Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MICRO AIR VEHICLES
Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 218-231Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1756829317702048
Keywords
Cyclocopter; cyclogyro; cyclorotor; cycloidal rotor; Micro air vehicle; MAV; meso-scale
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Funding
- Army's MAST CTA Center for Microsystem Mechanics
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This paper describes the design, controls system development, and hover testing of a 60-g meso-scale cycloidal-rotor based (cyclocopter) micro air vehicle. The cycloidal rotor (cyclorotor) is a revolutionary vertical take-off and landing concept with a horizontal axis of rotation. The twin-cyclocopter utilizes two optimized cyclorotors and a horizontal tail rotor used to counteract the pitching moment generated by the cyclorotors. An innovative light-weight and high strength-to-weight ratio blade design significantly reduced cyclorotor weight and improved aerodynamic efficiency. In addition, increasing the virtual camber and incidence (by increasing chord-to-radius ratio) and using a symmetric pitching schedule with a maximum +/- 45 degrees pitching amplitude also improved rotor efficiency. Due to gyroscopic coupling and inherent instability of the cyclocopter, a closed-loop feedback control system was implemented using a custom autopilot weighing 1.5g. The 60-g meso-scale twin-cyclocopter successfully demonstrated stable, sustained hover.
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