Accession Number:

ADA564148

Title:

Bio-Inspired Integrated Sensing and Control Flapping Flight for Micro Aerial Vehicles

Descriptive Note:

Final rept. 15 Feb 2009-30 Nov 2011

Corporate Author:

ILLINOIS UNIV AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Personal Author(s):

• Chung, Soon-Jo

Report Date:

2012-02-28

Pagination or Media Count:

58.0

Abstract:

This AFOSR YIP project provides a comprehensive understanding of the unique dynamics and control characteristics of tailless micro aerial vehicle equipped with flexible, articulated wings. This project has successfully demonstrated the ability to stabilize and control the robotic flapping testbed by using the phase synchronized nonlinear oscillators inspired by the central pattern generators in spinal cord. Furthermore, it is shown that the dihedral angle of the wing can be varied symmetrically to obtain an additional degree of freedom, namely, the ability to change flight path angle independently of the flight speed. Asymmetric dihedral settings can be used to perform rapid turns and control the sideslip. From the standpoint of control, the most important observation was the discovery of maneuver dependent control effectiveness reversal. Successful closed-loop demonstrations of agile maneuvers are presented by using the micro aerial vehicle equipped with articulated wings. Finally, this project reports the first rigorous derivation and simulation results of PDE based control laws for controlling the deformation of flexible wings to achieve a net aerodynamic force or moment. The controller designed for wing bending employs a novel idea based on splitting a perturbation-observer into two parts one accommodates the external forces and the other accommodates the boundary control.

Descriptors:

• *DRONES
• *FLAPS(CONTROL SURFACES)
• AERODYNAMIC FORCES
• FLIGHT PATHS
• FLIGHT SPEEDS
• ROBOTICS
• SYNCHRONISM
• WINGS

Subject Categories:

• Aerodynamics
• Pilotless Aircraft

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE