated and experimentally tested in order to examine the feasibility of the designs. It is expected that the present flapping mechanism will generate enough lift for the total weight of the vehicle. The present control mechanism is found to be able to supply sufficient control moment.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319842547","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48204112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319846127
Tao Yang, M. Wei, Kun Jia, James Chen
It has been a challenge to simulate flexible flapping wings or other three-dimensional problems involving strong fluid–structure interactions. Solving a unified fluid–solid system in a monolithic manner improves both numerical stability and efficiency. The current algorithm considered a three-dimensional extension of an earlier work which formulated two-dimensional fluid–structure interaction monolithically under a unified framework for both fluids and solids. As the approach is extended from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional configuration, a cell division technique and the associated projection process become necessary and are illustrated here. Two benchmark cases, a floppy viscoelastic particle in shear flow and a flow passing a rigid sphere, are simulated for validation. Finally, the three-dimensional monolithic algorithm is applied to study a micro-air vehicle with flexible flapping wings in a forward flight at different angles of attack. The simulation shows the impact from the angle of attack on wing deformation, wake vortex structures, and the overall aerodynamic performance.
{"title":"A monolithic algorithm for the flow simulation of flexible flapping wings","authors":"Tao Yang, M. Wei, Kun Jia, James Chen","doi":"10.1177/1756829319846127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319846127","url":null,"abstract":"It has been a challenge to simulate flexible flapping wings or other three-dimensional problems involving strong fluid–structure interactions. Solving a unified fluid–solid system in a monolithic manner improves both numerical stability and efficiency. The current algorithm considered a three-dimensional extension of an earlier work which formulated two-dimensional fluid–structure interaction monolithically under a unified framework for both fluids and solids. As the approach is extended from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional configuration, a cell division technique and the associated projection process become necessary and are illustrated here. Two benchmark cases, a floppy viscoelastic particle in shear flow and a flow passing a rigid sphere, are simulated for validation. Finally, the three-dimensional monolithic algorithm is applied to study a micro-air vehicle with flexible flapping wings in a forward flight at different angles of attack. The simulation shows the impact from the angle of attack on wing deformation, wake vortex structures, and the overall aerodynamic performance.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319846127","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43859267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319836268
Srikanth Goli, Arnab Roy, Subhransu Roy
In the present study, flow field around rigid flat plate wings executing main flapping motion has been studied using phase-locked two-dimensional particle image velocimetry measurements. Experiments have been conducted in water as a fluid medium for an asymmetric upper–lower stroke single degree of freedom main flapping motion. Two different aspect ratio (1.5 and 1.0) rectangular wings at 1.5 and 2.0 Hz flapping frequency in hovering flight mode (advance ratio, J = 0), zero wing pitch angle, and chord-based Reynolds number of the order of 104 have been studied. Velocity field and vorticity field with λ2 criterion information have been obtained for the complete stroke in great detail to reveal the minute aspects of flow dynamics. The flow features during the downstroke and upstroke have been observed to be consistent for all four cases investigated. The predominant characteristic of the flow during downstroke and upstroke has been referred to as vortex filamentation and fragmentation phenomena. Quantities such as circulation, rate of strain, rate of rotation, and enstrophy have been studied to identity the effect of minor change in aspect ratio and flapping frequency. It is found that for higher aspect ratio wing hyperbolic behavior is predominant except for end of downstroke and beginning of upstroke where elliptic behavior is observed. For lower aspect ratio, wing elliptic behavior is predominant except for end of upstroke and beginning of downstroke where hyperbolic behavior is seen. The hyperbolic behavior became stronger at higher frequency. From enstrophy distribution it is evident that higher frequencies play a more dominant role than aspect ratio in determining the budget.
{"title":"Vortex filamentation and fragmentation phenomena in flapping motion and effect of aspect ratio and frequency on global strain, rotation, and enstrophy","authors":"Srikanth Goli, Arnab Roy, Subhransu Roy","doi":"10.1177/1756829319836268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319836268","url":null,"abstract":"In the present study, flow field around rigid flat plate wings executing main flapping motion has been studied using phase-locked two-dimensional particle image velocimetry measurements. Experiments have been conducted in water as a fluid medium for an asymmetric upper–lower stroke single degree of freedom main flapping motion. Two different aspect ratio (1.5 and 1.0) rectangular wings at 1.5 and 2.0 Hz flapping frequency in hovering flight mode (advance ratio, J = 0), zero wing pitch angle, and chord-based Reynolds number of the order of 104 have been studied. Velocity field and vorticity field with λ2 criterion information have been obtained for the complete stroke in great detail to reveal the minute aspects of flow dynamics. The flow features during the downstroke and upstroke have been observed to be consistent for all four cases investigated. The predominant characteristic of the flow during downstroke and upstroke has been referred to as vortex filamentation and fragmentation phenomena. Quantities such as circulation, rate of strain, rate of rotation, and enstrophy have been studied to identity the effect of minor change in aspect ratio and flapping frequency. It is found that for higher aspect ratio wing hyperbolic behavior is predominant except for end of downstroke and beginning of upstroke where elliptic behavior is observed. For lower aspect ratio, wing elliptic behavior is predominant except for end of upstroke and beginning of downstroke where hyperbolic behavior is seen. The hyperbolic behavior became stronger at higher frequency. From enstrophy distribution it is evident that higher frequencies play a more dominant role than aspect ratio in determining the budget.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319836268","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43418844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319836279
A. Holness, H. Solheim, Hugh Alan Bruck, Satyandra K. Gupta
Long flight durations are highly desirable to expand mission capabilities for unmanned air systems and autonomous applications in particular. Flapping wing aerial vehicles are unmanned air system platforms offering several performance advantages over fixed wing and rotorcraft platforms, but are unable to reach comparable flight times when powered by batteries. One solution to this problem has been to integrate energy harvesting technologies in components, such as wings. To this end, a framework for designing flapping wing aerial vehicle using multifunctional wings using solar cells is described. This framework consists of: (1) modeling solar energy harvesting while flying, (2) determining the number of solar cells that meet flight power requirements, and (3) determining appropriate locations to accommodate the desired number of solar cells. A system model for flapping flight was also developed to predict payload capacity for carrying batteries to provide energy only for power spikes and to enable time-to-land safely in an area where batteries can recharge when the sun sets. The design framework was applied to a case study using flexible high-efficiency (>24%) solar cells on a flapping wing aerial vehicle platform, known as Robo Raven IIIv5, with the caveat that a powertrain with 81% efficiency is used in place of the current servos. A key finding was the fraction of solar flux incident on the wings during flapping was 0.63 at the lowest solar altitude. Using a 1.25 safety factor, the lowest value for the purposes of design will be 0.51. Wind tunnel measurements and aerodynamic modeling of the platform determined integrating solar cells in the wings resulted in a loss of thrust and greater drag, but the resulting payload capacity was unaffected because of a higher lift coefficient. A time-to-land of 2500 s was predicted, and the flight capability of the platform was validated in a netted test facility.
{"title":"A design framework for realizing multifunctional wings for flapping wing air vehicles using solar cells","authors":"A. Holness, H. Solheim, Hugh Alan Bruck, Satyandra K. Gupta","doi":"10.1177/1756829319836279","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319836279","url":null,"abstract":"Long flight durations are highly desirable to expand mission capabilities for unmanned air systems and autonomous applications in particular. Flapping wing aerial vehicles are unmanned air system platforms offering several performance advantages over fixed wing and rotorcraft platforms, but are unable to reach comparable flight times when powered by batteries. One solution to this problem has been to integrate energy harvesting technologies in components, such as wings. To this end, a framework for designing flapping wing aerial vehicle using multifunctional wings using solar cells is described. This framework consists of: (1) modeling solar energy harvesting while flying, (2) determining the number of solar cells that meet flight power requirements, and (3) determining appropriate locations to accommodate the desired number of solar cells. A system model for flapping flight was also developed to predict payload capacity for carrying batteries to provide energy only for power spikes and to enable time-to-land safely in an area where batteries can recharge when the sun sets. The design framework was applied to a case study using flexible high-efficiency (>24%) solar cells on a flapping wing aerial vehicle platform, known as Robo Raven IIIv5, with the caveat that a powertrain with 81% efficiency is used in place of the current servos. A key finding was the fraction of solar flux incident on the wings during flapping was 0.63 at the lowest solar altitude. Using a 1.25 safety factor, the lowest value for the purposes of design will be 0.51. Wind tunnel measurements and aerodynamic modeling of the platform determined integrating solar cells in the wings resulted in a loss of thrust and greater drag, but the resulting payload capacity was unaffected because of a higher lift coefficient. A time-to-land of 2500 s was predicted, and the flight capability of the platform was validated in a netted test facility.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319836279","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44515910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319833674
S. Armanini, J. Caetano, C. D. de Visser, M. Pavel, G. de Croon, M. Mulder
Despite significant interest in tailless flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle designs, tailed configurations are often favoured, as they offer many benefits, such as static stability and a simpler control strategy, separating wing and tail control. However, the tail aerodynamics are highly complex due to the interaction between the unsteady wing wake and tail, which is generally not modelled explicitly. We propose an approach to model the flapping-wing wake and hence the tail aerodynamics of a tailed flapping-wing robot. First, the wake is modelled as a periodic function depending on wing flap phase and position with respect to the wings. The wake model is constructed out of six low-order sub-models representing the mean, amplitude and phase of the tangential and vertical velocity components. The parameters in each sub-model are estimated from stereo-particle image velocimetry measurements using an identification method based on multivariate simplex splines. The computed model represents the measured wake with high accuracy, is computationally manageable and is applicable to a range of different tail geometries. The wake model is then used within a quasi-steady aerodynamic model, and combined with the effect of free-stream velocity, to estimate the forces produced by the tail. The results provide a basis for further modelling, simulation and design work, and yield insight into the role of the tail and its interaction with the wing wake in flapping-wing vehicles. It was found that due to the effect of the wing wake, the velocity seen by the tail is of a similar magnitude as the free stream and that the tail is most effective at 50–70% of its span.
{"title":"Modelling wing wake and tail aerodynamics of a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle","authors":"S. Armanini, J. Caetano, C. D. de Visser, M. Pavel, G. de Croon, M. Mulder","doi":"10.1177/1756829319833674","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319833674","url":null,"abstract":"Despite significant interest in tailless flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle designs, tailed configurations are often favoured, as they offer many benefits, such as static stability and a simpler control strategy, separating wing and tail control. However, the tail aerodynamics are highly complex due to the interaction between the unsteady wing wake and tail, which is generally not modelled explicitly. We propose an approach to model the flapping-wing wake and hence the tail aerodynamics of a tailed flapping-wing robot. First, the wake is modelled as a periodic function depending on wing flap phase and position with respect to the wings. The wake model is constructed out of six low-order sub-models representing the mean, amplitude and phase of the tangential and vertical velocity components. The parameters in each sub-model are estimated from stereo-particle image velocimetry measurements using an identification method based on multivariate simplex splines. The computed model represents the measured wake with high accuracy, is computationally manageable and is applicable to a range of different tail geometries. The wake model is then used within a quasi-steady aerodynamic model, and combined with the effect of free-stream velocity, to estimate the forces produced by the tail. The results provide a basis for further modelling, simulation and design work, and yield insight into the role of the tail and its interaction with the wing wake in flapping-wing vehicles. It was found that due to the effect of the wing wake, the velocity seen by the tail is of a similar magnitude as the free stream and that the tail is most effective at 50–70% of its span.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319833674","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42168633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-01-01DOI: 10.1177/1756829319833685
S. Li, C. De Wagter, C. D. de Visser, Q. Chu, G. de Croon
High-speed flight in GPS-denied environments is currently an important frontier in the research on autonomous flight of micro air vehicles. Autonomous drone races stimulate the advances in this area by representing a very challenging case with tight turns, texture-less floors, and dynamic spectators around the track. These properties hamper the use of standard visual odometry approaches and imply that the micro air vehicles will have to bridge considerable time intervals without position feedback. To this end, we propose an approach to trajectory estimation for drone racing that is computationally efficient and yet able to accurately estimate a micro air vehicle’s state (including biases) and parameters based on sparse, noisy observations of racing gates. The key concept of the approach is to optimize unknown and difficult-to-observe state variables so that the observations of the racing gates best fit with the known control inputs, estimated attitudes, and the quadrotor dynamics and aerodynamics during a time window. It is shown that a gradient-descent implementation of the proposed approach converges ∼4 times quicker to (approximately) correct bias values than a state-of-the-art 15-state extended Kalman filter. Moreover, it reaches a higher accuracy, as the predicted end-point of an open-loop turn is on average only ∼20 cm away from the actual end-point, while the extended Kalman filter and the gradient descent method with kinematic model only reach an accuracy of ∼50 cm. Although the approach is applied here to drone racing, it generalizes to other settings in which a micro air vehicle may only have sparse access to velocity and/or position measurements.
{"title":"In-flight model parameter and state estimation using gradient descent for high-speed flight","authors":"S. Li, C. De Wagter, C. D. de Visser, Q. Chu, G. de Croon","doi":"10.1177/1756829319833685","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319833685","url":null,"abstract":"High-speed flight in GPS-denied environments is currently an important frontier in the research on autonomous flight of micro air vehicles. Autonomous drone races stimulate the advances in this area by representing a very challenging case with tight turns, texture-less floors, and dynamic spectators around the track. These properties hamper the use of standard visual odometry approaches and imply that the micro air vehicles will have to bridge considerable time intervals without position feedback. To this end, we propose an approach to trajectory estimation for drone racing that is computationally efficient and yet able to accurately estimate a micro air vehicle’s state (including biases) and parameters based on sparse, noisy observations of racing gates. The key concept of the approach is to optimize unknown and difficult-to-observe state variables so that the observations of the racing gates best fit with the known control inputs, estimated attitudes, and the quadrotor dynamics and aerodynamics during a time window. It is shown that a gradient-descent implementation of the proposed approach converges ∼4 times quicker to (approximately) correct bias values than a state-of-the-art 15-state extended Kalman filter. Moreover, it reaches a higher accuracy, as the predicted end-point of an open-loop turn is on average only ∼20 cm away from the actual end-point, while the extended Kalman filter and the gradient descent method with kinematic model only reach an accuracy of ∼50 cm. Although the approach is applied here to drone racing, it generalizes to other settings in which a micro air vehicle may only have sparse access to velocity and/or position measurements.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319833685","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42229575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：