Abstract
The design of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV's) is a growing field of study, with a broad range of applications. Research into the stability characteristics is still needed. Advances in this area could result in fully autonomous operations.This project will cover the stability design phase for developing a fixed thin wing for an MAV. Preliminary results for the MAV wing design in a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation provides coefficient data and shows the development of tip vortices. From these results development in a flight simulator can be completed in this project to assess the flight dynamics of the design.
The project will give an overview of the design processes for an MAV developer to model and assess a design using flight simulation software and there capabilities for completing this task accurately. The simulation software uses the 'Coefficients' and 'Blade Element Theory' methods for modelling Flight Dynamics (FD). A significant contribution of this research includes the modelling of micro-scaled input variables and their corresponding output response for the assessment of the MAV's flight dynamics at low Reynolds number.
| Date of Award | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Mike Basini (Supervisor) & Humberto Medina (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- micro aerial vehicles
- unmanned aircraft
- flight dynamics
- fixed wing
- stability design