【微飞行器专栏】From Insects to MAV

风流知音【微飞行器专栏】From Insects to MAV   CFDJC(2018)1009

From Insects to MAV

—— the Next Grand Challenge in Aerodynamic  Designs

Abstract

The mission of the Center of Micro Air Vehicle Studies is the advancement of technologies and methodologies for development of bio-inspired MAV.  The MAV potentially has a variety of civilian as well as military uses too difficult or dangerous for humans, from searching buildings or caves for terrorists to probing damaged nuclear power plants for radiation leaks or collapsed mine shafts for survivors. However, there are at least 8 inter-connected scientific disciplines within the MAV design trade space: airframe & structures, aerodynamics, navigation, feedback & control, materials, sensors & actuators, propulsion & power, and communications.  Our understanding of the fundamental flight aerodynamics for MAV is limited. Traditional fixed wing flight concepts begin to fail as the flow dynamics enter a regime of bird-sized flights. The small scale of such vehicles poses a need for a dramatic change in the air vehicle design paradigm, one as great as that faced by the Wright Brothers in which they identified that control was the missing link in a workable aircraft. This new paradigm is simultaneous multi-disciplinary design of integrated multi-functional components and systems.