Structural Control Method Research motivated for MAV Lift Force Modification

Structural Control Method Research motivated for MAV Lift Force Modification

Lu, Y.

Goosen, J.F.L. (mentor)

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Precision and Microsystems Engineering

2013-11-27

Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) is a group of unmanned aerial vehicles that is autonomous and with a size restriction. Thanks to its possible application ranging from civil search-and-rescue missions to military surveillance missions, there is rising interest in the MAV related topics. From the previous work of the Atlanta Project, a vehicle is designed that could generate upward lift force. However, for the agility of the vehicle, the ability of positioning and stabilizing is also required. Therefore, it is demanded there is a way to make the lift force on each wing unbalanced, which is also the aim of this thesis project. In this thesis project, the investigation is focused on what structure modification method is feasible to be applied on the vehicle. At first, different actuators and structural modification methods are analyzed and screened from perspective of effectiveness and weight. A passive stiffness method is nally selected as the best method among all methods, using piezo actuators. The mechanism of this method is that the piezo material's stiffness is different when electrodes of it is under open circuit and short circuit electrical condition. After the theoretical work, a test is done on a canti-lever beam for the verification of effectiveness of this method.

FWMAV
MAV
actuator
shape modification

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9c9a5fea-940e-4ec4-9fb2-ccc28f1db919

2014-01-01

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2013 Lu, Y.