Flight dynamics characteristics of canard rotor/wing aircraft in helicopter flight mode

The aerodynamic layout of the Canard Rotor/Wing(CRW) aircraft in helicopter flight mode differs significantly from that of conventional helicopters. In order to study the flight dynamics characteristics of CRW aircraft in helicopter mode, first, the aerodynamic model of the main rotor system is established based on the blade element theory and wind tunnel test results. The aerodynamic forces and moments of the canard wing, horizontal tail, vertical tail and fuselage are obtained via theoretical analysis and empirical formula. The flight dynamics model of the CRW aircraft in helicopter mode is developed and validated by flight test data. Next, a method of model trimming using an optimization algorithm is proposed. The flight dynamics characteristics of the CRW are investigated by the method of linearized small perturbations via Simulink. The trim results are consistent with the conventional helicopter characteristics, and the results show that with increasing forward flight speed, the canard wing and horizontal tail can provide considerable lift,which reflects the unique characteristics of the CRW aircraft. Finally, mode analysis is implemented for the linearized CRW in helicopter mode. The results demonstrate that the stability of majority modes increases with increasing flight speed. However, one mode that diverges monotonously,and the reason is that the CRW helicopter mode has a large vertical tail compared to the conventional helicopter. The results of the dynamic analysis provide optimization guidance and reference for the overall design of the CRW aircraft in helicopter mode, and the model developed can be used for control system design.

Design and experimental study of a new flapping wing rotor micro aerial vehicle

A three-wing Flapping Wing Rotor Micro Aerial Vehicle(FWR-MAV)which can perform controlled flight is introduced and an experimental study on this vehicle is presented.A mechanically driven flapping rotary mechanism is designed to drive the three flapping wings and generate lift,and control mechanisms are designed to control the pose of the FWR-MAV.A flight control board for attitude control with robust onboard attitude estimation and a control algorithm is also developed to perform stable hovering flight and forward flight.A series of flight tests was conducted,with hovering flight and forward flight tests performed to optimize the control parameters and assess the performance of the FWR-MAV.The hovering flight test shows the ability of the FWR-MAV to counteract the moment generated by rotary motion and maintain the attitude of the FWR-MAV in space;the experiment of forward flight shows that the FWR-MAV can track the desired attitude.

Experimental Validation of an Effective Control Mechanism to Enable Flapping Wing Rotor Stable Flight

Design and implementation of an effective control mechanism is the key to enable the controlledflight of flapping wing rotor micro aerial vehicles(FWR-MAVs).In order to address this open challenge,in this paper,a triple-wing FWR-MAV with its particular control system is proposed.The corresponding experimental study of the vehicle is conducted.As a result,the triple-wing propulsion system demonstrates advantages in both lift generation and flight stability based on the force measurement.The control torques of the proposed FWR-MAV are generated by a particular slipflow rudder mechanism.The effectiveness of such a design combination has been validated experimentally.A series of flight tests are conducted,including sustained hovering and forward-backward maneuvering.To the best of our knowledge,such a design yields the world's first FWR-MAV capable of sustained controlled flight.

Closed-loop dynamic control allocation for aircraft with multiple actuators

A closed-loop control allocation method is proposed for a class of aircraft with multiple actuators. Nonlinear dynamic inversion is used to design the baseline attitude controller and derive the desired moment increment. And a feedback loop for the moment increment produced by the deflections of actuators is added to the angular rate loop, then the error between the desired and actual moment increment is the input of the dynamic control allocation. Subsequently, the stability of the closed-loop dynamic control allocation system is analyzed in detail. Especially, the closedloop system stability is also analyzed in the presence of two types of actuator failures： loss of effectiveness and lock-in-place actuator failures, where a fault detection subsystem to identify the actuator failures is absent. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a canard rotor/wing （CRW） aircraft model in fixed-wing mode, which has multiple actuators for flight control. The nonlinear simulation demonstrates that this method can guarantee the stability and tracking performance whether the actuators are healthy or fail.