利用地面近距效应的离子推进微型气垫艇的设计与飞行

中文摘要 AI 辅助

电空气动力推进因具备静音和全固态特性，在微型飞行器领域颇具吸引力，但其效率有限，至今阻碍了实现电力自主飞行的路径。近期研究表明，小型大气离子推进器在靠近地面平面运行时，推力密度和效率可大幅提升。本研究探索厘米级气垫艇的设计空间，这类气垫艇可利用该地面效应实现低空飞行。我们首先开展实证研究，表征不同几何形状和被动气垫裙配置的性能优势与权衡，再基于该结果制造出可行的点设计。我们展示了一款手掌大小的气垫艇，虽需外接电源供电，但可长时间飞行，能承受数十次起降循环，可被动稳定以抵消显著机械干扰，且几乎无 audible noise signature。实测推力效率为16 mN/W，额外有效载荷能力在约1.6克的自身质量基础上接近1.5克，超过任何同等尺寸电空气动力推进机器人一个数量级。这是开放文献中首次展示离子推进微型气垫艇，本研究为全新一类机器人指明了方向。

英文摘要

Electroaerodynamic propulsion is compelling for use in micro air vehicles due to its silent and solid-state nature, but its limited efficiency has thus far precluded a path towards power-autonomous flight. Recent work has shown that thrust density and efficiency for small-scale atmospheric ion thrusters can be vastly increased when operating close to a ground plane. Here, we explore the design space of centimeter-scale hovercraft, which can leverage this ground effect for low-altitude flight. We first perform an empirical investigation, characterizing the performance benefits and trade-offs for different geometries and configurations of passive hovercraft skirts, then use the results to fabricate a viable point design. We demonstrate a palm-sized hovercraft that, while tethered to an external power source, can fly for extended periods, withstand dozens of takeoff and landing cycles, passively stabilize to reject significant mechanical disturbances, and generate practically zero audible noise signature. The measured thrust efficiency of 16 mN/W and additional payload capacity of almost 1.5 grams above the vehicle's self mass of about 1.6 grams exceeds any similarly sized electroaerodynamically propelled robot by an order of magnitude. This is the first time an ion-propelled micro hovercraft has been shown in the open literature, and our work points the way towards an entirely new class of robot.

发表机构

• University of Utah（犹他大学）
• University of Hawaii at Manoa（马诺阿夏威夷大学）

机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。