|
a) Autonomous Flight of a Robotic Samara Micro-Air-Vehicle Sponser: MURI (ARO)
The paper that covers this can be found HERE. (pdf)
b) Control Model for Robotic Samara Sponser: MURI (ARO)
|
More From this Project... YouTube Videos: Download Papers: • AHS64.pdf • sysid-AIAA.pdf |
This dissertation details the flight dynamics and control of a prototype mono-wing rotorcraft which mimics the passive transit of the species Acer diabolicum Blume. The asymmetric and all-rotating platform requires the development of a novel sensing and control framework. The rigid body dynamics are derived for a flight path consisting of a coordinated helical turn. The small perturbation equations of motion are used to calculate the forces necessary for flight along a trajectory recorded by a visual motion capture system. The result of this work is that the robotic samara is controllable in unpowered autorotation as well as hovering and directional flight.
QuickTime format
Micro/Nano Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are an emerging class of vehicles uniquely suited to performing covert missions. Autonomy is an essential aspect of the intended function of UAS, and development of a dynamic model will enable control and state estimation algorithm synthesis. To that end, a linear model for the heave dynamics of a mechanical samara (winged seed) in hovering flight was identified from data collected external to the vehicle by a visual tracking system. Identification and error estimation efforts utilized a frequency response-based system identification. The two mechanical samara vehicles of different scale compared in this study represent the first demonstration of controlled flight of a vehicle of this kind. 
This work details the flight dynamics and control of a prototype mono-wing rotorcraft which mimics the passive transit of the species of samara (winged seed), Acer diabolicum Blume. The asymmetric and all-rotating platform requires the development of a novel sensing and control framework. The rigid body dynamics are derived for a flight path consisting of a coordinated helical turn. The equations of motion are used to calculate the forces necessary for flight along a tra jectory recorded by a visual motion capture system. The result is a framework for state estimation and control applicable to scaled versions of the robotic samara.
©2010 University of Maryland