Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings

Birds and insects naturally use passive flexing of their wings to augment their stability in uncertain aerodynamic environments. In a similar manner, micro air vehicle designers have been investigating using wing articulation to take advantage of this phenomenon. The result is a class of articulated...

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Main Authors: Adetunji Oduyela, Nathan Slegers
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/598523
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author Adetunji Oduyela
Nathan Slegers
author_facet Adetunji Oduyela
Nathan Slegers
author_sort Adetunji Oduyela
collection DOAJ
description Birds and insects naturally use passive flexing of their wings to augment their stability in uncertain aerodynamic environments. In a similar manner, micro air vehicle designers have been investigating using wing articulation to take advantage of this phenomenon. The result is a class of articulated micro air vehicles where artificial passive joints are designed into the lifting surfaces. In order to analyze how passive articulation affects performance of micro air vehicles in gusty environments, an efficient 8 degree-of-freedom model is developed. Experimental validation of the proposed mathematical model was accomplished using flight test data of an articulated micro air vehicle obtained from a high resolution indoor tracking facility. Analytical investigation of the gust alleviation properties of the articulated micro air vehicle model was carried out using simulations with varying crosswind gust magnitudes. Simulations show that passive articulation in micro air vehicles can increase their robustness to gusts within a range of joint compliance. It is also shown that if articulation joints are made too compliant that gust mitigation performance is degraded when compared to a rigid system.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2356-6140
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publishDate 2014-01-01
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series The Scientific World Journal
spelling doaj-art-49c2802f95d24262bf56e7b4736edcc82025-02-03T01:32:44ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal2356-61401537-744X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/598523598523Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated WingsAdetunji Oduyela0Nathan Slegers1School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USASchool of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USABirds and insects naturally use passive flexing of their wings to augment their stability in uncertain aerodynamic environments. In a similar manner, micro air vehicle designers have been investigating using wing articulation to take advantage of this phenomenon. The result is a class of articulated micro air vehicles where artificial passive joints are designed into the lifting surfaces. In order to analyze how passive articulation affects performance of micro air vehicles in gusty environments, an efficient 8 degree-of-freedom model is developed. Experimental validation of the proposed mathematical model was accomplished using flight test data of an articulated micro air vehicle obtained from a high resolution indoor tracking facility. Analytical investigation of the gust alleviation properties of the articulated micro air vehicle model was carried out using simulations with varying crosswind gust magnitudes. Simulations show that passive articulation in micro air vehicles can increase their robustness to gusts within a range of joint compliance. It is also shown that if articulation joints are made too compliant that gust mitigation performance is degraded when compared to a rigid system.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/598523
spellingShingle Adetunji Oduyela
Nathan Slegers
Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings
The Scientific World Journal
title Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings
title_full Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings
title_fullStr Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings
title_full_unstemmed Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings
title_short Gust Mitigation of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings
title_sort gust mitigation of micro air vehicles using passive articulated wings
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/598523
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AT nathanslegers gustmitigationofmicroairvehiclesusingpassivearticulatedwings