Fuselage-Actuated Elevon Surfaces for Precise UAV Flight Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aerial vehicle flight control systems, particularly for UAVs, face challenges in efficiently utilizing control surfaces to achieve precise control and stability, especially in varying flight conditions, due to limitations in the design and actuation mechanisms of ailerons, elevons, and rudders.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a fuselage-mounted effector and airfoils with resiliently mounted control surfaces that can be actuated via extendible horns, allowing for angular rotation and deflection, enabling cooperative movement of multiple airfoils and rudder surfaces to enhance control and stability, with actuator systems that translate laterally and extend from fuselage apertures to engage the airfoils and rudders.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If control surfaces are rigidly mounted to airfoils, then structural strength is improved, but control precision and maneuverability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The control surfaces are mounted resiliently to the airfoils, allowing them to flex and move dynamically in response to aerodynamic forces and actuator inputs. This dynamic mounting enables precise control while maintaining structural integrity, as the resilient connection absorbs stress and allows for fine adjustments in control surface position.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient mounting changes the mechanical parameters of the control surface connection, allowing for controlled flexibility and movement. This enables the control surface to achieve precise angular positions while the underlying structure maintains its strength, resolving the contradiction between rigid structural support and precise controllable movement.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple control surfaces are used for precise control, then control precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple control surfaces (ailerons, elevons, rudders) are integrated into a unified control system where they can move cooperatively. The resilient mounting and coordinated actuation allow these surfaces to work together as a unified system, achieving precise control without the complexity of entirely separate control mechanisms for each surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The control surfaces are designed to perform multiple functions through their resilient mounting and coordinated movement. The same control system can achieve roll, pitch, and yaw control through different combinations of control surface deflections, reducing the need for separate dedicated mechanisms for each control function.
3Manufacturing precision
If control surfaces are resiliently mounted to allow movement, then control precision is improved, but structural stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient mounting provides dynamic stability rather than static rigidity. The control surfaces can move precisely in response to control inputs while the resilient connection maintains overall structural stability by absorbing disturbances and allowing controlled movement without compromising the integrity of the airfoil structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration improves the UAV's ability to control yaw, pitch, and roll by allowing for more precise and coordinated movement of control surfaces, enhancing stability and maneuverability, particularly in subsonic flight conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a first control surface resiliently mounted to the first airfoil, wherein the first control surface is opposed by the first fuselage-mounted effector
Data Source
AI summary
A system comprising an aerial vehicle or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) configured to control pitch, roll, and/or yaw via airfoils having resiliently mounted trailing edges opposed by fuselage-house deflecting actuator horns. Embodiments include one or more rudder elements which may be rotatably attached and actuated by an effector member disposed within the fuselage housing and extendible in part to engage the one or more rudder elements.