Design of a VTOL Micro Air Vehicle that Incorporates Counter-rotating, Reversible Thrust Propellers

摘要

The miniaturization of electronic guidance and navigation systems has opened a new frontier in aviation. The opportunity now exists to develop miniature aerial vehicles capable of autonomous flight. Such vehicles could perform reconnaissance missions in environments that are unsafe to humans. Their small size minimizes their chance of being detected in hostile areas and allows them mobility not afforded by typical full size vehicles and humans. The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory has developed a 12” VTOL Micro Aerial Vehicle design capable of high-speed forward flight. The innovative design incorporates a pair of counter-rotating, variable pitch propellers enclosed in a protective duct structure. Independent control of propeller pitch provides thrust and yaw control for the vehicle while in a hover mode. Translation control is provided by four independently actuated control surfaces that are placed in the area of high-speed flow aft of the propeller disks. In its forward flight mode, the duct acts as the primary lifting surface and the control surfaces act as movable canard wings. Power is provided by a commercial-off-the-shelf 0.25 cubic inch displacement 2-stroke glow-fuel engine. A volume of 9 cubic inches has been reserved in the main fuselage to house the Draper Micro Electromechanical integrated navigation package. A payload sensor bay with a volume of 3 cubic inches has also been incorporated into the design.