Design and characterization of Hover Nano Aerial Vehicle (HNAV) propulsion system

[摘要] (cont.) Firstly, the design model required to design the main components of the propulsion system (the motor model, the propeller model, and the design optimization program) is developed. The fabrication process of the propulsion system is then established, and an operational propulsion system prototype is fabricated using the established design tools and fabrication procedure. Finally, series of experiments are conducted in order to characterize the performance of the propulsion system and to validate the model used in the design of the propulsion system. Based on the results obtained from the experiment, it is found that the motor model used in the design of the motor for the propulsion system is accurate, with an error of 5% in the prediction of output shaft power of the motor. Among various configuration tested for the propulsion system, a combination of 5-bladed propeller and 3-bladed propeller, designed around the motor operating speed of 9,000 rpm is found to be most optimal for this propulsion system, featuring the following performance:for maximum achievable thrust of 17.28 g, well beyond hover thrust required for the vehicle;for capable of providing hover thrust at a power consumption of 1.26W, which translates to an hovering endurance of approximately 20 minutes using a lithyum polymer battery chosen for the vehicle;for torque cancelling mechanism capable of cancelling up to 99% of torque generated in the motor; and for noise footprint lower than 45 dBA, a typical indoor background noise during the day, 1 m away from the propulsion system. Based on these results, it is concluded that the propulsion system developed here is capable of meeting all the requirement imposed by DARPA. Since this research does not focus on the control aspect of the vehicle, further research should be conducted in the field of control and navigation in order to achieve a fully autonomous NAV.

[发布机构] Massachusetts Institute of Technology