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AF093-002 Ground Mobility and Landing Gear for a Bird-Sized Perching Micro Air Vehicle (MAV)

TD/Center: RB
 
Technology Areas: Air Platforms
 
Objective:
To develop concepts and designs for landing gear and limited ground mobility of a bird-sized platform involved in urban intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
 
Description:
AFRL/RB has recently begun efforts in development of technologies for bird and insect-sized micro air vehicles (MAVs). One of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) strategic visions for 2015 is a bird-sized MAV that can operate in an urban environment for a week. In order to do so, this vehicle will have to perch, either for recharging (energy harvesting) or for ISR of stationary targets. The landing environment might be on a or branch, but more likely on a ledge or other horizontal platform. Either way, the landing will not resemble a roll-out landing, but a perching maneuver much like a bird. This SBIR seeks to develop concepts for landing gear of a platform such as this. The landing gear must enable the landing itself, limited ground mobility for repositioning and other maneuverability at the perching site, and possibly incorporate energy harvesting or other functionalities needed for completion of the mission.
 
Phase I:
Phase I will concentrate on identifying different modes of landing gear, and creating benchtop prototypes to demonstrate different concepts.
 
Phase II:
Phase II will concentrate on down selection to one or possibly two solutions, miniaturization, and integration into a flying commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) remote control (RC) vehicle for demonstration. Because a perching vehicle of the type envisioned has not yet been developed, large thrust-to-weight (T/W) “foamies” will most likely be used so that high angle-of-attack landings are possible.
 
Phase III Dual Use Applications:
Military application: Remote-control vehicles such as crawlers, flyers, climbers, etc., have been proposed for tasks such as bomb sniffing and disposal, emergency search and rescue, and border patrol. Commercial application: Remote-control vehicles such as crawlers, flyers, climbers, etc., have been proposed for tasks such as bomb sniffing and disposal, emergency search and rescue, and border patrol.
 
References:
1. Reich, G. W., Wojnar, O., and Albertani, R., ”Aerodynamic Performance of a Notional Perching MAV Design,” AIAA 2009-0063, Proc. 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Orlando, FL, 5-8 January, 2009.

2. Lukens, J. M., Reich, G. W., and Sanders, B., ”Wing Mechanization Design and Analysis for a Perching Micro Air Vehicle,” AIAA 2008-1794, Proc. 16th AIAA/ASME/AHS Adaptive Structures Conference, Schaumburg, IL, 7-10 April, 2008.

3. Spenko, M., Haynes, G. C. , Saunders, J. A., Cutkosky, M., Rizzi, A., Full, R., and Koditschek, D., ”Biologically inspired climbing with a hexapedal robot,” Journal of Field Robotics, Vol. 25, No. 4-5, pp. 223-242, 2008.

4. Bachmann, R. J., Boria, F. J., et al., ”Utility of a Sensor Platform Capable of Aerial and Terrestrial Locomotion,” Proc. IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Monterey, CA, 24-28 July, 2005.

5. Cory, R. and Tedrake, R., ”Experiments in Fixed-Wing UAV Perching,” AIAA Paper No. AIAA 2008-7256, AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit, Honolulu, HI, 18-21 August, 2008.
 
Keywords:
perching, micro air vehicles, ground mobility, attachment mechanisms
 
AFOSR POC: Dr. Gregory Reich AFOSR POC Phone: (937) 255-8296
 
AFOSR POC Email: gregory.reich@wpafb.af.mil
 
 
PM*: Larry Byram
 
PM Phone: 937-904-8169
 
PM Email: larry.byram@wpafb.af.mil
 
* If you are unable to reach the AFOSR POC after a reasonable length of time, please contact the Program Manager for this topic.

Disclaimer: These draft topics have not yet been approved and only the approved topics will appear in the DoD pre-solicitation published on the DoD website http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/. The formal DoD solicitation will open on .