Journal of Applied Science and Engineering

Published by Tamkang University Press

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Low-cost Test Rig for Aerodynamic Evaluation of Ornithopters

 2018

 Volume 21, Issue 2

Balasubramanian E1, Sasitharan A2, Chandrasekhar U1, Karthik K3 and Lung-Jieh Yang4

1Vel Tech University, Avadi, Chennai

2Bubblefly Technology Pvt Ltd, New Delhi

3Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai

4Department of Mechanical and Electromechanical Engineering, Tamkang University, Tamsui, Taiwan 251, R.O.C.

Received: October 17, 2017
Accepted: February 27, 2018
Publication Date: August 16, 2026

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A solid bar and aerofoil section.

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Experimental assessment of lift and thrust forces of flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) is of paramount interest to assess its pay load carrying capability. In this work, a simple and cost effective test bench is developed to measure the forces of ornithopter. Two compressive load cells are calibrated and assembled in an appropriate mode to capture the generated forces. A labview based graphical user interface is designed to acquire real time force data and thereby control the angle of attack of ornithopter. Through varying wind speeds, flapping frequencies and angle of attacks (AOA),
wind tunnel experiments are conducted for two ornithopters E-Bird and Golden Snitch, with wing spans of 27 cm and 21.5 cm respectively. Experimental results suggested that, E-Bird has attained maximum lift force of 28.7 g at 60 AOA and golden snitch has 13.5 g lift force at 35 AOA. The
developed compact test rig can measure the lift and thrust forces up to 200 grams with an accuracy 0.1 gram of FWMAVs.

Keywords: Ornithopter, Lift and Thrust Forces, Load Cells, Data Acquisition, Wind Tunnel, Graphical User Interface

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