Autonomous Control for Orographic Soaring of Fixed-Wing UAVs

We present a novel controller for fixed-wing UAVs that enables autonomous soaring in an orographic wind field, extending flight endurance. Our method identifies soaring regions and addresses position control challenges by introducing a target gradient line (TGL) on which the UAV achieves an equilibrium soaring position, where sink rate and...

Flight Simulator Transfer of Training Effectiveness in Helicopter Maneuvering Flight

This research aims to advance the state-of-the-art requirements for helicopter pilot training in flight simulators contributing to the rotorcraft safety enhancement framework. It has been conducted as part of the Marie Sk\l odowska-Curie European Joint Doctorate NITROS (Network for Innovative Training on Rotorcraft Safety).<br/><br/>Training has...

Developing a Modular Tool to Simulate Regeneration Power Potential Using Orographic Wind-hovering UAVs

Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are often limited by flight endurance. To address the limitation of endurance, we propose a regenerative soaring method in this paper. The atmospheric energy from updrafts generated by obstacles such as hills and ships can be harvested by UAVs using a regenerative electric drivetrain. With fixed...

Aerodynamic performance of a small-scale ducted rotor in hover: An experimental study on the effect of the tip gap

The growing demand for efficient propulsion systems that operate primarily in hover, has led the ducted rotor configuration to emerge as an increasingly popular design solution. One of the major design parameters for the ducted-rotor assembly is the radial distance between the blade tip and the circumferential wall of the duct, referred to as...

Asteroid Mission Guidance and Control using Dual Quaternions

The investigation of small bodies in the Solar System such as asteroids and comets is of increasing interest to the space exploration community for scientific and security reasons. A key enabling technology is the availability to control position and attitude of spacecraft for asteroid close-proximity operations. Dynamics and control issues...

COLIBRI: A hovering flapping twin-wing robot

This paper describes the results of a six-year project aiming at designing and constructing a flapping twin-wing robot of the size of hummingbird (Colibri in French) capable of hovering. Our prototype has a total mass of 22 g, a wing span of 21 cm and a flapping frequency of 22 Hz; it is actively stabilized in pitch and roll by changing the...

An efficient fluid–structure interaction model for optimizing twistable flapping wings

Spanwise twist can dominate the deformation of flapping wings and alters the aerodynamic performance and power efficiency of flapping wings by changing the local angle of attack. Traditional Fluid–Structure Interaction (FSI) models, based on Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), have been used to...

Helicopter-Ship Qualification Testing

The goal of this research project is to develop a novel test methodology which can be used for optimizing cost and time efficiency of helicopter-ship qualification testing without reducing safety. For this purpose, the so-called “SHOL-X” test methodology has been established, which includes the associated predictive software tool as developed in...

Vortex Formation and Force Generation Mechanisms of the DelFly II in Hovering Flight

This paper addresses the unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in the hovering flight of the DelFly II flapping-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV). Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (Stereo-PIV) were carried out around the wings at a high framing rate. Thrust-force was measured to investigate the relation between the vortex dynamics and the...

Pitch and roll control mechanism for a hovering flapping wing MAV

Hovering flapping flight is inherently unstable and needs to be stabilized actively. We present a control mechanism that modulates independently the wing flapping amplitude and offset by displacing joints of a flapping linkage mechanism. We demonstrate its performance by high speed camera recordings of the wing motion as well as by direct...

Effect of chordwise deformation on unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in hovering flapping flight

A three-dimensional simulation of hovering flapping wings was performed using an immersed boundary method. This was done to investigate the effects of chordwise wing deformation on three important unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms found in flapping flight, namely Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) shedding, wake capture and clap and fling. A wing was...

Design, Fabrication, and Performance Test of a Hovering-Based Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle Capable of Sustained and Controlled Flight

We present our insect-based hovering Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FW-MAV) capable of sustained flight and control. The proposed design combines two fixed wings and two flapping wings to take advantage of the double clap-and-ling effects at the end of each half-stroke during one flapping cycle for high thrust production, and utilizes the...

Effect of chordwise deformation on unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in hovering flapping flight

A three-dimensional simulation of hovering flapping wings was performed using an immersed noundary method. This was done to investigate the effects of chordwise wing deformation on three important unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms found in flapping flight, namely Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) shedding, wake capture and clap and fling. A wing was...

Vortex Formation and Force Generation Mechanisms of the DelFly II in Hovering Flight

This paper addresses the unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in the hovering flight of the DelFly II flapping-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV). Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (Stereo-PIV) were carried out around the wings at a high framing rate. Thrust-force was measured to investigate the relation between the vortex dynamics and the...