Effects of Transverse Side Walls on Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Micro Quad-Rotor in Hovering

Abstract

Micro quad-rotor, which is one of the UAV, has been increasingly developed recently by many researches. We focus on the transverse side wall effects of a hovering quad-rotor. The attitude of the quad-rotor is unstable due to the wall effects including the ground effect, in hovering near the walls by the air-flow through the walls. The objective of this study is to clarify the effects of the transverse side walls exerted on aerodynamic characteristics of a hovering micro quad-rotor. Acted fluid forces on the hovering quad-rotor near the walls are measured by a 6-axis Force-torque sensor. It is shown that the variations in the characteristics with the changes in the distance from the transverse side walls, comparing with the case of straight side wall. The increases of lift and the torque are observed in the specific location where the distance from the wall to the quad-rotor. These variations are similar to the case that the pair of outward rotation rotors faces to the straight side wall. This is, it is considered that the increases of the lift and the torque caused by that the lift of the pair of outward rotation rotors is increased by circulating flow around the outward rotation rotors.