In order to study omithopter flight and to improve a dynamic model of flapping propulsion, a series 0f tests are conducted on a flapping-wing blimp. The blimp is designed and constructed from mylar plastic and balsa w...In order to study omithopter flight and to improve a dynamic model of flapping propulsion, a series 0f tests are conducted on a flapping-wing blimp. The blimp is designed and constructed from mylar plastic and balsa wood as a test platform for aerodynamics and flight dynamics. The blimp, 2.3 meters long and 420 gram mass, is propelled by its flapping wings. Due to buoyancy the wings have no lift requirement so that the distinction between lift and propulsion can be analyzed in a flight platform at low flight speeds. The blimp is tested using a Vicon motion tracking system and various initial conditions are tested including accelerating flight from standstill, decelerating from an initial speed higher than its steady state, and from its steady-state speed but disturbed in pitch angle. Test results are used to estimate parameters in a coupled quasi-steady aerodynamics/Newtonian flight dynamics model. This model is then analyzed using Floquet theory to determine local dynamic modes and stability. It is concluded that the dynamic model adequately describes the vehicle＇s nonlinear behavior near the steady-state velocity and that the vehicle＇s linearized modes are akin to those of a fixed-wing aircraft.展开更多
During slow level flight of a pigeon, a caudal muscle involved in tail movement, the levator caudae pars vertebralis, is activated at a particular phase with the pectoralis wing muscle. Inspired by mechanisms for the ...During slow level flight of a pigeon, a caudal muscle involved in tail movement, the levator caudae pars vertebralis, is activated at a particular phase with the pectoralis wing muscle. Inspired by mechanisms for the control of stability in flying animals, especially the role of the tail in avian flight, we investigated how periodic tail motion linked to motion of the wings affects the longitudinal stability of ornithopter flight. This was achieved by using an integrative ornithopter flight simulator that included aeroelastic behaviour of the flexible wings and tail. Trim flight trajectories of the simulated omithopter model were calculated by time integration of the nonlinear equations of a flexible multi-body dynamics coupled with a semi-empirical flapping-wing and tail aerodynamic models. The unique trim flight characteristics of ornithopter, Limit-Cycle Oscillation, were found under the sets of wingbeat frequency and tail elevation angle, and the appropriate phase angle of tail motion was determined by parameter studies minimizing the amplitude of the oscillations. The numerical simulation results show that tail actuation synchronized with wing motion suppresses the oscillation of body pitch angle over a wide range of wingbeat frequencies.展开更多
文摘In order to study omithopter flight and to improve a dynamic model of flapping propulsion, a series 0f tests are conducted on a flapping-wing blimp. The blimp is designed and constructed from mylar plastic and balsa wood as a test platform for aerodynamics and flight dynamics. The blimp, 2.3 meters long and 420 gram mass, is propelled by its flapping wings. Due to buoyancy the wings have no lift requirement so that the distinction between lift and propulsion can be analyzed in a flight platform at low flight speeds. The blimp is tested using a Vicon motion tracking system and various initial conditions are tested including accelerating flight from standstill, decelerating from an initial speed higher than its steady state, and from its steady-state speed but disturbed in pitch angle. Test results are used to estimate parameters in a coupled quasi-steady aerodynamics/Newtonian flight dynamics model. This model is then analyzed using Floquet theory to determine local dynamic modes and stability. It is concluded that the dynamic model adequately describes the vehicle＇s nonlinear behavior near the steady-state velocity and that the vehicle＇s linearized modes are akin to those of a fixed-wing aircraft.
文摘During slow level flight of a pigeon, a caudal muscle involved in tail movement, the levator caudae pars vertebralis, is activated at a particular phase with the pectoralis wing muscle. Inspired by mechanisms for the control of stability in flying animals, especially the role of the tail in avian flight, we investigated how periodic tail motion linked to motion of the wings affects the longitudinal stability of ornithopter flight. This was achieved by using an integrative ornithopter flight simulator that included aeroelastic behaviour of the flexible wings and tail. Trim flight trajectories of the simulated omithopter model were calculated by time integration of the nonlinear equations of a flexible multi-body dynamics coupled with a semi-empirical flapping-wing and tail aerodynamic models. The unique trim flight characteristics of ornithopter, Limit-Cycle Oscillation, were found under the sets of wingbeat frequency and tail elevation angle, and the appropriate phase angle of tail motion was determined by parameter studies minimizing the amplitude of the oscillations. The numerical simulation results show that tail actuation synchronized with wing motion suppresses the oscillation of body pitch angle over a wide range of wingbeat frequencies.
