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2006

Mechanical Engineering

Modeling

Faculty Publications

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Preliminary Modeling, Control, And Trajectory Design For Miniature Autonomous Tailsitters, Nathan B. Knoebel, Stephen R. Osborne, Deryl Snyder, Timothy W. Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Andrew Mark Eldredge Aug 2006

Preliminary Modeling, Control, And Trajectory Design For Miniature Autonomous Tailsitters, Nathan B. Knoebel, Stephen R. Osborne, Deryl Snyder, Timothy W. Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Andrew Mark Eldredge

Faculty Publications

A tailsitter UAV has unique advantages over typical fixed wing aircraft or hovercraft. This paper highlights topics of interest in our preliminary research in developing a tailsitter UAV. An aerodynamic model and quaternion-based attitude and position control scheme is presented for controlling a tailsitter through hover maneuvers, with simulation results. Desired trajectories are also developed through feedback linearization of the dynamic equations, intended for quaternion-based attitude control. Finally, a hardware platform is proposed.


Techniques In The Design Of Thermomechanical Microactuators, Larry L. Howell, Timothy W. Mclain, Michael S. Baker, Christian D. Lott Jan 2006

Techniques In The Design Of Thermomechanical Microactuators, Larry L. Howell, Timothy W. Mclain, Michael S. Baker, Christian D. Lott

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this chapter is to provide fundamental background for the design of thermomechanical microactuators. Actuation has been a particularly challenging aspect of microsystem development. Many actuation approaches used at the macro level, such as hydraulics, pneumatics, electric motors, internal combustion engines and turbines, are either too difficult to fabricate at the micro level or do not work well at that scale. Electrostatic attraction is one approach that has been widely used for actuation of microsystems; however, electrostatic actuators tend to have high voltage requirements and low output force capabilities. While electrostatic actuation is suitable for many applications, some …