SBIR Phase I: Control Strategy for Parallel Hybrid Multirotor

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种无人机推进技术，该技术可能比全电动重型解决方案的飞行时间提高10倍，并具有其他显著优势。这项技术的最初市场将是荒地消防员的无人驾驶解决方案。应用包括按需供应物流解决方案和大面积受控点火解决方案，最终为消防员提供全天候空中支援，目前每天只有8小时的空中支援。有人建议，控制火灾的时间每减少10%，仅在抑制成本方面就节省了大约3亿美元。美国的整体野火抑制市场估计为65亿B美元，商业无人驾驶航空系统市场（预计到2022年将增长到340亿B美元）和城市空中交通存在额外的机会。该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发新的UAS推进技术，从而实现新的能力和任务。纯电动多旋翼为重型起重应用提供有限的飞行，满载电动多旋翼的典型持续时间为15-20分钟。一种解决方案是串联混合多转子，其中发电机添加到电动动力系统，但这些系统的效率低，功率重量比低。并联/串联混合动力的组合方法消除了许多功率转换步骤和组件，但保留了电力推进的优点。其结果是估计1.54倍的效率增益，更低的质量和更高的功率重量比。研究的目标是开发并行混合多旋翼控制算法，在原型飞机上实施该方案，量化整个系统的效率，并量化飞行性能。预计螺旋桨角速度的并行混合控制将在仅电控制的+/-1%内。我们还预计，原型系统的飞行性能在俯仰、滚转和偏航时分别测得30度/秒、50度/秒和60度/秒的控制功率（CP）率。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of a drone propulsion technology potentially capable of a 10X improvement in flight duration over all-electric heavy-lift solutions with other significant advantages. The initial market for this technology will be unmanned solutions for wildland firefighters. Applications include on-demand logistics solutions for supplies and large-area controlled ignition solutions, and ultimately around-the-clock air support for firefighters, where currently only 8 hours of air support per day is available. It has been suggested that every 10% reduction in time to contain a fire is worth approximately $300 M in savings in suppression costs alone. The overall wildfire suppression market in the US is estimated at $6.5 B, and additional opportunities exist in the the commercial unmanned air system market (estimated to grow to $34 B by 2022) and urban air mobility. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will enable the development of a new UAS propulsion technology leading to new capabilities and missions. Electric-only multi-rotors offer limited flight for heavy lift applications, with the typical duration for a fully loaded electric multi-rotor of 15-20 minutes. One solution is serial hybrid multi-rotors with a generator added to the electric powertrain, but these systems suffer from low efficiency and low power-to-weight ratio. The combined parallel/serial hybrid approach eliminates many of the power conversion steps and components, yet retains the benefits of electric propulsion. The result is an estimated 1.54X gain in efficiency, lower mass, and higher power-to-weight ratio. The research objectives are to develop the control algorithm for parallel hybrid multi-rotor control, implement this scheme on a prototype aircraft, quantify overall system efficiency, and quantify flight performance. It is anticipated that parallel hybrid control of propeller angular velocity to be within +/- 1% of electric-only control. We also anticipate flight performance of the prototype system to have measured Control Power (CP) rates of 30 deg/s, 50 deg/s, and 60 deg/s for pitch, roll, and yaw, respectively.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.