STTR Phase I: Passive Actuation for Enhanced Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Capability

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project provides increased efficiency and range for urban air mobility (UAM) air-taxi systems. This research allows aircraft to reconfigure in-flight, enabling the craft to land in cityscapes while still being able to fly significant distances. As UAM aircraft primarily use electric power, this technology will facilitate the transition to greener modes of transport in cities, while alleviating surface level congestion due to traffic. The primary focus of this project is on improving the safety of in-flight reconfiguration to promote the well-being of passengers and payload. The UAM sector is set to rapidly expand in the coming years, providing services and creating jobs. By laying the groundwork for improved performance while maintaining high safety standards, the sector, passengers, and public will benefit. Aerodynamically-actuated wings on urban air mobility vehicles come with the risk of asymmetric deployment. This project aims to mitigate risks by producing a closed-loop aileron control method that promotes symmetric deployment while simultaneously ensuring that even an asymmetric deployment does not induce aircraft instability. Wind tunnel data will be generated for a number of static and dynamic fold conditions. Methods for governing when and how fast reconfiguration takes place will be tested to bridge the control gap between motorized and aerodynamic actuation. Implementation of these methods will allow for operations resembling motorized actuation, without the associated weight penalties and disadvantages. Wind tunnel data will be used to produce the closed-loop aileron control method which will then be tested in the wind tunnel to verify that the level of expected roll torque variance is observed throughout asymmetric reconfiguration. Success will show a marked decrease in roll torque variance compared to reconfiguration where no closed-loop corrective action is taken. Together these methods and risk mitigation techniques will overcome the need for a mechanical actuation device, reducing the complexity and barriers to entry of reconfigurable designs. Introducing such benefits to size constrained aircraft will translate to a better performing urban air mobility sector. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.