Design and flight test of the generic micro-aerial vehicle (GenMAV) utilizing piezoelectric conformal flight control actuation

Abstract

A novel morphing control surface design employing piezoelectric macro-fiber composite actuators is compared to a servo-actuated system. The comprehensive comparison including aerodynamics, size, weight, power, bandwidth, and reliability has been extended to include flight test comparisons. Three flight vehicles were designed, built, and evaluated: a servo-controlled generic micro-aerial vehicle aircraft and two conformal actuator controlled versions based on thick and thin wing designs. Flight agility and control response of the morphing-actuated and servo-actuated configurations were quantified through state measurement during identical automated maneuvers. The morphing actuation scheme demonstrated control bandwidth that was an order of magnitude greater than for the servo-actuated system, but showed a 12% decrease in roll rate when compared to the servo-actuated baseline aircraft. The flight vehicles allowed system-level comparisons of conventional and morphing control, where conformal actuation occupied less volume, consumed equivalent power as micro servos and provided effective control power for maneuvering.

Keywords

Piezoelectric active composites airfoil morphing macro-fiber composite unmanned aircraft micro-air vehicle flight control generic micro-aerial vehicle

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