Title :
Propeller dynamometer for small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Author :
Hossain, M. Raju ; Krouglicof, Nicholas
Author_Institution :
Culty of Eng. & Appl. Sci., Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland, St. John´´s, NL, Canada
Abstract :
This paper details the design and development of a small scale air propeller dynamometer based on thin beam strain gauge load cells. The dynamometer will be used to characterize the performances of small propellers for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in order to obtain an accurate system model and design an appropriate controller for hovering and smooth flight. A brief description of the design concept and calibration procedure along with test results is presented here. A static calibration was performed to determine thrust/torque measurement sensitivity as well as cross-sensitivity. Measurement data was captured and processed using a sigma-delta data acquisition board. Test results confirm that the dynamometer can be used to reliably measure thrust and torque produced by UAV propellers up to 10 inch in diameter with an accuracy of ±1% of full scale.
Keywords :
aircraft control; data acquisition; dynamometers; mobile robots; propellers; remotely operated vehicles; torque measurement; design concept; hovering controller; sigma-delta data acquisition board; small scale air propeller dynamometer; small unmanned aerial vehicle; smooth flight controller; static calibration; thin beam strain gauge load cells; thrust measurement sensitivity; torque measurement sensitivity; Accuracy; Calibration; Data acquisition; Propellers; Torque; Torque measurement; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Air propeller; Data acquisition; Dynamometer; Strain gauge; Thrust; Torque; UAV;
Conference_Titel :
Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE), 2010 23rd Canadian Conference on
Conference_Location :
Calgary, AB
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-5376-4
Electronic_ISBN :
0840-7789
DOI :
10.1109/CCECE.2010.5575152