Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.
Issue link: https://insideunmanned.epubxp.com/i/643419
ENGINEERING. PRACTICE. POLICY. 39 unmanned systems inside January/February 2016 Researchers want to determine how to de- sign these deployable structures on a UAS wing to maintain the aircraft's lift produc- tion capability. This project is currently in the modeling pha se, and Wissa ex pects they'll soon be ready to build prototypes and begin testing. They're also looking at primary feathers, which are responsible for flight and located near the wing tip, Wissa said. Birds that need to fly at high altitudes, like an eagle, have gaps between those tips. Wissa and her team want to know if incorporating a segmented wing tip into a UAS design would help make the aircraft more agile, and if so, what the optimal gap size would be to reduce drag and improve efficiencies. Looking Ahead As drone researchers learn more about avian capabilities, Wissa expects to see more small unmanned aircraf t builders mov ing to a f lapping wing design. Eventually, there will be drones with at least some bird-inspired features, making them safer to operate as well as more efficient. Unlike quadcopters, avian-based designs with wings don't have to spin rotors and blades to f ly, which not only uses a lot of energy, it can also be dangerous. Bird-inspired drones typically feature wings made out of kite fabric, which would do much less harm if they ever come into contact with humans. "We want small UAS to be able to f ly at slow speeds, be very maneuverable as well as mis- sion adaptable. Those are three things that make UAS attractive," Wissa explained. "Birds do this all day every day. It's defi- nitely worth doing the research to understand the f light behavior of birds and to use them as inspiration for our engineering design." was also diffcult to engineer because unlike a fxed-wing aircraft, iMorph's structure needed the ability to move. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE This is an exciting technology for the industry, but it's still relatively new and there's a lot that needs to be worked out before bird-inspired drones regularly take fight, Snook said. As the technology advances and UAS become more common, he sees operators using winged systems for more diffcult applications that require operating in different modes or in variable conditions. While Snook can't comment on specifc uses or Blue Bear's future plans for the iMorph, he is proud to be part of the team that developed it. The iMorph from Blue Bear is a small bird-inspired UAS. "I don't think there's anything else out there like the iMorph in terms of scale and the speed at which it operates," said Snook, who has a masters in design. "At Blue Bear, we were able to actually get something like the iMorph in the air and test and understand it. You can have the idea but you also need the right culture and mentality to take that risk and put something into fight in that short of a timeframe." Photo courtesy of Blue Bear