Abstract
Compared with the tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle (FMAV), the tailed FMAV has a simpler structure and is easier to control. However, although biplane FMAVs with tails have been used for flight control in practice for a long time, a theoretical model of the tailed FMAV has not previously been established. In this paper, we report modeling of the longitudinal dynamics of a tailed biplane FMAV using the Newton‐Euler equations. In this study, the vehicle was trimmed and linearized near its hovering equilibrium, assuming small disturbances. Then the stability of the hovering FMAV was analyzed with a modal analysis method. A state feedback controller was synthesized to stabilize the disturbance. Finally, we investigated the flight control of the tailed biplane FMAV with different control signals. Our results show that the natural‐motion mode determines the oscillation divergence characteristics of the tailed FMAV, a mode that can be suppressed with the state feedback controller by real‐time modulation of the tail. The tail can also be used to achieve different flight modes with different control‐signal functions. The tailed FMAV cruises in a line when the tail is controlled with a step function and spirals in an elliptical trajectory in the longitudinal plane when the tail is controlled by a sinusoidal function. Our longitudinal‐ dynamics model provides an analytical basis for further dynamic analyses of the tailed FMAV, as well as the corresponding controller synthesis. Moreover, the proposed attitude stabilization and flight control schemes for the vehicle near hovering provide a basis for developing practical uses of the tailed FMAV.
Highlights
The high-efficiency, maneuverability, and small size of the flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FMAV) make it potentially very valuable in military or civilian applications such as unmanned reconnaissance and search and rescue in confined spaces
The difference may be because the dimensionless mass and pitching moment of inertia of the FMAV in this study exceeds that of the hawk moth, resulting in different eigenvalues from those of the hawk moth. These findings suggest that the stability of the FMAV relates to its aerodynamic derivatives and to the mass and load distribution of the vehicle, which suggests that a lightweight FMAV with compact design helps to reduce energy consumption and contributes to the dynamic stability of the FMAV
We report studies of the disturbed stabilization in the longitudinal channel of a hovering tailed FMAV, as well as its flight control from hovering equilibrium
Summary
The high-efficiency, maneuverability, and small size of the flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FMAV) make it potentially very valuable in military or civilian applications such as unmanned reconnaissance and search and rescue in confined spaces. Stable hovering of the aircraft and controlling its flight near hovering play a vital role in the collection of high-quality information. For this flight mode, birds and insects provide useful references. The insect can only coordinate the multiple kinematic parameters of the wing root to control the wing motion and generate asymmetric aerodynamic forces, thereby achieving hovering and controlling flight attitude [1,2,3]. In the past several years, numerous FMAVs emerged resembling insects or birds. These FMAVs have different characteristics as described below
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