Flight Performance of a multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle with digital displacement hydrostatic transmission

Calum Arnott, Rory Haggart, Robert Courtney, Uwe Stein, Francisca Martinez-Hergueta

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract / Description of output

This paper summarises the development of a hybrid multirotor UAV which uses a Digital Displacement® hydrostatic transmission. The design of Flowcopter’s FC-100 demonstrator UAV is presented, along with a summary of the concept and the modelling equations of the propulsion system. Focus is placed on gaining a critical physical understanding of the rotor aerodynamic performance through experimental characterisation. To isolate the influence of interactional aerodynamic effects between rotors and with the airframe, the experimental
campaign comprises testing at different levels; a single fixed-pitch rotor in static and translational flight conditions, and flight testing of the full-scale demonstrator UAV. The analysis of the aerodynamic ground effect demonstrates a greater effect than an equivalent helicopter. Test data shows a negligible effect on lift efficiency when hovering at wind speeds up to 11.2 m/s. Translational flight tests at airspeeds of up to 18.2 m/s demonstrate an increase in lift efficiency at lower speeds. An outlook towards future testing and development is
presented.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Event50th European Rotorcraft Forum 2024 - Marseille, France
Duration: 10 Sept 2024 → …
https://www.3af-erf2024.com/

Conference

Conference50th European Rotorcraft Forum 2024
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityMarseille
Period10/09/24 → …
Internet address

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