Micro Munition Adaptive Structure Flight Control Technology

Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) provide an important military and civilian capability to very rapidly deploy an aerial platform for surveillance and observation with minimal resources (i.e. single operator). As a surveillance platform they can be used for reconnaissance, target identification, assessing bomb damage, search and rescue, locating survivors, etc. The development of effective MAVs for these missions will require simple, light, power efficient actuators that can be used for control and to morph the aircraft to fit a broader flight envelope as needed by the mission. Radiance proposes to develop a piezoelectric actuator based on the proven concept of PBP actuation as has been implemented in UAV design. This actuator will provide an aero-surface morphing capability as well as control surface action to replace current servo technology. Actuators of this kind have been shown to be simple, lighter and require less power than traditional actuation systems; all aspects that improve the aircraft performance.