Novel Experimental and Numerical Methods for the Aeromechanical Design of Flapping Wing Hovering MAVs

Recent developments have made clear the strong potential of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) for a wide range of surveillance and reconnaissance missions, particularly if the challenging but critical hovering capability can be achieved. Implementation of practical hovering MAVs, however, requires breakthroughs in understanding of the complex MAV flow environment as well as development of practical design and analysis tools for this regime. This effort will explore and quantitatively define unsteady, low Reynolds number mechanisms appropriate for sustaining flapping wing flight in gusty environments, including the capability to hover, by bringing to bear a combined experimental and computational study. The initial goal will be to define the relationship between wing kinematics, flow phenomena, and unsteady aerodynamic loads, along with incorporation of realistic structural and dynamical properties. Strong emphasis will be placed on developing aeromechanical control strategies and modeling tools for the design of practical MAVs capable sustained flight in gusty environments. This effort will build upon mutually supporting capabilities of the team members, including: CFD tools for complex vortex-dominated flows; expertise in advanced experimental methods; state-of-the-art flight control methods for detection and mitigation of upsets and a strong foundation of experience in support of design software for vertical flight vehicles.