Stability in hovering ornithopter flight

John M. Dietl; Ephrahim Garcia

doi:10.1117/12.776482

19 March 2008 Stability in hovering ornithopter flight

John M. Dietl, Ephrahim Garcia

Proceedings Volume 6930, Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies 2008; 69300N (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.776482
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The quasi-steady aerodynamics model is coupled to a dynamic model of ornithopter flight. Previously, the combined model has been used to calculate forward flight trajectories, each a limit cycle in the vehicle's states. The limit cycle results from the periodic wing beat, producing a periodic force while on the cycle's trajectory. This was accomplished using a multiple shooting algorithm and numerical integration in MATLAB. An analysis of hover, a crucial element to vertical takeoff and landing in adverse conditions, follows. A method to calculate plausible wing flapping motions and control surface deflections for hover is developed, employing the above flight dynamics model. Once a hovering limit cycle trajectory is found, it can be linearized in discrete time and analyzed for stability (by calculating the trajectory's Floquet multipliers a type of discrete-time eigenvalue) are calculated. The dynamic mode shapes are discussed.

Citation Download Citation

John M. Dietl and Ephrahim Garcia "Stability in hovering ornithopter flight", Proc. SPIE 6930, Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies 2008, 69300N (19 March 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.776482

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