Flexible micro flow sensor for micro aerial vehicles

doi:10.1007/s11465-017-0427-0

Front. Mech. Eng.

2017, Vol. 12

Issue (4) : 539-545 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-017-0427-0

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Flexible micro flow sensor for micro aerial vehicles

Rong ZHU(

), Ruiyi QUE, Peng LIU

State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

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Abstract

This article summarizes our studies on micro flow sensors fabricated on a flexible polyimide circuit board by a low-cost hybrid process of thin-film deposition and circuit printing. The micro flow sensor has merits of flexibility, structural simplicity, easy integrability with circuits, and good sensing performance. The sensor, which adheres to an object surface, can detect the surface flow around the object. In our study, we install the fabricated micro flow sensors on micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) to detect the surface flow variation around the aircraft wing and deduce the aerodynamic parameters of the MAVs in flight. Wind tunnel experiments using the sensors integrated with the MAVs are also conducted.

Keywords micro flow sensor flexible sensor surface flow sensing aerodynamic parameter micro aerial vehicle (MAV)

Corresponding Author(s): Rong ZHU

Online First Date: 17 April 2017 Issue Date: 31 October 2017

Cite this article:

Rong ZHU,Ruiyi QUE,Peng LIU. Flexible micro flow sensor for micro aerial vehicles[J]. Front. Mech. Eng., 2017, 12(4): 539-545.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fme/EN/10.1007/s11465-017-0427-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fme/EN/Y2017/V12/I4/539

Fig.1 (a) Fabrication process of the hot-film flow sensor [15]; fabricated hot-film flow sensor unit and array: (b) Sensor unit with a strip shape, (c) sensor array, and (d) flexible PCB

Fig.2 Schematic view of the signal processing circuit of the hot-film flow sensor: (a) CC/CV mode and (b) CTD mode

Fig.3 Test results for the output of the flow sensor operated in the CTD mode with overheat ratios of 0.03 and 0.02 [16]

Fig.4 MAVs with the fabricated hot-film flow sensor: (a) Flexible wing of the MAV [16]; (b) prototype of the flexible-wing MAV; and (c) prototype of the blended-wing-body MAV [17]

Fig.5 Schematic view of the flight parameters and an MAV tested in a wind tunnel

Fig.6 Flight parameters deduced from the test data using the simplified differential algorithm: (a) Air speed; (b) angle of attack; and (c) angle of sideslip

Fig.7 Flight parameter measurements obtained using the neural network model [17]: (a) Air speed; (b) angle of attack; and (c) angle of sideslip

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