Influence of Turbulence on MAV Roll Perturbations

There are significant challenges in the control of fixed-wing Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) in high turbulence environments. Birds can sustain stable flight in such environments by obtaining flow information through mechanoreceptors embedded in their wings. Inspired by nature's flyers, an investigation into replicating the function of mechanoreceptors with commercially available pressure sensors is presented. Implementation requires an in-depth understanding of the level of correlation that exists between pressure variations over the wing and the roll perturbation of the MAV. This paper investigates the variation in correlation and coherence along a representative wing-chord and wing-span of a MAV. Highest correlation and coherence is found to exist in the vicinity of the leading edge, with significant perturbations which are evident up to ∼35Hz for a 0.49m wingspan MAV.

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