Developing a cyber-physical system to simulate an amphibious UAV's transition between water and air

Amphibious unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are rising in popularity in robotics and fluids research with their applications in exploration, delivery, and reconnaissance. These missions require an efficient and agile UAV that smoothly transitions between the water and air. Such UAVs exist, but lack innovation in the rotors used or the method of transition. The goal of this project is to push the limits of these vehicles by studying the hydrodynamics governing rotors as they move between the two media. We will do this by implementing a cyber-physical system using feedback control to mimic the real-time transition of an entire UAV between water and air. This allows a focus on the unsteady, multiphase flow around differing rotors, and simulation of many differently sized UAVs with high accuracy. We tested nine rotors of varying diameters and number of blades. The rotors were tested over a range of rotational frequencies and distances from the water-air interface. Time-averaged thrust and power consumption at each distance will be used to investigate control strategies and rotor designs that minimize the transition time and maximize efficiency.