Modeling and control of a flapping wing micro air vehicle at hover condition

Abstract

In this thesis a mathematical model of a flapping wing MAV is discussed. Aerodynamic forces and moments due to some key unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms are studied to derive the vehicle's longitudinal equations of motion under symmetric flapping assumption. The dynamic model is then simplified and linearized about a hover condition. With the assumption that the frequency of wing flapping motion is much higher than the body's natural frequency of motion, averaging theory is applied to the system. Two types of averaging methods are applied, full cycle averaging and quarter cycle averaging, to obtain a linear time invariant system (LTI) and a jump-style linear time varying (LTV) system respectively. Stability analysis and controller design are based on the linear time invariant system. A linear controller with eigenstructure assignment technique is designed and attached to the nonlinear system to stabilize the vehicle at hover condition under perturbations.