Journal of Bionic Engineering ›› 2021, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (6): 1291-1303.doi: 10.1007/s42235-021-00085-w

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 Development of a Bird-like Flapping-wing Aerial Vehicle with Autonomous Take-off and Landing Capabilities

Dongfu Ma 1,2, Bifeng Song 1, Zhihe Wang 1,3, Jianlin Xuan 1,2, Dong Xue 1,3    

  1. 1 School of Aeronautics , Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi’an   710072 , China 
    2 Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University , Taicang   215400 , China
    3 Research & Development Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shenzhen , Shenzhen   518057 , China
  • 收稿日期:2021-06-14 修回日期:2021-08-17 接受日期:2021-08-18 出版日期:2021-11-10 发布日期:2021-12-21
  • 通讯作者: Jianlin Xuan E-mail: xuan@nwpu.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:Dongfu Ma 1,2, Bifeng Song 1, Zhihe Wang 1,3, Jianlin Xuan 1,2, Dong Xue 1,3

 Development of a Bird-like Flapping-wing Aerial Vehicle with Autonomous Take-off and Landing Capabilities

Dongfu Ma 1,2, Bifeng Song 1, Zhihe Wang 1,3, Jianlin Xuan 1,2, Dong Xue 1,3    

  1. 1 School of Aeronautics , Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi’an   710072 , China 
    2 Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University , Taicang   215400 , China
    3 Research & Development Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shenzhen , Shenzhen   518057 , China
  • Received:2021-06-14 Revised:2021-08-17 Accepted:2021-08-18 Online:2021-11-10 Published:2021-12-21
  • Contact: Jianlin Xuan E-mail: xuan@nwpu.edu.cn
  • About author:Dongfu Ma 1,2, Bifeng Song 1, Zhihe Wang 1,3, Jianlin Xuan 1,2, Dong Xue 1,3

摘要: The lack of autonomous take-off and landing capabilities of bird-like fl apping-wing aerial vehicles (BFAVs) seriously restricts their further development and application. Thus, combined with the current research results on the autonomous take-off and landing technology of unmanned aerial vehicles, four types of technologies are studied, including jumping take-off and landing technology, taxiing take-off and landing technology, gliding take-off and landing technology, and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology. Based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)–comprehensive evaluation method, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for the autonomous take-off and landing scheme of a BFAV is established, and four schemes are evaluated concretely. The results show that under the existing technical conditions, the hybrid layout VTOL scheme is the best. Furthermore, the detailed design and development of the prototype of a BFAV with a four-rotor hybrid layout are carried out, and the vehicle performance is tested. The results prove that through the four-rotor hybrid layout design, the BFAV has good autonomous take-off and landing abilities. The power consumption analysis shows that for a fi xed-point reconnaissance mission, when the mission radius is less than 3.38 km, the VTOL type exhibits longer mission duration than the hand-launched type. 

关键词: Bird-like fl apping-wing aerial vehicle (BFAV), Autonomous take-off and landing, Take-off mechanism, Hybrid layout

Abstract: The lack of autonomous take-off and landing capabilities of bird-like fl apping-wing aerial vehicles (BFAVs) seriously restricts their further development and application. Thus, combined with the current research results on the autonomous take-off and landing technology of unmanned aerial vehicles, four types of technologies are studied, including jumping take-off and landing technology, taxiing take-off and landing technology, gliding take-off and landing technology, and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology. Based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)–comprehensive evaluation method, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for the autonomous take-off and landing scheme of a BFAV is established, and four schemes are evaluated concretely. The results show that under the existing technical conditions, the hybrid layout VTOL scheme is the best. Furthermore, the detailed design and development of the prototype of a BFAV with a four-rotor hybrid layout are carried out, and the vehicle performance is tested. The results prove that through the four-rotor hybrid layout design, the BFAV has good autonomous take-off and landing abilities. The power consumption analysis shows that for a fi xed-point reconnaissance mission, when the mission radius is less than 3.38 km, the VTOL type exhibits longer mission duration than the hand-launched type. 

Key words: Bird-like fl apping-wing aerial vehicle (BFAV), Autonomous take-off and landing, Take-off mechanism, Hybrid layout