Journal
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
Volume 7, Issue 2, Pages 4016-4023Publisher
IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC
DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2022.3149034
Keywords
Aerodynamics; Vehicle dynamics; Robots; Propellers; Drag; Force; Atmospheric modeling; Aerial systems; mechanics and control; compliant joints and mechanisms; underactuated robots
Categories
Funding
- Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China [CityU-11207718, CityU-11215220]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This paper proposes the use of passive variable-sweep wings on a micro airplane to eliminate the need for active control surfaces while retaining effective pitch maneuverability. Through aerodynamic modeling, it is found that this design enhances and accelerates the aircraft's pitch response.
Traditional fixed-wing vehicles are equipped with multiple active aerodynamic surfaces for flight control. This inevitably necessitates several actuators, complicates the mechanical structure, and adversely impacts the flight efficiency, particularly for small aerial vehicles. As a lightweight and efficient solution, this work proposes to employ passive variable-sweep wings on a micro airplane to eliminate the need for active control surfaces while retaining effective pitch maneuverability. Depending on the thrust produced by the propellers, the wings passively sweep back and forth, relocating the center of pressure and affecting the pitch moment. The thrust-induced deformation substitutes the elevators for pitch control. Through aerodynamic modeling, the flight dynamics of the proposed vehicle is analyzed. The results show that the proposed design brings about amplified and accelerated pitch response. Lastly, a prototype was constructed to demonstrate and verify the enhanced aircraft's pitch control ability.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available