The development and induction in-service of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) systems in a variety of civil, paramilitary and military roles have proven valuable on high-risk missions. These UAVs based on fixed wing configuration concept have demonstrated their operational effectiveness in recent operations. New UAVs based on rotary wing configuration concept have received major attention worldwide, with major resources committed for its research and development. In this thesis, the design process of a rotary-wing aircraft was re-visualised from an unmanned perspective to address the requirements of rotary-wing UAVs - Vertical Take-off UAVs (VTUAV). It investigates the conventional helicopter design methodology for application in UAV design. It further develops a modified design process for VTUAV addressing the requirements of unmanned missions by providing remote command-and-control capabilities. The modified design methodology is automated to address the complex design evaluations and optimisation process. An illustration of the automated design process developed for VTUAVs is provided through a series of inputs of the requirements and specifications, resulting in an output of a proposed VTUAV design configuration for

During aeroelastic simulation, forces and displacements must be interpolated between the non-matching fluid and structural meshes, while the volume fluid mesh must deform as the surface moves. Fluidstructure interpolation is necessary because numerical models for fluids and structures use different solvers, and at the interface these meshes do not match. The problem of mesh motion arises from the fact that the discretised fluid volume must conform to the motion of the surface, which means motion of the surface must be diffused into the volume.

Nowadays the aviation industry is playing an important role in our daily life, since is the main medium that satisfies the present human needs to reach long distances in the fastest way. But such benefit doesn’t come free of collateral consequences. It is estimated that each year, only the air transport industry produces 628 mega tonnes of CO2. Therefore, urgently actions need to be implemented considering that the current commercial fleet will be doubled by 2050. The research field for more efficient aircraft systems is a very constructive field; where novel ideas can be exploited towards the mitigation of the coming air transport development. In this research the configuration of the Environmental Control System (ECS) has been analysed aiming to reduce its energy consumption for both, fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. This goal is expected to be achieved mainly through the replacement of the main source of power that supplies the ECS, from pneumatic to electric. Differently from the conventional ECS, a new electric-source technology is integrated in the system configuration to compare its effects on the energy consumption. This new technology doesn’t bleed air directly from the engines; instead of that, it takes the air directly from the atmosphere through the implementation of an electric compressor. This new technology has been implemented by Boeing in one of its most recent airplanes, the B787. Towards achieving the main goal, a framework integrated with five steps has been designed. An algorithmic analysis is integrated on the framework. The first step meets the required aircraft characteristics for the analysis. The second step is in charge of meeting the mission profile characteristics where the overall analysis will be carried out. The third step assesses the conventional ECS penalties. The fourth step carries out a complex analysis for the proposed electric ECS model, from its design up to its penalties assessment. The fifth step compares the analysis results for both, the conventional and the electric models. The fourth step of the framework, which analyses the electric ECS, is considered the most critic one; therefore is divided in three main tasks. Firstly, a small parametric study is done to select an optimum configuration. This task is carried out towards meeting the ECS air conditioning requirements of a selected aircraft. Secondly, the cabin temperature and pressurization are simulated to analyse the response of the configured electric ECS for a mission profile. And finally, the fuel penalties are assessed in terms of system weight, drag and fuel due power-off take. To achieve the framework results, a model which receives the name ELENA has been created using the tool Simulink®. This model contains 5 interconnected modules; each one reads a series of inputs to perform calculations and exchange information with other modules.

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Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This project concerns motion planning for a rotary wing UAV, where vehicle controllers are already in place, and map data is readily available to a collision detection module. In broad terms, the goal of the motion planning algorithm is to provide a safe (i.e. obstacle free) flight path between an initial- and goal waypoint. This project looks at two specific motion planning algorithms, the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree (or RRT*), and the Probabilistic Roadmap Method (or PRM). The primary focus of this project is learning how these algorithms behave in specific environments and an in depth analysis is done on their differences. A secondary focus is the execution of planned paths via a Simulink simulation and lastly, this project also looks at the effect of path replanning. The work done in this project enables a rotary wing UAV to autonomously navigate an uncertain, dynamic and cluttered environment. The work also provides insight into the choice of an algorithm for a given environment: knowing which algorithm performs better can save valuable processing time and will make the entire system more responsive. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ’n Tipiese vliegstuuroutomaat is daartoe in staat om ’n onbemande lugvaartvoertuig (UAV) so te stuur dat ’n stel gedefinieerde punte gevolg word. Die punte moet egter vooraf beplan word, en indien enige verandering nodig is (bv. as gevolg van veranderinge in die omgewing) is dit nodig dat ’n menslike operateur betrokke moet raak. Vir voertuie om ten volle outonoom te kan navigeer, moet die voertuig in staat wees om te kan reageer op veranderende situasies. Vir hierdie doel word kinodinamiese beplanningsalgoritmes en konflikdeteksiemetodes gebruik. Hierdie projek behels kinodinamiese beplanningsalgoritmes vir ’n onbemande helikopter, waar die beheerders vir die voertuig reeds in plek is, en omgewingsdata beskikbaar is vir ’n konflikdeteksie-module. In breë terme is die doel van die kinodinamiese beplanningsalgoritme om ’n veilige (d.w.s ’n konflikvrye) vlugpad tussen ’n begin- en eindpunt te vind. Hierdie projek kyk na twee spesifieke kinodinamiese beplanningsalgoritmes, die “Rapidly exploring Random Tree*” (of RRT*), en die “Probabilistic Roadmap Method” (of PRM). Die primêre fokus van hierdie projek is om die gedrag van hierdie algoritmes in spesifieke omgewings te analiseer en ’n volledige analise te doen op hul verskille. ’n Sekondêre fokus is die uitvoering van ’n beplande vlugpad d.m.v ’n Simulink-simulasie, en laastens kyk hierdie projek ook na die effek van padherbeplanning. Die werk wat gedoen is in hierdie projek stel ’n onbemande helikopter in staat om outonoom te navigeer in ’n onsekere, dinamiese en besige omgewing. Die werk bied ook insig in die keuse van ’n algoritme vir ’n gegewe omgewing: om te weet watter algoritme beter uitvoertye het kan waardevolle verwerkingstyd bespaar, en verseker dat die hele stelsel vinniger kan reageer.

abstract: An airborne, tethered, multi-rotor wind turbine, effectively a rotorcraft kite, provides one platform for accessing the energy in high altitude winds. The craft is maintained at altitude by its rotors operating in autorotation, and its equilibrium attitude and dynamic performance are affected by the aerodynamic rotor forces, which in turn are affected by the orientation and motion of the craft. The aerodynamic performance of such rotors can vary significantly depending on orientation, influencing the efficiency of the system. This thesis analyzes the aerodynamic performance of an autorotating rotor through a range of angles of attack covering those experienced by a typical autogyro through that of a horizontal-axis wind turbine. To study the behavior of such rotors, an analytical model using the blade element theory coupled with momentum theory was developed. The model uses a rigid-rotor assumption and is nominally limited to cases of small induced inflow angle and constant induced velocity. The model allows for linear twist. In order to validate the model, several rotors -- off-the-shelf model-aircraft propellers -- were tested in a low speed wind tunnel. Custom built mounts allowed rotor angles of attack from 0 to 90 degrees in the test section, providing data for lift, drag, thrust, horizontal force, and angular velocity. Experimental results showed increasing thrust and angular velocity with rising pitch angles, whereas the in-plane horizontal force peaked and dropped after a certain value. The analytical results revealed a disagreement with the experimental trends, especially at high pitch angles. The discrepancy was attributed to the rotor operating in turbulent wake and vortex ring states at high pitch angles, where momentum theory has proven to be invalid. Also, aerodynamic design constants, which are not precisely known for the test propellers, have an underlying effect on the analytical model. The developments of the thesis suggest that a different analytical model may be needed for high rotor angles of attack. However, adding a term for resisting torque to the model gives analytical results that are similar to the experimental values. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2019

This research work provides the development of an Adaptive Flight Control System (AFCS) for autonomous hover of a Rotary-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (RUAV). Due to the complex, nonlinear and time-varying dynamics of the RUAV, indirect adaptive control using the Model Predictive Control (MPC) is utilised. The performance of the MPC mainly depends on the model of the RUAV used for predicting the future behaviour. Due to the complexities associated with the RUAV dynamics, a neural network based black box identification technique is used for modelling the behaviour of the RUAV. Auto-regressive neural network architecture is developed for offline and online modelling purposes. A hybrid modelling technique that exploits the advantages of both the offline and the online models is proposed. In the hybrid modelling technique, the predictions from the offline trained model are corrected by using the error predictions from the online model at every sample time. To reduce the computational time for training the neural networks, a principal component analysis based algorithm that reduces the dimension of the input training data is also proposed. This approach is shown to reduce the computational time significantly. These identification techniques are validated in numerical simulations before flight testing in the Eagle and RMAX helicopter platforms. Using the successfully validated models of the RUAVs, Neural Network based Model Predictive Controller (NN-MPC) is developed taking into account the non-linearity of the RUAVs and constraints into consideration. The parameters of the MPC are chosen to satisfy the performance requirements imposed on the flight controller. The optimisation problem is solved numerically using nonlinear optimisation techniques. The performance of the controller is extensively validated using numerical simulation models before flight testing. The effects of actuator and sensor delays and noises along with the wind gusts are taken into account during these numerical simulations. In addition, the robustness of the controller is validated numerically for possible parameter variations. The numerical simulation results are compared with a base-line PID controller. Finally, the NN-MPCs are flight tested for height control and autonomous hover. For these, SISO as well as multiple SISO controllers are used. The flight tests are conducted in varying weather conditions to validate the utility of the control technique. The NN-MPC in conjunction with the proposed hybrid modelling technique is shown to handle additional disturbances successfully. Extensive flight test results provide justification for the use of the NN-MPC technique as a reliable technique for control of non-linear complex dynamic systems such as RUAVs.

The aim of this study is to extend a parallel Fortran90 code to compute three&ndash / dimensional laminar and turbulent flowfields over rotary wing configurations. The code employs finite volume discretization and the compact, four step Runge-Kutta type time integration technique to solve unsteady, thin&ndash / layer Navier&ndash / Stokes equations. Zero&ndash / order Baldwin&ndash / Lomax turbulence model is utilized to model the turbulence for the computation of turbulent flowfields. A fine, viscous, H type structured grid is employed in the computations. To reduce the computational time and memory requirements parallel processing with distributed memory is used. The data communication among the processors is executed by using the MPI ( Message Passing Interface ) communication libraries. Laminar and turbulent solutions around a two bladed UH &ndash / 1 helicopter rotor and turbulent solution around a flat plate is obtained. For the rotary wing configurations, nonlifting and lifting rotor cases are handled seperately for subsonic and transonic blade tip speeds. The results are, generally, in good agreement with the experimental data.

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No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Rubens Antônio Alves - 2015.pdf: 7966348 bytes, checksum: 5a95a9ee436c444d586451331b40e5a0 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-30 / Outro / This Project, in the electrical engineering area, consists in the development of a complete control system, hardware and software, for controlling model airplanes of the fixedwing and rotary-wing types, aiming the implementation of an automatic control system compatible with the necessity of autonomous and aided flights, applied to critical systems monitoring.The final system consists of a controller, or automatic pilot, with specific hardware and software, capable of controlling a model airplane using GPS coordinates, in a way that allows the airplane to go through a planned route and go back to the starting point in an autonomous way. The controller should receive, in ground, the programmed route; the model should answer to the pilot commands, within a visual range when operating in the aided mode, and should go through the programmed route in the autonomous mode, after confirmation of the pilot. After reaching the end of the programmed route, the model airplane should return to the starting point, keeping the maximum flight level of the route as the reference height. The model airplane will carry in a communication system to allow the monitoring process from a ground station, able to keep updated the airworthy conditions, as well as the level of accuracy between the actual and the planned route. The communication may be carried out directly using a radio link, with the receiver allocated in a mobile ground station, monitored by a pilot, to make higher the security level. However, the model airplane may transfer the data through a GPRS link, connected to the web system, which transfers the data to the ground station. In this case, the ground station must be connected to the web.The route saved in the model control system is built based on online maps directly linked by the software for the mission programming and monitoring, which can carry out the treatment and storage of the model data and parameters. The programming of the stability control and route, with primary data of latitude, longitude and height allows the real time monitoring of the model, related to the planned route and throught images captured by embedded video cameras. All data are storage following a timeline process, such that they can be recovered for futher analysis. / Esta disertação da área de engenharia elétrica consiste na construção de um sistema de controle completo de hardware e software para controle de um aeromodelo de asa fixa e/ou asa móvel, de maneira a implementar um piloto automático compatível com as necessidades de voo autônomo ou assistido, sendo que tal sistema deverá ser compatível com a precisão de voo aplicada a monitoramento de sistemas críticos.O sistema é constituído por uma placa controladora composta por hardware e firmware específicos, capaz de controlar um modelo orientado por coordenadas GPS, para que o mesmo percorra uma rota predeterminada e retorne ao ponto de partida de forma autônoma. A placa recebe, ainda em solo, a programação da rota a ser percorrida; o aeromodelo deve responder normalmente aos comandos do controle remoto do piloto em solo, respeitando o raio de alcance visual do piloto no modo assistido e segue a rota programada no modo autônomo após confirmação de comando do piloto. No final do percurso o aermodelo volta em trajetória reta para o ponto de partida, respeitando a maior altura do trajeto. O aeromodelo deve ser munido de sistema de comunicação para o devido acompanhamento em solo das condições de aeronavegabilidade do aeromodelo em voo, bem como a verificação dos níveis de precisão em relação à rota programada. A comunicação pode ser feita diretamente por sistema de link de rádio, direcionada a um terminal móvel em solo, que é acompanhado pelo piloto, para aumentar o nível de segurança, mas o aeromodelo também pode comunicar por rede de celular GPRS, conectado à internet, que direciona os dados ao terminal em solo. Nesse caso, o terminal, também deverá estar conectado à internet. A rota programada no aeromodelo é construída com base em mapas online conectados diretamente ao software de programação e acompanhamento de missão, que faz o tratamento e armazenamento dos dados e parâmetros do aermodelo. Tanto a programação de controle de estabilidade, quanto de rota, com dados primários relativos a latitude, longitude e altura, permitem o acompanhamento em tempo real do aeromodelo junto à rota programada e também através da imagem da câmera de gravação embarcada no aeromodelo. Todos os dados são gravados com base em processo de linha do tempo, que podem ser recuperados em conjunto para análise posterior.

This thesis contributes to the state of the art in integrated design of insect-scale piezoelectric actuated flapping wing vehicles through the development of novel theoretical models for flapping wing aerodynamics and piezoelectric actuator dynamics, and integration of these models into a closed form design process. A comprehensive literature review of available engineered designs of miniature rotary and flapping wing vehicles is provided. A novel taxonomy based on wing and actuator kinematics is proposed as an effective means of classifying the large variation of vehicle configurations currently under development. The most successful insect-scale vehicles developed to date have used piezoelectric actuation, system resonance for motion amplification, and passive wing pitching. A novel analytical treatment is proposed to quantify induced power losses in normal hover that accounts for the effects of non uniform downwash, wake periodicity and effective flapping disc area. Two different quasi-steady aerodynamic modelling approaches are undertaken, one based on blade element analysis and one based on lifting line theory. Both approaches are explicitly linked to the underlying flow physics and, unlike a number of competing approaches, do not require empirical data. Models have been successfully validated against experimental and numerical data from the literature. These models have allowed improved insight into the role of the wing leading-edge vortex in lift augmentation and quantification of the comparative contributions of induced and profile drag for insect-like wings in hover. Theoretical aerodynamic analysis has been used to identify a theoretical solution for the optimum planform for a flapping wing in terms of chord and twist as a function of span. It is shown that an untwisted elliptical planform minimises profile power, whereas a more highly tapered design such as that found on a hummingbird minimises induced power. Aero-optimum wing kinematics for hovering are also assessed. It is shown that for efficient flight the flapping velocity should be constant whereas for maximum effectiveness the flapping velocity should be sinusoidal. For both cases, the wing pitching at stroke reversal should be as rapid as possible. A dynamic electromechanical model of piezoelectric bending actuators has been developed and validated against data obtained from experiments undertaken as part of this thesis. An expression for the electromechanical coupling factor (EMCF) is extracted from the analytical model and is used to understand the influence of actuator design variables on actuator performance. It is found that the variation in EMCF with design variables is similar for both static and dynamic operation, however for light damping the dynamic EMCF will typically be an order of magnitude greater than for static operation. Theoretical contributions to aerodynamic and electromechanical modelling are integrated into a low order design method for propulsion system sizing. The method is unique in that aside from mass fraction estimation, the underlying models are fully physics based. The transparency of the design method provides the designer with clear insight into effects of changing core design variables such as the maximum flapping amplitude, wing mass, transmission ratio, piezoelectric characteristics on the overall design solution. Whilst the wing mass is only around 10% of the actuator mass, the effective wing mass is 16 times the effective actuator mass for a typical transmission ratio of 10 and hence the wing mass dominates the inertial contribution to the system dynamics. For optimum aerodynamic effectiveness and efficiency it is important to achieve high flapping amplitudes, however this is typically limited by the maximum allowable field strength of the piezoelectric material used in the actuator.