优化导引 FromtheTestBenchestotheFirstPrototype ofthemuFlyMicroHelicopter

Abstract ThegoaloftheEuropeanprojectmuFlyistobuildafullyautonomous
microhelicopter,whichiscomparabletoasmallbirdinsizeandmass.Therigorous
sizeandmassconstraintsinfervariousproblemsrelatedtoenergyefficiency,flight
stabilityandoverallsystemdesign.Inthisresearch,aerodynamicsandflight
dynamicsareinvestigatedexperimentallytogatherinformationforthedesignofthe
helicopter’spropulsiongroupandsteeringsystem.Severaltestbenchesaredesigned
andbuiltfortheseinvestigations.Acoaxialrotortestbenchisusedtomeasurethe
thrustanddragtorqueofdifferentrotorbladedesigns.Theeffectsofcyclicpitching
oftheswashplateandthepassivestabilizerbararestudiedonatestbenchmeasuring
rotorforcesandmomentswitha6–axisforcesensor.Thegatheredknowledgeis
usedtodesignafirstprototypeofthemuFlyhelicopter.Theprototypeisdescribed
intermsofrotorconfiguration,structure,actuatorandsensorselectionaccording
totheprojectdemands,andafirstversionofthehelicopterisshown.Asasafety
measurefortheflighttestsandtoanalyzethehelicopterdynamics,a6DoFvehicle
testbenchfortetheredhelicopterflightisused.
Keywords MAV·Testbench ·Coaxial ·Aerodynamics · Stability ·Design ·
Flighttest

Thestateoftheartinaerialroboticshasmovedrapidlyfromsimplesystemsbased
onRCmodels,onlyabletodobasichoverorcruiseflightsusinginertialsensors,
toroboticvehiclesabletonavigateandperformsimplemissionsusingGPSand/or
visionsensors.Intermsoffixedwingaircraft,thisstateoftheartevolutionconcerns
UAVsaslargeas3mliketheSky–sailorsolarairplane[1],aswellasvehiclesas
smallastheProcerusMAV[2]ortheAerovironment’sBlackwidowMAV[3].
Rotarywingsystemsalsofollowthisstateoftheartevolution,withthelargest
availableMAVslikethequadrotordevelopedatCambridgeuniversity[4].However,
theresearchfocusforpalmsizehelicoptersisstillonvehicledesignandflight
stabilization.Here,examplesarethemuFRhelicopter[5],theCoaXdevelopedat
EPFLausanne[6]andtheMICORdevelopedbytheUniversityofMaryland[7].
TheseMAV’sareamongthemostadvanced,buttheircapabilitiesarestilllimited
toautomatichoveringorhumanaidednavigation.TheEuropeanprojectmuFly
waslaunchedinJuly2006.Itsprojectconsortiumconsistsofsixpartnerinstitutions
workingondifferentfieldsassensors,actuatorsandpowersupply.Thegoalofthe
projectisthedevelopmentofafullyautonomousmicrohelicopter,comparablein
sizeandmasstoasmallbird.Atthisscale,alotofchallengesarise,suchasthe
lowefficiencyoftherotorsystem[8]orthelowthrusttoweightratio.ThemuFly
projecttacklestheseproblemsbyinvestigatingthedifferentcomponentsofthe
system.Therefore,testbenchesarebuilttoacquireexperimentaldata.Together
withsimulationresults,thisdataisusedtodesigntheactualhelicopter.Buteven
beforetheseproblemscanbeattacked,thegeneralconceptforthehelicopterhasto
bechosen.