Collaborative Payload Lifting using Tethered Unmanned Fixed-Wing Aircraft

使用系留无人固定翼飞机进行协作有效负载提升

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-06655
• 负责人: Rancourt, David
• 金额: $ 1.97万
• 依托单位: Université de Sherbrooke
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=681789
• 关键词: Collaborative; Payload; Lifting; using; Tethered

Helicopters have been essential to modern society as they have been the only solution for air-transporting substantial payloads with no need for complex mile-long runway infrastructures. However, helicopters intrinsically have a low efficiency and are limited to short missions, both in time and distance. Current alternative approaches, such as airships pose storage complexity and limited maneuverability, while novel concepts attempting to increase the rotor disk area to minimize power requirements have reduced capability to translate.******A disruptive concept to vertical lift uses tethered fixed-wing aircraft to lift a payload, where each aircraft mimics an individual blade with its own trajectory control. Although radically different from modern helicopters, load lifting using multiple fixed-wing aircraft was proposed as early as 1942. Manned tethered airplanes imposed km-long tethers and challenging coordination between multiple heavy aircraft limited flight path flexibility. As a result, the load capacity was limited and with the requirement for a conventional runway, the interest in the concept has faded.******The novel idea is to replace tethered manned aircraft (with onboard energy, fuel) with electric-powered fixed-wing aircraft with remote energy source, which shows similarity with some airborne wind energy concepts. By keeping the energy source (battery and/or generator) in the “payload” section and transmitting the energy through the tethers, the lightweight airplanes have an increased agility and thrust-to-weight ratio allowing for a true vertical takeoff. The use of electric motors on agile aircraft along with modern sensing and control is an enabler for the tethered aircraft to perform complex flight path above the payload, defined as non-circular with continuous variation in airspeed, aircraft attitude, and tether tension. The ability to perform complex flight paths was identified as the main enabler for efficient load lifting with tethered fixed wing in a non-hover condition. Initial numerical studies also demonstrated a 5 times power reduction compared to an equivalent helicopter for similar payload capacity, and preliminary flight tests on a single tethered aircraft support those predictions. ******The short term objective of this research program is to develop the first small-scale demonstrator of a three electric-powered tethered aircraft concept with complex flight path capability. The work will advance science in three ways, (1) by developing the fundamental knowledge in aerodynamics, dynamics, and controls needed to enable tethered flight systems; (2), by developing the engineering knowhow to design, build, and test such new flight systems, and (3), by providing a complete set of experimental data that is necessary to corroborate the theoretical understanding and to extrapolate on the capabilities of the approach. The proposed project will contribute in training 2 PhD and 3 MSc students in the domain of advanced aircraft design.**

直升机对现代社会至关重要，因为它们是空中运输大量有效载荷的唯一解决方案，不需要复杂的一英里长的跑道基础设施。然而，直升机本质上效率较低，并且在时间和时间上都仅限于短期任务。当前的替代方法，例如飞艇，造成了存储复杂性和有限的机动性，而试图增加旋翼盘面积以最大限度地减少功率需求的新颖概念却降低了平移能力。******垂直升力的颠覆性概念使用系绳。固定翼飞机虽然与现代直升机完全不同，但早在 1942 年就提出了使用多架固定翼飞机来提升有效载荷，其中每架飞机都模仿一个单独的桨叶。多架重型飞机之间的协调限制了飞行路径的灵活性，因此负载能力受到限制，并且由于需要常规跑道，人们对这一概念的兴趣已经减弱。******这个新颖的想法是取代系留载人飞机。飞机（机载能源、燃料）与具有远程能源的电动固定翼飞机，这与一些机载风能概念相似，通过将能源（电池和/或发电机）保留在“有效负载”部分并进行传输。通过系绳提供能量，轻型飞机具有更高的敏捷性和推重比，可实现真正的垂直起飞。敏捷飞机上电动机的使用以及现代传感和控制是系留飞机执行任务的推动者。有效载荷上方的复杂飞行路径，定义为空速、飞机姿态和系绳张力连续变化的非圆形。执行复杂飞行路径的能力被认为是在非系留固定翼中有效提升负载的主要因素。初步数值研究还表明，与具有相似有效载荷能力的同等直升机相比，功率降低了 5 倍，并且对单架系留飞机的初步飞行测试支持了这些预测。是要发展首个具有复杂飞行路径能力的三电动系留飞机概念的小型演示机这项工作将从三个方面推进科学发展：（1）通过开发实现系留飞行系统所需的空气动力学、动力学和控制方面的基础知识。 （2）通过开发设计、建造和测试此类新飞行系统的工程知识，以及（3）通过提供一套完整的实验数据，这些数据对于证实理论理解和推断飞行系统的能力是必要的。拟议的项目将有助于在先进飞机设计领域培训 2 名博士生和 3 名硕士生。**