Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic Soaring

Dynamic soaring is a special flying technique designed to allow UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to extract energy from wind gradient field and enable UAVs to increase the endurance. In order to figure out the energy-extraction mechanisms in dynamic soaring, a noninertial wind relative reference fram...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bingjie Zhu, Zhongxi Hou, Shangqiu Shan, Xinzhu Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/141906
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849684312277909504
author Bingjie Zhu
Zhongxi Hou
Shangqiu Shan
Xinzhu Wang
author_facet Bingjie Zhu
Zhongxi Hou
Shangqiu Shan
Xinzhu Wang
author_sort Bingjie Zhu
collection DOAJ
description Dynamic soaring is a special flying technique designed to allow UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to extract energy from wind gradient field and enable UAVs to increase the endurance. In order to figure out the energy-extraction mechanisms in dynamic soaring, a noninertial wind relative reference frame of aircraft is built. In the noninertial frame, there is an inertial force which is created by gradient wind field. When the wind gradient (GW) and the components of airspeed (vzvx) are positive, inertial force (F) makes positive work to the aircraft. In the meantime, an equilibrium position theory of dynamic soaring is proposed. At the equilibrium positions, the increased potential energy is greater than the wasted kinetic energy when the aircraft is flying upwards. The mechanical energy is increased in this way, and the aircraft can store energy for flight. According to the extreme value theory, contour line figures of the maximum function and the component of airspeed (vz) are obtained to find out the aircraft’s lifting balance allowance in dynamic soaring. Moreover, this equilibrium position theory can also help to conduct an aircraft to acquire energy from the environment constantly.
format Article
id doaj-art-c1ab3f5ebfd84ae2a6c0ed69676fff1c
institution DOAJ
issn 1687-5966
1687-5974
language English
publishDate 2015-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
spelling doaj-art-c1ab3f5ebfd84ae2a6c0ed69676fff1c2025-08-20T03:23:30ZengWileyInternational Journal of Aerospace Engineering1687-59661687-59742015-01-01201510.1155/2015/141906141906Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic SoaringBingjie Zhu0Zhongxi Hou1Shangqiu Shan2Xinzhu Wang3College of Aerospace Sciences and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, ChinaCollege of Aerospace Sciences and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, ChinaCollege of Aerospace Sciences and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, ChinaChongqing Key Laboratory of Heterogeneous Material Mechanics, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Postdoctoral Station of Mechanics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400040, ChinaDynamic soaring is a special flying technique designed to allow UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to extract energy from wind gradient field and enable UAVs to increase the endurance. In order to figure out the energy-extraction mechanisms in dynamic soaring, a noninertial wind relative reference frame of aircraft is built. In the noninertial frame, there is an inertial force which is created by gradient wind field. When the wind gradient (GW) and the components of airspeed (vzvx) are positive, inertial force (F) makes positive work to the aircraft. In the meantime, an equilibrium position theory of dynamic soaring is proposed. At the equilibrium positions, the increased potential energy is greater than the wasted kinetic energy when the aircraft is flying upwards. The mechanical energy is increased in this way, and the aircraft can store energy for flight. According to the extreme value theory, contour line figures of the maximum function and the component of airspeed (vz) are obtained to find out the aircraft’s lifting balance allowance in dynamic soaring. Moreover, this equilibrium position theory can also help to conduct an aircraft to acquire energy from the environment constantly.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/141906
spellingShingle Bingjie Zhu
Zhongxi Hou
Shangqiu Shan
Xinzhu Wang
Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic Soaring
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
title Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic Soaring
title_full Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic Soaring
title_fullStr Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic Soaring
title_full_unstemmed Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic Soaring
title_short Equilibrium Positions for UAV Flight by Dynamic Soaring
title_sort equilibrium positions for uav flight by dynamic soaring
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/141906
work_keys_str_mv AT bingjiezhu equilibriumpositionsforuavflightbydynamicsoaring
AT zhongxihou equilibriumpositionsforuavflightbydynamicsoaring
AT shangqiushan equilibriumpositionsforuavflightbydynamicsoaring
AT xinzhuwang equilibriumpositionsforuavflightbydynamicsoaring