Modeling and Identification of Hover Flight Dynamics for NASA’s Mars Helicopter

Grip, Håvard Fjær; Johnson, Wayne; Malpica, Carlos; Scharf, Daniel P.; Mandić, Milan; Young, Larry A.; Allan, Brian G.; Mettler, Bernard; Martin, Miguel San; Lam, Johnny

doi:10.2514/1.g004228

Cited by 33 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The aerodynamic components of forces and power are nearly an order of magnitude less than the inertial components. This is similar to the low blade Lock numbers for helicopter operation on Mars [ 47 ]. Thus, the total power is primarily due to the positive components of inertial flap and inertial pitch power.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 71%

“…Note that we do not investigate the effects of the blade Lock number, which is the ratio of aerodynamic to inertial forces acting on the flapping wing. Although this dimensionless parameter may become important to both the vehicle structural and flight dynamics, as in the case of Ingenuity [ 47 ], we do not model the structural or multi-body dynamics of the vehicles in the present work. However, we do discuss and report the inertial and aerodynamic components of power and their relative differences for various sized flapping wing vehicles on Mars (see Section 3.4 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Data-driven CFD scaling of bioinspired Mars flight vehicles for hover

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Data-driven CFD scaling of bioinspired Mars flight vehicles for hover

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Force-torque sensing approaches are commonly used in wind-tunnel testing for system identification of aircraft, allowing the development of dynamics models, validating first-principle models, and carrying out control design about the relevant origin. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is no exception; force-torque measurements of the prototype vehicle in the low-density chamber at JPL allowed for the successful verification of the rotor control laws [23] and are, accordingly, a high-heritage method for determining the aerodynamic state of Mars rotorcraft. Free body diagrams of the helicopter, the jetpack, and the composite system are illustrated in Figure 24, and force/moment summations enumerated below.…”

Section: Dynamic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Mid-Air Helicopter Delivery at Mars Using a Jetpack

Delaune¹,

Izraelevitz²,

Sirlin³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mid-Air Helicopter Delivery (MAHD) is a new Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) architecture to enable in situ mobility for Mars science at lower cost than previous missions. It uses a jetpack to slow down a Mars Science Helicopter (MSH) after separation from the backshell, and reach aerodynamic conditions suitable for helicopter take-off in mid air. For given aeroshell dimensions, only MAHD's lander-free approach leaves enough room in the aeroshell to accommodate the largest rotor option for MSH. This drastically improves flight performance, notably allowing +150% increased science payload mass. Compared to heritage EDL approaches, the simpler MAHD architecture is also likely to reduce cost, and enables access to more hazardous and higher-elevation terrains on Mars. This paper introduces a design for the MAHD system architecture and operations. We present a mechanical configuration that fits both MSH and the jetpack within the 2.65-m Mars heritage aeroshell, and a jetpack control architecture which fully leverages the available helicopter avionics. We discuss preliminary numerical models of the flow dynamics resulting from the interaction between the jets, the rotors and the side winds. We define a force-torque sensing architecture capable of handling the wind and trimming the rotors to prepare for safe take-off. Finally, we analyze the dynamic environment and closed-loop control simulation results to demonstrate the preliminary feasibility of MAHD.

show abstract

“…The Mars Helicopter Ingenuity [74][75][76][77][78][79] is a drone helicopter launched in 2020 to demonstrate the technology performance of flying robots in Mars atmosphere. Unlike the moon, which has no atmosphere to speak of, Mars possesses a very thin atmosphere (less than 1% of Earth pressure).…”

Section: Vertical Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Planetary Surface Mobility and Exploration: A Review

Thoesen

Marvi

2021

Curr Robot Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose of Review With the continued interest in scientific space exploration and rapid development of the commercialized space sector, there have been a wide array of exploration technologies proposed for planetary mobility. This paper aims to survey these new technologies, explain the motivations and challenges of traversing different space environments, and describe why certain approaches will be more ubiquitous. Recent Findings A continued dominance by four-and six-wheeled vehicles for lunar and Martian exploration due to reliability, simplicity, and efficiency is observed. However, there is an emergence of alternative wheeled vehicle kinematics, other legged locomotion, and flying, climbing, or hopping robots when these designs confer specific advantages. Summary The engineering maxim "form follows function" is strongly represented within the array of robotic planetary explorer designs. The limitations of an irradiated, dusty, vacuous, remote operating environment which prioritizes efficiency and robust operation often lead to small iterations on working designs because deviations from the status quo are simply not feasible or deemed too risky. Those proposed designs which do deviate have clear justifications driven by their particular environments or intended purpose. Engineers developing future planetary exploring robots for space environments may find these considerations useful.

show abstract

Modeling and Identification of Hover Flight Dynamics for NASA’s Mars Helicopter

Cited by 33 publications

References 8 publications

Data-driven CFD scaling of bioinspired Mars flight vehicles for hover

Data-driven CFD scaling of bioinspired Mars flight vehicles for hover

Mid-Air Helicopter Delivery at Mars Using a Jetpack

Planetary Surface Mobility and Exploration: A Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About