Advantages of an Ornithopter against an Airplane with a Propeller

Abstract:

The goal of our research is to develop a micro air vehicle (MAV) that is strongly stable in a wind gust. After observation of flights of an insect and a bird, we conjectured that an ornithopter would be a promising candidate as a high-performance MAV. In this paper we demonstrate the clear advantage of an ornithopter over an airplane with propellers. The variations in the aerodynamic forces acting on the two aircrafts, which generate the same thrust under the condition of no wind gust, were compared when they encountered gusts of wind. The consumed power, or alternately the period of one cycle of flapping motion and that of one rotation of propeller(s), remained constant before and after they encountered a wind gust. The following results were obtained: The variations of the aerodynamic force of an ornithopter by vertical and frontal wind gusts were slightly smaller than those of an airplane with one or two propellers. The variation in the aerodynamic force of the former by a side wind gust was smaller than that of the latter when the tip speed of the propeller and the flapping amplitude of the ornithopter were small.

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 84)
• Pages: 66-71
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.84.66
• Online since: September 2012
• Authors: Shigeru Sunada
• Keywords: Airplane, Flapping Wing, Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), Ornithopter, Propeller

References

[1] Information on http: /www. microdrones. com.

[2] Information on http: /www. asctec. de.

[3] Information on http: /www. rctoys. com.

[4] K. Tsuji and S. Sunada, Aerodynamic characteristics of Space wing,. Proceedings of Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology (2010), 86-89.

[5] K. Tsuji, Y. Fukami, S. Aki and S. Sunada, A micro air vehicle with a Space wing,. Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems 2011, (2011) CD-ROM 5 pages.

[6] S. Sunada, K. Tsuji, Y. Fukami and S. Aki, A Micro Air Vehicle with a Split Wing,. Transactions of Japan Society of Aeronautical and Space Sciences. In press.

DOI: 10.2322/tjsass.55.379

[7] G. K. Taylor and A. L. R. Thomas, Dynamic　flight　stability　in　the　desert　locust　Schistocerca　gregaria. Journal of Experimental Biology, 206 (2003), 2803-2829.

DOI: 10.1242/jeb.00501

[8] M. Sun and Y. Xiong, Dynamic flight stability of a hovering bumblebee. Journal of　Experimental Biology, 208 (2005), 447-459.

DOI: 10.1242/jeb.01407

[9] M. Sun and J. K. Wang, Flight stabilization control of a hovering model insect. Journal of Experimental Biology, 210 (2007), 2714-2722.

DOI: 10.1242/jeb.004507

[10] I. Faruque and J. S. Humbert, Dipteran insect flight dynamics. Part 1: Longitudinal motion about hover. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 264 (2010), 538-552.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.02.018

[11] I. Faruque and J. S. Humbert, Dipteran insect flight dynamics. Part 2: Lateral-directional motion about hover. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 265 (2010), 306-313.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.05.003

[12] C. T. Orlowski and A. R. Girard, Dynamics, stability, and control analyses of flapping wing micro-air vehicles. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 51(2012), 18-30.

DOI: 10.1016/j.paerosci.2012.01.001

[13] N. Gao, H. Aono and H. Liu, Perturbation analysis of 6DoF flight dynamics and passive dynamic stability of hovering fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 270 (2011), 98-111.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.11.022

[14] D. O. Sigthorsson, M. W. Oppenheimer and D. B. Doman, Insect sized flapping wing vehicles versus rotorcrafts, a comparative study. AIAA 2012-0028 (2012).

DOI: 10.2514/6.2012-28

[15] S. Sunada and K. Tsuji, Advantages of a flapping wing over a propeller. AIAA 2012- 0416 (2012).

DOI: 10.2514/6.2012-416

[16] A. Azuma, The biokinetics of flying and swimming. AIAA, Reston, Virginia, (2006).