PIEZOELECTRIC AUTONOMOUS MORPHING UAS
Abstract
The goal of the proposed research is to finalize our demonstration of autonomous morphing using smart materials. This goal is actually the coupling of two distinct advancements, neither of which has been accomplished to date. The two advancements include; 1) the hardware implementation of an autopilot on a vehicle controlled solely by smart materials, and 2) the development and flight demonstration of autonomous morphing of a small unmanned aircraft. In our case, the second task is dependent on the first and according to the literature neither have been accomplished to date. These tasks are dependent on our current robust morphing vehicle that utilizes biomimicry and was developed over a three year period. Research hurdles that must be overcome include; actuator hysteresis, limited actuator deflection dependent on airspeed, multiple morphed configurations, robust vehicle design, and hardware limitations. After significant progress towards the goal, we are in a unique position to accomplish this task. We employed a combination of fluid/structure interaction models, composite material/macro fiber composite actuator construction, state-of-the-art experimental methods such as full-field digital image correlation based deformation measurements in the wind tunnel, and flight testing in an evolutionary design cycle of a small unnamed aircraft that looks like a bird of prey while in flight. The solid foundation of our proposed work is the aircraft itself and the experience of our research group in implementing autopilots to a variety of flying platforms.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA95502010253
Entities
People
- Peter Ifju
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Florida