Abstract of Talk
Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation of a Flapping Wing MAV
-Christopher Mcmurrough
Abstract: Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) have a wide range of potential applications including defense, surveillance, and search and rescue. Current MAVs are generally designed as miniature rotocraft or fixed wing airplanes. Bio-inspired flapping wing MAVs are desirable for reasons of efficiency and robustness to aerodynamic disturbances. The trend of miniaturization in electro-mechanical systems has made development of insect-scale flapping wing MAVs a reality.
In this presentation, the feasibility of a 5 DOF simulation-tested controller developed at the US Air Force Research Lab for flapping wing aircraft is discussed. A practical actuator capable of meeting the high performance requirements of the controller is presented with mechanical, electrical, and algorithmic considerations. Initial results of the actuation system are presented, as well as a future hardware-in-the-loop simulation for controller verification.
Biography: Christopher McMurrough is a M.S.C.S.E. student at The University of Texas at Arlington, supervised by Dr. Frank Lewis and Dr. Sajal Das. He has been a researcher at The Automation and Robotics Research Institute (ARRI) since 2006, and a summer researcher at the US Air Force Research Lab in Dayton Ohio since 2008. His interests include micro air vehicles, mobile robots, cooperative robotics, and embedded systems.