Aerospace Engineering Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2737
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Item MECHANICAL DESIGN OF DEXTEROUS MANIPULATOR LINKS(2018) Carlsen, Christopher James; Akin, David L; Aerospace Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This paper explores the challenges of dense structure-electronics packaging, specifically for a structural and electronics upgrade to the Ranger Tele-robotic Shuttle Experiment (RTSX) manipulators at the University of Maryland (UMD). Long serial-link manipulators are popular in the space industry, where the need for a long reach and high manipulability outweighs the need for high tip stiffness. For larger systems with co-located electronics, such as those used to berth vehicles on orbit, electronics packaging is not inhibited by the diameter of the link body. As link diameter decreases, co-locating electronics in the manipulator becomes diffcult without adding external extensions to house them. In such densely packed bodies, the control electronics are so integrated with structure that electronics maintenance requires disassembly of primary structure.Item UNDERSTANDING OF LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER AERODYNAMICS AND DESIGN OF MICRO ROTARY-WING AIR VEHICLES(2016) Winslow, Justin Michael; Chopra, Inderjit; Aerospace Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The goal of the present research is to understand aerodynamics at low Reynolds numbers and synthesize rules towards the development of hovering micro rotary-wing air vehicles (MRAVs). This entailed the rigorous study of airfoil characteristics at low Reynolds numbers through available experimental results as well as the use of an unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes solver. A systematic, experimental, variation of parameters approach with physical rotors was carried out to design and develop a micro air vehicle-scale rotor which maximizes the hover Figure of Merit. The insights gained in low Reynolds number aerodynamics have been utilized in the systematic design of a high endurance micro-quadrotor. Based on available characteristics, the physical relations governing electric propulsion system and structural weights have been derived towards a sizing methodology for small-scale rotary-wing vehicles.Item The Design Fabrication and Flight Testing of an Academic Research Platform for High Resolution Terrain Imaging(2011) Billingsley, David Daniel; Hubbard, James E; Aerospace Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis addresses the design, construction, and flight testing of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) created to serve as a testbed for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) research topics that require the rapid acquisition and processing of high resolution aerial imagery and are to be performed by academic research institutions. An analysis of the requirements of various ISR research applications and the practical limitations of academic research yields a consolidated set of requirements by which the UAS is designed. An iterative design process is used to transition from these requirements to cycles of component selection, systems integration, flight tests, diagnostics, and subsystem redesign. The resulting UAS is designed as an academic research platform to support a variety of ISR research applications ranging from human machine interaction with UAS technology to orthorectified mosaic imaging. The lessons learned are provided to enable future researchers to create similar systems.