Smart variable pitch propeller system for unmanned aerial vehicles

  • Authors

    • Anthony Manchin Griffith University / School of Engineering
    • Waail Mahmod Lafta Griffith University / School of Engineering
    • Dzung Viet Dao Griffith University / School of Engineering
    2019-03-22
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.21199
  • Arduino Speed Controller, Control System, UAV Power Consumption, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Variable Pitch Propeller System.
  • This paper aims to develop a closed-loop control system for maximum efficiency of variable pitch propeller systems, which utilize mechanical mechanism to change the pitch of the rotor blades in a full size plane, while this system cannot use in a small size plane, specifically, for battery powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s), the system seeks to maintain the optimal angle of attack of the propeller so as to maintain the maximum efficiency of the propeller throughout all stages of flight. The variable pitch propeller is controlled by a micro-controller and is governed by the relative airspeed of the propeller. When applied to UAV it results in an over-actuated control system. This article proposes an experimental model for a variable pitch propeller, in which thrust and power consumption are optimized. The proposed novel approach is analyzed and discussed, while the efficiency of the variable pitch propellers is being evaluated by extended simulation and experimental results.

     


     


  • References

    1. [1] Sforza, Pasquale M. (2012). “Theory of Aerospace Propulsionâ€.

      [2] Hossein T. Al-Saide, Waail M. Lafta (2015) “Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and their applicationsâ€. Published by Kotobooks / Lebanon. ISBN: 9953-85-988-4.

      [3] Mustafa Cavcar “Propeller†Anadolu University, School of Civil Aviation Eskisehir, Turkey.

      [4] Nicolai, Leland M. Carichner, Grant E. (2010). “Fundamentals of Aircraft and Airship Design, Volume I - Aircraft Design.†American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

      [5] Dixon, Hall. (2010). “Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery†(6th Edition).

      [6] Johnson, Wayne. (1980). “Helicopter Theory†Dover Publications.

      [7] Gudmundsson, Snorri. (2014). “General Aviation Aircraft Design – Applied Methods and Proceduresâ€.

      [8] Stearns B. Heinzen, Charles E. Hall, Jr. Ashok Gopalarathnam “Passively Varying Pitch Propeller for Small UAS†48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition 4 - 7 January 2010, Orlando, Florida. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2010-62.

      [9] Stearns B. Heinzen, Charles E. Hall, Jr., Ashok Gopalarathnam “Development and Testing of a Passive Variable-Pitch Propeller†Journal of Aircraft Vol. 52, No. 3, May–June 2015. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.C032595.

      [10] Buddy Michini, Josh Redding, N. Kemal Ure, Mark Cutler, Jonathan P. How, “Design and Flight Testing of an Autonomous Variable-Pitch Quadrotor†Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2011 IEEE International Conference on 9-13 May 2011.

      [11] Mark Cutler, N. Kemal Ure, Bernard Michini, Jonathan P. How, “Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors†AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference 08-11 August 2011, Portland, Oregon.

      [12] McCormick, B.W., Aerodynamics Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics, Wiley, New York, 1979.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Manchin, A., Mahmod Lafta, W., & Viet Dao, D. (2019). Smart variable pitch propeller system for unmanned aerial vehicles. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(4), 5238-5241. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.21199