Design and flight test of the generic micro-aerial vehicle (GenMAV) utilizing piezoelectric conformal flight control actuation

Abstract

A novel morphing control surface design employing piezoelectric macro-fiber composite actuators is compared to a servo-actuated system. The comprehensive comparison including aerodynamics, size, weight, power, bandwidth, and reliability has been extended to include flight test comparisons. Three flight vehicles were designed, built, and evaluated: a servo-controlled generic micro-aerial vehicle aircraft and two conformal actuator controlled versions based on thick and thin wing designs. Flight agility and control response of the morphing-actuated and servo-actuated configurations were quantified through state measurement during identical automated maneuvers. The morphing actuation scheme demonstrated control bandwidth that was an order of magnitude greater than for the servo-actuated system, but showed a 12% decrease in roll rate when compared to the servo-actuated baseline aircraft. The flight vehicles allowed system-level comparisons of conventional and morphing control, where conformal actuation occupied less volume, consumed equivalent power as micro servos and provided effective control power for maneuvering.