Design and development of a novel fixed-wing biplane micro air vehicle with enhanced static stability

• Published in: CEAS aeronautical journal 2022-04, Vol.13 (2), p.433-452
• Main Authors: Jana, Shuvrangshu, Kandath, Harikumar, Shewale, Mayur, Dhingra, Gunjit, Harish, Duddela Sai, Bhat, M. Seetharama
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerodynamic configurations; Aerospace Technology and Astronautics; Aircraft configurations; Algorithms; Automatic pilots; Autonomous navigation; Biplanes; Carrying capacity; Center of gravity; Design; Engineering; Fixed wings; Image processing; Lift devices; Low aspect ratio; Low aspect ratio wings; Micro air vehicles (MAV); Navigation systems; Onboard equipment; Original Paper; Static stability; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Wing span
• ISSN: 1869-5582; 1869-5590
• DOI: 10.1007/s13272-022-00570-w

A detailed design approach undertaken in the development of “Skylark” is presented in this paper. “Skylark” is a non-conventional fixed-wing biplane Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) with a wingspan and chord length within 150 mm. It is specially designed with the ability to host onboard vision-assisted autonomous navigation systems. Fixed-wing MAV with capabilities of vision assisted autonomous navigation is not reported in the open literature. To stay within the maximum dimensional constraint, flying wing configuration with a low aspect ratio is preferred for MAV design, and therefore, the stability is inadequate due to lower static margin when compared to bigger Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In this paper, the novel design strategy addresses the major challenges such as high payload-carrying capacity, stability, and onboard processing required for vision-assisted autonomous navigation. The higher payload-carrying capacity is addressed by considering biplane aerodynamic configuration, while the longitudinal static margin is improved by placing the top lifting surface toward the trailing edge. A powerful yet compact and lightweight autopilot is designed to perform image processing algorithms onboard. Detailed design is done based on the requirement of the centre of gravity location by suitable weight distribution. The stability of the designed biplane is validated through several flight tests. The proposed novel design methodology of adding optimal top plane provides flexibility in managing static margin based on mission profile compared to monoplane MAVs.