Land-bound robots? Been there, done that. Researchers on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are taking things up a notch with a bird-style bot able to autonomous flight. By replicating the features that enable birds to make a soft landing -- including the flapping wings that help them change direction -- the researchers developed the 1st micro aerial vehicle (MAV) able to swooping all the way down to perch on a human hand. The craft forgoes a vertical tail, which birds also lack, to permit for enough agility to land on a small surface. Articulated wings help the robo-bird complete the maneuver successfully, by first gliding into position after which pitching up and slowing down. Who knew perching was so complicated? Besides just providing a really perfect-nifty party trick for these lucky researchers, the autonomous aircraft may be utilized in urban surveillance, where a small size would turn out to be useful. Look into the MAV in action, together with the click release, after the break.
URBANA, Ill. (May 1, 2012) – By the virtue in their size and speed, birds are uniquely able to efficient flight while flapping their wings and while gliding. Researchers on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have duplicated the control functions that permit birds to successfully perform a soft landing-subsequently, perching on a human hand.
"We believe we've got the 1st demonstration of autonomous/robotic flight of a bird-like micro aerial vehicle (MAV) perching on a human hand," stated Soon-Jo Chung, an assistant professor inside the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Illinois.
Since the wings of ornithopters-birds or aircraft with flapping wings-are inherently able to being reoriented, this capability can be utilized for controlling and maneuvering the aircraft in a gliding phase, thereby eliminating the necessity for extra traditional actuators. Gliding is a good technique to conserve energy while soaring, descending, and landing.
"The driving philosophy behind the work is that the maneuverability and control efficiency of avian flight may well be replicated by applying their actuation and control principles to advanced MAVs designed at the size scale of small birds," explained Aditya Paranjape, a postdoctoral scholar engaged on this project. The result's in line with his PhD thesis and a sequence of journal papers with Chung.
"We've got developed an articulated-wing-based concept for an agile robotic aircraft inspired by birds," Paranjape added. "Of all maneuvers executed by flapping wing aircraft in a gliding phase, a perched landing is arguably essentially the mostsome of the most challenging."
Perching is routinely utilized by birds to land on objects which includes tree branches, power wires, or building ledges. Consistent with the researchers, there are two factors that make perching challenging to engineer: 1) the maneuver's duration is extremely short, at the same order because the aircraft dynamics, and a couple of) a high level of position accuracy is needed for a successful perched landing.
"Our aerial robot concept lacks a vertical tail for improved agility, akin to birds, which renders it dynamically unstable and exacerbates either one of these factors," Paranjape said. "We decide a perching maneuver to illustrate the capabilities of our articulated-winged aircraft concept, novel guidance algorithms, and control design. Particularly, the power to accomplish perched landings on a human hand endows our robot having the ability to operate around humans."
a common perching maneuver contains two phases-a gliding phase to bring the bird to an appropriate position with respect to the landing spot, and a rapid pitch up (usually to a post-stall angle of attack) accompanied by a right away climb and rapid deceleration. The researchers noted that the success of the maneuver could be severely impeded by the lateral-directional motion (yaw and roll), particularly when the perched landing should be accomplished on a small surface together with an electrical pole or a human palm. Inside the absence of a vertical tail, wing articulation is a promising capability that are used for both longitudinal and lateral-directional control.
Chung, who joined the Illinois' faculty in 2009, brought with him a vision for developing aircraft that mimic the autonomy and agility of bats.
"There is a lot to be informed from bio systems," Chung said. "Bats can fly with damaged wings. They're so agile and highly maneuverable; they could make rapid 180-degree turns autonomously and that they can fly indoors without colliding with obstacles. These qualities are desirable for small aircraft that may be utilized in surveillance, particularly in urban settings where obstacles hamper movement and satellite control is blocked."
The MAV project was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
From WhatNewsToday.net
0 comments:
Post a Comment