Caetano, Joao Vieira (Portuguese Air Force Research Center), Armanini, Sophie F. (Delft University of Technology), Karasek, Matej (Delft University of Technology)

In-Flight Data Acquisition and Flight Testing for System Identification of Flapping-Wing MAVs

Scheduled for presentation during the "Micro- and Mini- UAS - I" (ThA1), Thursday, June 15, 2017, 10:20−10:40, Salon E

2017 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, June 13-16, 2017, Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, Miami, FL,

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 25, 2024

Abstract

Although flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles have become a hot topic in academia, the knowledge we have of these systems, their force generation mechanisms and dynamics is still limited. Recent technological advances have allowed for the development of free flight test setups using on-board sensors and external tracking systems, for system identification purposes. Nevertheless, there is still little knowledge about the system requirements, as well as on how to perform free flight test experiments, and process the collected data. The present article presents the guidelines for flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle free flight testing. In particular, it gathers information produced by different studies and provides the best practices for the proper system dimensioning, system setup, on-board sensors, maneuver input design, error analyses and data post-processing, for the reconstruction of the forces and moments that act during free flight of a flapping-wing robot, for system identification and modeling purposes. Furthermore, this article compares the results obtained using external optical position tracking systems with on-board and external sensor fusion, and provides suitable solutions and methods for data fusion and force reconstruction.