Micro air vehicle-motivated computational biomechanics in bio-flights:aerodynamics,flight dynamics and maneuvering stability

Aiming at developing an effective tool to unveil key mechanisms in bio-flight as well as to provide guidelines for bio-inspired micro air vehicles（MAVs） design,we propose a comprehensive computational framework,which integrates aerodynamics,flight dynamics,vehicle stability and maneuverability.This framework consists of（1） a Navier-Stokes unsteady aerodynamic model;（2） a linear finite element model for structural dynamics;（3） a fluidstructure interaction（FSI） model for coupled flexible wing aerodynamics aeroelasticity;（4） a free-flying rigid body dynamic（RBD） model utilizing the Newtonian-Euler equations of 6DoF motion;and（5） flight simulator accounting for realistic wing-body morphology,flapping-wing and body kinematics,and a coupling model accounting for the nonlinear 6DoF flight dynamics and stability of insect flapping flight.Results are presented based on hovering aerodynamics with rigid and flexible wings of hawkmoth and fruitfly.The present approach can support systematic analyses of bio- and bio-inspired flight.

Model Identification of a Micro Air Vehicle

This paper is focused on the model identification of a Micro Air Vehicle （MAV） in straight steady flight condition. The identification is based on input-output data collected from flight tests using both frequency and time dorrtain techniques. The vehicle is an in-house 40 cm wingspan airplane. Because of the complex coupled, multivariable and nonlinear dynamics of the aircraft, linear SISO structures for both the lateral and longitudinal models around a reference state were derived. The aim of the identification is to provide models that can be used in future development of control techniques for the MAV.

Human Memory/Learning Inspired Control Method for Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles

The problem of flapping motion control of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings was studied in this paper.Based upon the knowledge of skeletal and muscular components of hummingbird, a dynamic model for flapping wing wasdeveloped.A control scheme inspired by human memory and learning concept was constructed for wing motion control ofMAVs.The salient feature of the proposed control lies in its capabilities to improve the control performance by learning fromexperience and observation on its current and past behaviors, without the need for system dynamic information.Furthermore,the overall control scheme has a fairly simple structure and demands little online computations, making it attractive for real-timeimplementation on MAVs.Both theoretical analysis and computer simulation confirms its effectiveness.

Piezoelectric energy harvesting from morphing wing motions for micro air vehicles

Wing flapping and morphing can be very beneficial to managing the weight of micro air vehicles through coupling the aerodynamic forces with stability and control. In this letter, harvesting energy from the wing morphing is studied to power cameras, sensors, or communication devices of micro air vehicles and to aid in the management of their power. The aerodynamic loads on flapping wings are simulated using a three-dimensional unsteady vortex lattice method. Active wing shape morphing is considered to enhance the performance of the flapping motion. A gradient-based optimization algorithm is used to pinpoint the optimal kinematics maximizing the propellent efficiency. To benefit from the wing deformation, we place piezoelectric layers near the wing roots. Gauss law is used to estimate the electrical harvested power. We demonstrate that enough power can be generated to operate a camera. Numerical analysis shows the feasibility of exploiting wing morphing to harvest energy and improving the design and performance of micro air vehicles.

Development of the NWPU20 Micro Air Vehicle

This paper reports the design, construction, and operation of NWPU20 Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), which is the smallest that has, up to now, been developed in PR China. The miniaturization level in PR China makes smaller MAV, in our opinion, not possible to implement. The NWPU20 is a 20-centimeter span, battery powered, fixed-wing aircraft with an off-the-shelf color video camera that can transmit live video back to the ground station. The on-board electronic subsystems are smallest and lightest among the commercial products, including an 8-gram wireless video camera, an 8-gram receiver, a 5-gram electronic speed controller (ESC), two 4.5-gram fully proportional radio frequency control servos, and the total mass of NWPU20 is less than 80 grams. An experimental model was fabricated and tested in the Low Turbulent Flow Wind Tunnel (LTFWT) at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) to research low Reynolds number flow characteristics of the NWPU20. The result of the wind tunnel test shows that stall angle of attack of NWPU20 can reach 30°, which is higher than that of the general aircrafts, and the maximum lift-to-drag ratio of NWPU20 can nearly reach 6 at the angle of attack of 10°, which can satisfy design requirements of the NWPU20. A small-sized propulsion/torque testing system was developed to measure and analyze the propulsion and torque performances of the motor-propeller combination used in the NWPU20. A center of gravity (c.g.) testing apparatus was developed and used to adjust the c.g. of the NWPU20 so that it has good longitudinal static stability and control. The NWPU20 prototype has undergone successfully flight tests many times; it flies at 32 kilometers per hour, with an endurance of 15 minutes, and a maximum communications range of 300 meters. With the color video camera, NWPU20 successfully transmits real-time video back to the ground station. The success of NWPU20 proves preliminarily that 20-centimeter span micro air vehicle is feasible and usable.

Low-Power Operational Amplifier for Real-Time Signal Processing System of Micro Air Vehicle

A low-power complementary metal oxide semiconductor（CMOS） operational amplifier （op-amp） for real-time signal processing of micro air vehicle （MAV） is designed in this paper.Traditional folded cascode architecture with positive channel metal oxide semiconductor（PMOS） differential input transistors and sub-threshold technology are applied under the low supply voltage.Simulation results show that this amplifier has significantly low power,while maintaining almost the same gain,bandwidth and other key performances.The power required is only 0.12 mW,which is applicable to low-power and low-voltage real-time signal acquisition and processing system.

Kinematic and Aerodynamic Modelling of Bi- and Quad-Wing Flapping Wing Micro-Air-Vehicle

A generic approach to model the kinematics and aerodynamics of flapping wing ornithopter has been followed, to model and analyze a flapping bi- and quad-wing ornithopter and to mimic flapping wing biosystems to produce lift and thrust for hovering and forward flight. Considerations are given to the motion of a rigid and thin bi-wing and quad-wing ornithopter in flapping and pitching motion with phase lag. Basic Unsteady Aerodynamic Approach incorporating salient features of viscous effect and leading-edge suction are utilized. Parametric study is carried out to reveal the aerodynamic characteristics of flapping bi- and quad-wing ornithopter flight characteristics and for comparative analysis with various selected simple models in the literature, in an effort to develop a flapping bi- and quad-wing ornithopter models. In spite of their simplicity, results obtained for both models are able to reveal the mechanism of lift and thrust, and compare well with other work.

Multi-Object Tracking with Micro Aerial Vehicle

A simple yet efficient tracking framework is proposed for real-time multi-object tracking with micro aerial vehicles(MAVs). It's basic missions for MAVs to detect specific targets and then track them automatically. In our method, candidate regions are generated using the salient detection in each frame and then classified by an eural network. A kernelized correlation filter(KCF) is employed to track each target until it disappears or the peak-sidelobe ratio is lower than a threshold. Besides, we define the birth and death of each tracker for the targets. The tracker is recycled if its target disappears and can be assigned to a new target. The algorithm is evaluated on the PAFISS and UAV123 datasets. The results show a good performance on both the tracking accuracy and speed.

Implementation of VxWorks in autopilot for micro aerial vehicle based on PXA255 and FPGA

The overall hardware construction of autopilot within micro aerial vehicle is presented. The boot process of VxWorks real time operating system as well as the conception and function of board support package （BSP） is described. And the transplantation process of the VxWroks operat ing system into the hardware platform mentioned above is highlighted. It is shown from the final re sults that VxWorks has high stability and real time performance, ensuring accurate flight control and a smooth flight of the micro aerial vehicle.

Passive attitude stabilization of ionic-wind-powered micro air vehicles

The ionic-wind-powered Micro Air Vehicles(MAVs)can achieve a higher thrust-toweight ratio than other MAVs.However,this kind of MAV has not yet achieved controlled flight because of the unstable thrust produced by the ionic wind and the dynamic instability related to the small size.In this paper,a passive attitude stabilization method of the ionic-wind-powered MAV using air dampers is introduced.The key factors that influence the performance of the air dampers,including the layout,position,and area of the air dampers,are theoretically studied.The appropriate optimal position of the air dampers is also obtained by Monte Carlo stochastic simulations.Then the proposed passive attitude stabilization method is applied to the ionic-wind-powered MAVs of different wingspan(2 cm and 6.3 cm).Finally,the experimental results show that using the proposed method,attitude stabilization is achieved for the first time for the ionic-wind-powered MAV.Moreover,the altitude control of an ionic-wind-powered MAV with a wingspan of 6.3 cm is also demonstrated.

An experimental study of elastic properties of dragonfly-like flapping wings for use in biomimetic micro air vehicles(BMAVs)

This article studies the elastic properties of several biomimetic micro air vehicle（BMAV）wings that are based on a dragonfly wing.BMAVs are a new class of unmanned micro-sized air vehicles that mimic the flapping wing motion of flying biological organisms（e.g.,insects,birds,and bats）.Three structurally identical wings were fabricated using different materials：acrylonitrile butadiene styrene（ABS）,polylactic acid（PLA）,and acrylic.Simplified wing frame structures were fabricated from these materials and then a nanocomposite film was adhered to them which mimics the membrane of an actual dragonfly.These wings were then attached to an electromagnetic actuator and passively flapped at frequencies of 10-250 Hz.A three-dimensional high frame rate imaging system was used to capture the flapping motions of these wings at a resolution of 320 pixels x 240 pixels and 35000 frames per second.The maximum bending angle,maximum wing tip deflection,maximum wing tip twist angle,and wing tip twist speed of each wing were measured and compared to each other and the actual dragonfly wing.The results show that the ABS wing has considerable flexibility in the chordwise direction,whereas the PLA and acrylic wings show better conformity to an actual dragonfly wing in the spanwise direction.Past studies have shown that the aerodynamic performance of a BMAV flapping wing is enhanced if its chordwise flexibility is increased and its spanwise flexibility is reduced.Therefore,the ABS wing（fabricated using a 3D printer） shows the most promising results for future applications.

仿绿头鸭扑翼飞行器的低速飞行气动特性仿真研究

针对仿绿头鸭扑翼飞行器,在刚性扑动基础上引入了展向弯折和弦向扭转两种运动方式,提出了4种不同扑动路径的描述方程,并对其低速飞行气动特性进行了研究。首先,根据绿头鸭翼翅外形选择NACA 6411翼型并对其弯度和长度进行修正,通过放样创建扑翼几何构型。之后,基于动网格技术构建扑翼流场网格模型,包含刚性扑动、机翼弯折和机翼扭转等3种不同扑动形态。最后,使用Fluent进行瞬态仿真,基于压力耦合求解器和k-ω湍流模型得到不同扑动形态下飞行速度为2 m/s时的气动特性。结果表明,在低速飞行时,非对称扑动效应、展向弯折效应和弦向扭转效应均可起到增加升力、降低阻力的效果。所提出的3个扑动模型相对传统的对称刚性扑动模型分别能提高3.89%、14.78%、24.44%的升力,其中弯扭组合形式的扑动提供的推力能够抵消前飞时的空气阻力。

DSP的MAVLink微型无人机通信协议移植与应用

MAVLink微型无人机通信协议广泛应用于地面控制站与PIXHAWK、SLUGS和ArduPilot等无人机飞控平台的通信。MAVLink已被证明能够工作在ARM7、ATmega、STM32等微控制器上,并能在Windows、Linux和MacOS操作系统下开发。由于MAVLink与DSP不兼容,故本文提出一种将MAVLink移植到DSP,并通过WiFi与地面控制站软件QGroundControl进行通信的方法。实验证明,该方法能够使MAVLink有效兼容DSP,并且通过SPI转WiFi连接,减小了CPU开销,提高了数据传输速率,减少了数据的丢失情况。

道路交通排放对周边环境影响的分析——以兰州市安宁区学府路为例

探究城市道路中机动车污染物的排放对周边环境的影响,对环境治理起着至关重要的作用。通常通过分析污染物的影响因素,来建立排放模型。根据研究尺度的不同,将应用较广泛的模型进行划分,并对模型原理、应用及存在不足等方面进行归纳和总结。为了探究学府路道路污染状况,选取COPERT模型进行污染物排放量的测算,并使用ANSYS软件模拟了道路交通排放对学府路周边环境的影响,得出了污染物地图。结果表明:学府路工作日内4项主要大气污染物NO_(2)、CO、PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)排放量分别为67.7、269.1、15.1和22.8 t。数量占10.0%的轻型货车排放贡献较大,分别占机动车NO_(2)和PM排放总量的50.5%和69.1%。通过模拟值与实测值的对比发现,COPERT模型对于中观尺度的研究具有较好的支撑。

iMEMS速率陀螺芯片在MAV飞行控制系统中应用研究

介绍了基于iMEMS技术的速率陀螺芯片ADXRS15 0 3 0 0 ,研究了以微处理器为核心的MAV飞行控制系统结构及其各部分功能 。

基于MAV形变控制的鼓包装置几何分布优化

提出了在微型飞行器(MicroAirVehicle—MAV)表面安装鼓包控制装置进行姿态控制的思路,针对某无尾MAV,研究了单点鼓包凸起对气动力、气动力矩的敏度影响;以此为基础,选择了4个鼓包控制组及相应候选控制点,利用遗传算法进行了气动、控制学科的并行优化,并对优化设计方案的控制响应特性进行了分析,表明方案可行。

MAV飞行控制器的μ综合设计方法

从MAV飞行控制系统的基本组成出发,讨论了MAV飞行控制器设计的性能评估准则、鲁棒性评估准则、安全性评估准则和控制能量准则。重点研究了在MAV质量、展长、质心位置、飞行速度和气动计算误差等参数摄动情况下的线性化建模方法,由此建立了MAV的Δ-P-K结构,求取了广义被控对象的传递函数矩阵,进一步讨论了利用μ综合手段进行MAV飞行控制器设计的方法和步骤。

基于多学科综合的MAV鲁棒飞行控制器设计

气动、结构、推进和环境等学科设计参数变化与耦合对微型飞行器(MAV)性能影响明显,MAV飞行控制器设计应考虑这些因素。将MAV多学科模型集成在统一框架下,提出了基于各学科设计参数变化的线性化建模方法,研究了利用μ综合手段进行MAV飞行控制器设计的方法和步骤,并将此方法应用于某MAV纵向控制器的设计与评估中。

MAV放宽静稳定性设计的效益/代价分析

介绍了一种固定翼微型飞行器,通过对不同静稳定性设计的升阻特性、力矩特性、配平损失等进行计算分析,确定了在该类微型飞行器上应用放宽静稳定性技术的代价和效益,分析了不同操纵面布局的影响,并给出了微型飞行器在操纵面布局和控制增稳应用方面的一般计算方法和建议。

分层混杂式MAV飞行控制系统虚拟样机设计

为克服微型飞行器(MAV)物理样机设计周期长、代价高、效率低的缺点,在搭建的飞行控制系统虚拟样机(FCS-VP)设计支撑平台上,基于SysML和Simulink设计了某型MAV的具有任务调度管理层、动作规划层和基本控制层3层混杂结构的FCS-VP.仿真实验表明,所设计的FCS-VP能够从结构、功能、行为、性能等角度模拟真实MAV的FCS,并支持后期飞行控制软件的模型驱动开发,提高MAV物理样机的设计效率.