Hey everyone, I would love to get your opinions on this concept...
I am working on a rotary wing design, and this is a monocopter version of it. It has only two moving parts, the two propellers. The two props drive the wing around an avionics hub while also controlling the pitch of the wing throughout the cycle through differential thrust. The battery is used as a counterweight.
The symmetrical airfoil is stable, so it should not put up much of a fight as far as pitch control goes. If you are wondering about the motors ability to go through throttle changes fast enough to execute a cycle for every rotation, many monocopters already use cyclic throttle pulses to maintain control.
The advantages would be:
1. The elimination of servo cost, weight, complexity.
2. Direct, structurally efficient cyclic pitch control over a larger wing, current systems use a servo to control the pitch of a very small wing, and usually just a control surface on the wing.
Comments
I would think takeoff and landing would be a challenge.
Try this paper for more info on controlling monocopters. Would a control surface not be a simpler, more responsive, lower weight way to get the cyclic pitch control?
Fly-by-wire Control of a Monocopter
16.622
Spring 2008
James Houghton and Woody Hoburg
Peter
Hi Joe,
You follow in the footsteps of one of our most illustrious members.
Jack Crossfire did this a long time ago, practically prehistoric in terms of what is possible now.
That he got it to work with the tech available back then was nothing short of magic.
But if you check out some of Jacks posts you will see he is truly a bit of a wizard in any case.
Best Regards,
Gary