Cycloidal Rotor Micro Air Vehicle

In recent years, interest has been growing in a new class of very small flight vehicles called micro air vehicles (MAVs). The use of cycloidal propulsion for such a vehicle has some advantages over other configurations that make it an attractive alternative to fixed-wing and rotary-wing vehicles. This paper investigates a small scale cycloidal rotor to determine its viability for use in a micro air vehicle. A small experimental rotor was constructed and tested to determine the effects of blade number, blade pitch angle, and rotational speed on thrust output and power requirements. An analytical model, using a combination of vertical wind turbine theory and an indicial solution for the aerodynamic response was developed to predict rotor performance, and was validated with the experiments. Based on the analytical model and the experimental results, a conceptual design of an MAV utilizing cycloidal propulsion was performed. The cyclo-MAV utilizes two cycloidal rotors, providing thrust, propulsion, and control. Complete vehicle weight is 240 grams, with two three bladed rotors of six inch diameter.