Flight Stability Research Articles

Setting Hover, Roll, Yaw Pitch And Altitude Tricopter Using Arduino Multiwii

The development and advancement of drone technology will be a trend now and in the future, it will have an important role as a material for mapping and aerial photography. with the use of Aeromodelling is a miniature model of an airplane, in which there are many types of aeromodelling, one of which is a tricopter, which is a drone driven by three motors that can be controlled by remote control using a remote control and has a Y-shaped frame. Many Drones are sold with easy-to-operate use but what if we assemble drones will be a lot of constraints because of many hardware and software settings in the manufacture of drones and this becomes a challenge in itself therefore This research specializes in hardware settings using software applications Multiwii Configuration Tools to set PID values for hover, roll, yaw pitch, and altitude values. So the Tricoptrer can go up and down, flight stability, and turn left and right movements. The conclusion of this research Tricopter can fly and move well following the desire to control the movement of tricoppter using a remote controller. The best tricopter flying navigation setting values obtained for Roll are P = 5.9, I = 0.003, D = 16. Pitch is P = 5.7, I = 0.003, D = 17. Yaw is P = 6.8, I = 0.045, D = 7 the height is P = 6.4, I = 0.025, D = 13.

The MRS UAV System: Pushing the Frontiers of Reproducible Research, Real-world Deployment, and Education with Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

We present a multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle control (UAV) and estimation system for supporting replicable research through realistic simulations and real-world experiments. We propose a unique multi-frame localization paradigm for estimating the states of a UAV in various frames of reference using multiple sensors simultaneously. The system enables complex missions in GNSS and GNSS-denied environments, including outdoor-indoor transitions and the execution of redundant estimators for backing up unreliable localization sources. Two feedback control designs are presented: one for precise and aggressive maneuvers, and the other for stable and smooth flight with a noisy state estimate. The proposed control and estimation pipeline are constructed without using the Euler/Tait-Bryan angle representation of orientation in 3D. Instead, we rely on rotation matrices and a novel heading-based convention to represent the one free rotational degree-of-freedom in 3D of a standard multirotor helicopter. We provide an actively maintained and well-documented open-source implementation, including realistic simulation of UAV, sensors, and localization systems. The proposed system is the product of years of applied research on multi-robot systems, aerial swarms, aerial manipulation, motion planning, and remote sensing. All our results have been supported by real-world system deployment that shaped the system into the form presented here. In addition, the system was utilized during the participation of our team from the CTU in Prague in the prestigious MBZIRC 2017 and 2020 robotics competitions, and also in the DARPA SubT challenge. Each time, our team was able to secure top places among the best competitors from all over the world. On each occasion, the challenges has motivated the team to improve the system and to gain a great amount of high-quality experience within tight deadlines.

Flight dynamics modeling and stability analysis of a tube-launched tandem wing aerial vehicle during the deploying process

During the subsequent deploying process after the launch, the vehicle experiences dramatic changes in geometry as well as aerodynamics, which cannot be ignored for the flight stability of the aircraft. The investigation on the flight dynamics modeling and stability analysis during the unsteady deploying process is of great significance for the flight control system design and the launch system design. The nonlinear multibody dynamic model of the vehicle, which mainly consists of the airframe and four wings, is established through the Newton–Euler method. Meanwhile, the unsteady vortex lattice method (VLM), which is suitable for tandem wing aircraft and combined with the viscosity effect in light of the strip theory, is proposed to calculate the aerodynamic loads of the vehicle during the deploying process. A series of simulations about the motion of the vehicle after the launch are calculated to analyze the effects of various parameters, including the deploying forms, the start-up time of the power system along with the launching parameters, on the stability of the aerial vehicle in the deployment process. As results indicated, a small difference in the deploying rates of wings and larger deploying rates of wings on the same side are beneficial to the stability of the vehicle during the deploying process. Additionally, it is advantageous to the pitching stability but not the lateral stability of the vehicle when the power system is started earlier. Besides, the attitude control strategy of the vehicle can be formulated in advance by analyzing the attitude of the vehicle with different launch parameters at the launching moment.

Flexibility Effects of a Flapping Mechanism Inspired by Insect Musculoskeletal System on Flight Performance.

Flying animals such as insects display great flight performances with high stability and maneuverability even under unpredictable disturbances in natural and man-made environments. Unlike man-made mechanical systems like a drone, insects can achieve various flapping motions through their flexible musculoskeletal systems. However, it remains poorly understood whether flexibility affects flight performances or not. Here, we conducted an experimental study on the effects of the flexibility associated with the flapping mechanisms on aerodynamic performance with a flexible flapping mechanism (FFM) inspired by the flexible musculoskeletal system of insects. Based on wing kinematic and force measurements, we found an appropriate combination of the flexible components could improve the aerodynamic efficiency by increasing the wingbeat amplitude. Results of the wind tunnel experiments suggested that, through some passive adjustment of the wing kinematics in concert with the flexible mechanism, the disturbance-induced effects could be suppressed. Therefore, the flight stability under the disturbances is improved. While the FFM with the most rigid spring was least efficient in the static experiments, the model was most robust against the wind within the range of the study. Our results, particularly regarding the trade-off between the efficiency and the robustness, point out the importance of the passive response of the flapping mechanisms, which may provide a functional biomimetic design for the flapping micro air vehicles (MAVs) capable of achieving high efficiency and stability.

Aircraft control with the use of model reference adaptive control

PurposeIndirect (fly-by-wire) control systems for general aviation aircraft and unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) control systems enable the decoupling of control surfaces. This method of aircraft control is different from classical approach. The purpose of the article is to show the aircraft can be controlled even if the control control surfaces are blocked.Design/methodology/approachThe concept discussed here relies on model reference adaptive control. The approach presented requires modifications of aircraft linearized model. In this paper, an example of roll angle control is shown.FindingsDuring simulations the system worked properly with control surfaces partially blocked, if the blockage appeared close to neutral position. Exemplary simulations are shown in the text.Practical implicationsThe solution presented was implemented on a UAV autopilot. Hardware in the loop simulations were performed, which shows the potential of practical usage.Originality/valueAircraft control, as discussed in this paper, gives the possibility of aircraft control and stable flight before a fault is detected, which increases the safety level.

Stability and Sensitivity Analysis of Bird Flapping Flight

This paper investigates stability analysis of flapping flight. Due to time-varying aerodynamic forces, such systems do not display fixed points of equilibrium. The problem is therefore approached via a limit cycle analysis based on Floquet theory. Stability is assessed from the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix associated to the limit cycle, also known as the Floquet multipliers. We developed this framework to analyze the flapping flight equations of motion of a bird in the longitudinal plane. Such a system is known to be not only non-linear and time-dependent, but also driven by state-dependent forcing aerodynamic forces. A model accounting for wing morphing under prescribed kinematics is developed for generating realistic state-dependent aerodynamic forces. The morphing wing geometry results from the envelope of continuously articulated rigid bodies, modeling bones and feather rachises, and capturing biologically relevant degrees of freedom. A sensitivity analysis is carried out which allows studying several flight configurations in trimmed state. Our numerical results show that in such a system one instability mode is ubiquitous, thus suggesting the importance of sensory feedback to achieve steady-state flapping flight in birds. The effect of wingbeat amplitude, governed by the shoulder joint, is found to be crucial in tuning the gait towards level flight, but marginally affects stability. In contrast, the relative position between the wing and the center of mass is found to significantly affect the values of Floquet multipliers, suggesting that the distribution of pitching moment plays a very important role in flapping flight stability.

Flying With Damaged Wings: The Effect on Flight Capacity and Bio-Inspired Coping Strategies of a Flapping Wing Robot

Insects wings are subject to wear and tear from collisions and environmental disturbances during flight. They can tolerate both symmetrical and asymmetrical wing damages while maintaining flight capability to some extent. Drawing inspiration from nature's adaptation capabilities, we investigated the consequences of wing damage on a flapping wing micro air vehicle by quantifying the changes in wing kinematics, lift generation, control torque offset, and aerodynamic damping variations in flight tests with intact and damaged wings. For the proposed vehicle, the wing damage affected the lift generation significantly. Compared to the intact wings, the damaged ones result in increased stroke angle amplitude in order to compensate for lift loss and torque imbalance, which causes an increase in power consumption accordingly. Furthermore, asymmetric damages usually require a larger amount of additional control effort for flight stabilization compared to symmetric cases. In addition, aerodynamic damping varies as the wing areas change. All these aspects pose challenges in flight control. An adaptive controller is proposed to cope with the wing damage induced detrimental effects on flight capacity. Flight tests were conducted to validate the control performance. As a result, the robot can effectively overcome such challenges even in the case of a maximum unilateral lift loss of up to $\approx$ 22%. Such a result matches the performance of hovering hawkmoths, which can handle torque asymmetry up to 22.3 $\pm$ 7.8%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of FWMAVs to handle significant wing asymmetry in hover flight.

Flight Maneuver of a Damselfly with Phase Modulation of the Wings

We developed a numerical model for four-wing self-propulsion to calculate effectively the flight velocity generated with varied wing motions, which satisfactorily verified biological experiments. Through this self-propulsion model, we analyzed the flight velocity of a damselfly (Matrona cyanoptera) at varied phases. The results show that after phase modulation of the wings, the aerodynamic performance of the forewing (FW) is affected by the incoming flow and an effective angle of attack, whereas that of the hindwing (HW) is dominated by the vortex interaction and induced flow generated by the shed vortex of the FW. Cooperating with the flow interaction, in stable flight, the HW in the lead phase has a larger vertical velocity, whereas the FW in the lead phase has a larger horizontal velocity. Regarding the aerodynamic efficiency, the FW in the lead phase has greater horizontal efficiency, whereas the HW in the lead phase has greater vertical efficiency; the overall efficiency does not vary with the phase. This work interprets that a dragonfly adopts the HW in the lead phase to generate a larger lift, thus supporting the larger body weight, whereas a damselfly adopts the FW in the lead phase to have a greater forward velocity, which can supplement the lack of flapping frequency.

Data-driven active flutter control of airfoil with input constraints based on adaptive dynamic programming method

The stable flight region can be extended by adding control flap at the wing trailing edge and combined with active control technology. We studied the active flutter control by considering the input constraints. By designing the data-driven optimal controller, the limit cycle oscillations of a typical two-dimensional airfoil wing can be suppressed with single trailing edge control surface. The traditional control methods always need a precise mathematical model of the system, which put high requirements on system modeling. In this study, a novel data-driven optimal controller is proposed by using the input–output data and without depending on the nonlinear system dynamic model. This model-free approach avoids the effects of modeling errors and system uncertainty. When the data-driven controller is applied, the limit cycle oscillation phenomenon of the airfoil wing is eliminated within several seconds. It can be seen from the numerical simulation result that the data-driven adaptive dynamic programming control method possess superiority and feasibility.

Kinematic and Aerodynamic Investigation of the Butterfly in Forward Free Flight for the Butterfly-Inspired Flapping Wing Air Vehicle

To ensure the stability of flight, the butterfly needs to flap its wings and simultaneously move its main body to achieve all kinds of flying motion, such as taking off, hovering, or reverse flight. The high-speed camera is used to record the swing of the abdomen, the movement of the wings, and the pitch angle of the body for butterflies during their free flight; the comprehensive biokinetic observations show that the butterfly’s wings and body are coupled in various flight states. The swing of the abdomen and the flap of the fore wing affect the pitch motion significantly. For theoretical analysis of the butterfly flight, a three-dimensional multi-rigid butterfly model based on real butterfly dimension is established, and the aerodynamic of the butterfly flight is simulated and analyzed via computational fluid dynamics methods to obtain an optimal kinematic model of butterfly forward flight. Moreover, the formation and development of three-dimensional vortex structures in the forward flight are also presented. The detailed structures of vortices and their dynamic behavior show that the wing’s flap and the abdominal swing play a key role in reorienting and correcting the “clap and peel” mechanism, and the force generation mechanisms are evaluated. The research indicates that longitudinal flight performance is mainly related to the kinematic parameters of the wing and body, and it can lead to the development of butterfly-inspired flapping wing air vehicles.

On the Handling Qualities of Two Flying Wing Aircraft Configurations

The coupling of the longitudinal and lateral stability modes of an aeroplane is considered in two cases: (i) weak coupling, when the changes in the frequency and damping of the phugoid, short period, dutch roll, and helical modes are small, i.e., the square of the deviation is negligible compared to the square of the uncoupled value; (ii) strong coupling, when the coupled values may differ significantly from the uncoupled values. This allows a comparison of three values for the frequency and damping of each mode: (i) exact, i.e., fully coupled; (ii) with the approximation of weak coupling; (iii) with the assumption of decoupling. The comparison of these three values allows an assessment of the importance of coupling effects. The method is applied to two flying wing designs, concerning all modes in a total of eighteen flight conditions. It turns out that lateral-longitudinal coupling is small in all cases, and thus classical handling qualities criteria can be applied. The handling qualities are considered for all modes, namely the phugoid, short period, dutch roll, spiral, and roll modes. Additional focus is given to the pitch axis, considering the control anticipation parameter (CAP). The latter relates to the two kinds of manouever points, where damping vanishes, that are calculated for minimum speed, take-off, and initial and final cruise conditions. The conclusion compares two flying wings designs (the “long narrow” and “short wide” fuselage concepts) not only from the point of view of flight stability, but also from other viewpoints.

Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft

Aircraft winglets are well-established devices that improve aircraft fuel efficiency by enabling a higher lift over drag ratios and lower induced drag. Retrofitting winglets to existing aircraft also increases aircraft payload/range by the same order of the fuel burn savings, although the additional loads and moments imparted to the wing may impact structural interfaces, adding more weight to the wing. Winglet installation on aircraft wing influences numerous design parameters and requires a proper balance between aerodynamics and weight efficiency. Advanced dynamic aeroelastic analyses of the wing/winglet structure are also crucial for this assessment. Within the scope of the Clean Sky 2 REG IADP Airgreen 2 project, targeting novel technologies for next-generation regional aircraft, this paper deals with the integrated design of a full-scale morphing winglet for the purpose of improving aircraft aerodynamic efficiency in off-design flight conditions, lowering wing-bending moments due to maneuvers and increasing aircraft flight stability through morphing technology. A fault-tolerant morphing winglet architecture, based on two independent and asynchronous control surfaces with variable camber and differential settings, is presented. The system is designed to face different flight situations by a proper action on the movable control tabs. The potential for reducing wing and winglet loads by means of the winglet control surfaces is numerically assessed, along with the expected aerodynamic performance and the actuation systems’ integration in the winglet surface geometry. Such a device was designed by CIRA for regional aircraft installation, whereas the aerodynamic benefits and performance were estimated by ONERA on the natural laminar flow wing. An active load controller was developed by PoliMI and UniNA performed aeroelastic trade-offs and flutter calculations due to the coupling of winglet movable harmonics and aircraft wing bending and torsion.

A hybrid robust adaptive control for a quadrotor UAV via mass observer and robust controller

The flight stability and safety of the quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with variable mass are the key problems that limit its application. In order to improve the stability and steady-state control precision of the quadrotor system against slow-varying mass and external disturbance, a new robust adaptive flight control algorithm is developed and analyzed in detail in this paper. Firstly, a mass observer based on adaptive control theory is designed to estimate the real-time mass and correct the mass parameter of the UAV. Then, a hyperbolic tangent function and a proportional integral (PI) controller is added into the attitude controller to eliminate the effect of the external disturbances. Finally, a hybrid robust adaptive controller (HRAC) developed with backstepping control method is used here for the trajectory tracking of quadrotor. The boundedness of the nonlinear system is verified by Lyapunov stability theory and uniformly ultimately bounded theorem. The trajectory tracking simulation experiments are presented in MATLAB/SIMULINK simulation environment. According to the simulation results, the real-time mass of quadrotor can be estimated by HRAC satisfactorily under the condition of external disturbances, while the estimate error of mass is only 6.4% of its own. In addition, HRAC can provide a higher trajectory tracking accuracy compared with robust optimal backstepping control (ROBC) and robust generalized dynamic inversion (RGDI). The results suggest a promising route based on the mass observer and hybrid robust controller toward slow-varying mass and the external disturbance as effective robustness control strategy for quadrotor UAV.

Research on Trim Simulation and Flight Test of a General Electric Aircraft

In order to study the stable flight of an electric aircraft in the whole flight speed range, taking the manned electric aircraft as an example, the method and principle of Longitudinal Trim for high aspect ratio aircraft are presented. Based on the wind tunnel test data, the torque produced by different gravity centers and tension lines as input parameters, and ignoring the influence of lateral and heading parameters, the three-degree-of-freedom motion equation of the aircraft is established, the difference of the performance parameters before and after the trim state is analyzed, which reflects the flight characteristics of the aircraft in a comprehensive way, and is compared with the flight test data. The simulative simulation data and the flight test data are in good agreement and have certain feasibility, it provides a reference for analyzing the performance parameter modification of other high aspect ratio electric aircraft in the future.

Stabilizing responses to sideslip disturbances in Drosophila melanogaster are modulated by the density of moving elements on the ground.

Stabilizing responses to sideslip disturbances are a critical part of the flight control system in flies. While strongly mediated by mechanoreception, much of the final response results from the wide-field motion detection system associated with vision. In order to be effective, these responses must match the disturbance they are aimed to correct. To do this, flies must estimate the velocity of the disturbance, although it is not known how they accomplish this task when presented with natural images or dot fields. The recent finding, that motion parallax in dot fields can modulate stabilizing responses only if perceived below the fly, raises the question of whether other image statistics are also processed differently between eye regions. One such parameter is the density of elements moving in translational optic flow. Depending on the habitat, there might be strong differences in the density of elements providing information about self-motion above and below the fly, which in turn could act as selective pressures tuning the visual system to process this parameter on a regional basis. By presenting laterally moving dot fields of different densities we found that, in Drosophila melanogaster, the amplitude of the stabilizing response is significantly affected by the number of elements in the field of view. Flies countersteer strongly within a relatively low and narrow range of element densities. But this effect is exclusive to the ventral region of the eye, and dorsal stimuli elicit an unaltered and stereotypical response regardless of the density of elements in the flow. This highlights local specialization of the eye and suggests the lower region may play a more critical role in translational flight stabilization.

Coupled Flexible and Flight Dynamics Modeling and Simulation of a Full-Wing Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The full-wing solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) adopts a large aspect ratio wing, a lightweight structural design, and a differential throttle control scheme to maximize flight endurance. Large structural deformation often occurs when the wing is heavily loaded, which affects its flight stability, trajectory tracking accuracy, and flight performance. The traditional rigid-body flight dynamics cannot accurately describe the actual dynamic behavior when the wing is deformed. To fully consider the coupling effect of the structural deformation and the flight motion, we derive a UAV combo model consisting of a flexible wing and rigid fuselage. In the model, we also include strain formulation (s-beam) for structural modeling, finite-state induced flow theory for aerodynamic modeling, static and dynamic combined experiments for engine modeling, and the rigid-body flight dynamic equation. Besides, a model modification method based on flight data is applied to improve the accuracy of the structural parameters. Simulation results show that the wingtip deformation and motion characteristics of the rigid- and combo-system are quite different: the combo model exhibits a certain lag in comparison with the rigid-body, with the amplitude of the motion parameters reduced by 50%, frequency 15%, system kinetic energy 11.8%, and the elevator control efficiency more than 40%.

Design, aerodynamic analysis and test flight of a bat-inspired tailless flapping wing unmanned aerial vehicle

This paper provided a design of bat-inspired tailless flapping wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on the biological data of the large flying fox. The wing span of the UAV is 1.68 m and the total mass is 289 g. Aerodynamic characteristics at design cruise speed were analyzed based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Selected variables within the analysis are angle of attack and flapping frequency. Prototype of the UAV has been manufactured follows the design parameters. The flapping mechanism employed a 2-DOFs revolute-spherical-spherical-revolute (RSSR) system to reflect the flapping attitude of bats. An outdoor test flight was then processed with the manufactured prototype. Onboard flight data recorder (FDR) was equipped to conserve the flight data such as flight speed, pitching angle and the three-dimensional position of the flight. It is shown by the data obtained from the FDR that the bat-inspired UAV is able to achieve the stable cruise with circular route at flight speed 6.8 m/s with the average angle of attack 4.1 degrees and flapping frequency 3.7 Hz. Test flight shows that the UAV is able to provide a 5 minutes free outdoor cruise with the equipped Li-Po battery. Research proves that the tailless configuration flapping wing UAV is able to sustain a stable flight, which provides a new design possibility for future researches.

Model coupling biomechanics and fluid dynamics for the simulation of controlled flapping flight

This paper proposes a multiphysics computational framework coupling biomechanics and aerodynamics for the simulation of bird flight. It features a biomechanical model based on the anatomy of a bird, which models the bones and feathers of the wing. The aerodynamic solver relies on a vortex particle-mesh method and represents the wing through an immersed lifting line, acting as a source of vorticity in the flow. An application of the numerical tool is presented in the modeling of the flight of a northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita). The wing kinematics are imposed based on biological observations and controllers are developed to enable stable flight in a closed loop. Their design is based on a linearized model of flapping flight dynamics. The controller solves an underdetermination in the control parameters through minimization. The tool and the controllers are used in two simulations: one where the bird has to trim itself at a given flight speed, and another where it has to accelerate from a trimmed state to another at a higher speed. The bird wake is accurately represented. It is analyzed and compared to the widespread frozen-wake assumption, highlighting phenomena that the latter cannot capture. The method also allows the computation of the aerodynamic forces experienced by the flier, either through the lifting line method or through control-volume analysis. The computed power requirements at several flight speeds exhibit an order of magnitude and dependency on velocity in agreement with the literature.

Remote-Controlled Monitoring of Flying Pests with an Electrostatic Insect Capturing Apparatus Carried by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The purpose of the study was to construct an electrostatic insect-capturing apparatus that could be applied to a drone (quadcopter). For this purpose, a double-charged dipolar electric field screen (DD-screen) was constructed using oppositely charged insulator tubes that was then attached to a drone. For charging, the inner surface of the tubes was coated with a conductive paste and then linked to a negative or positive voltage generator. The opposite charges of the tubes formed an electric field between them and created an attractive force to capture insects that entered the field. The DD-screen constructed here was sufficiently light to enable its attachment to a drone. The screen was hung from the drone perpendicular to the direction of drone movement, so as to receive the longitudinal airflow produced by the movement of the drone. It was positioned 1.8 m below the drone body to avoid the influence of the downward slipstream generated by the rotating propellers. Eventually, the drone was able to conduct a stable flight, with sufficient endurance, and captured airborne insects carried by an airflow of 8 m/s during the flight. This study, therefore, provides an experimental basis for establishing a new method for conducting trap-based monitoring of airborne insects during remote-controlled flight through operation of a DD-screen attached to a drone.

Learning-Based Autonomous UAV System for Electrical and Mechanical (E&M) Device Inspection.

The inspection of electrical and mechanical (E&M) devices using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has become an increasingly popular choice in the last decade due to their flexibility and mobility. UAVs have the potential to reduce human involvement in visual inspection tasks, which could increase efficiency and reduce risks. This paper presents a UAV system for autonomously performing E&M device inspection. The proposed system relies on learning-based detection for perception, multi-sensor fusion for localization, and path planning for fully autonomous inspection. The perception method utilizes semantic and spatial information generated by a 2-D object detector. The information is then fused with depth measurements for object state estimation. No prior knowledge about the location and category of the target device is needed. The system design is validated by flight experiments using a quadrotor platform. The result shows that the proposed UAV system enables the inspection mission autonomously and ensures a stable and collision-free flight.