Jong Heon Kim/ Chan Yik Park/ Seungmoon Jun/ Dae Keun Chung ,Jong Rok Kim,Hee Chul Hwang/ Bret Stanford/ Philip Beran/ Gregory Parker/ Denny Mrozinski
International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sicences, vol. 13, no. 2, pp.238-249, 2012

Abstract : Flight test of flapping micro air vehicles (FMAVs) is carried out using an instrumented measurement system to obtain various engineering parameters and hence to assess the flight performance of the vehicles through data investigation. An indoor flight test facility equipped with a motion capture system and tracking cameras is used for the work presented in this paper. Maneuvers including straight-level flight, ground flapping, takeoff and landing are tested. Spatial position and orientation data are obtained from retro-reflective tracking markers attached to the vehicles. Subsequent test analysis is carried out by generating performance parameters from raw data and then assessing the flight performance assessment via a comparison of the vehicles. The main findings of this work confirm that the test method and procedures presented here enable a systematic numerical data measurement and assessment of flying performances of these vehicles, and show applicability for the test and evaluation of general flapping MAVs.

Keyword : Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), Flapping Wing, Motion Capture Tracking System, Flight Test and Assessment