Back to BlogBelow is a chronological list of some of the research that has been performed using our test equipment.
2024
Analysis of Small-Scale Propeller Performance: Insight into RPM, Free Stream Velocity and Efficiency
Ali Akber Mollick
The purpose of this work is to experimentally investigate the performance of small-scale propellers at various angular and freestream velocities. The need for precise small-scale propeller performance data is critical in the ever-expanding world of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs)...
Urban Air Mobility Guidance with Panel Method: Experimental Evaluation Under Wind Disturbances
Zeynep Bilgin, Ilkay Yavrucuk, and Murak Bronz
In this paper, a nature-inspired guidance algorithm based on the panel method is proposed. The panel method is a numerical tool borrowed from the aerodynamics domain to calculate the potential field of a fluid flow around arbitrarily shaped objects...
Wind tunnel testing of wind turbine and wind farm control strategies for active power regulation
J. Gonzalez Silva, D. van der Hoek, R. Ferrari, and J. W. van Wingerden
Wind energy has emerged as a prominent alternative energy source, harvesting energy through turbines to contribute sustainably to the electricity grid. Effective control of these turbines is crucial for regulating power generation, with wind farm control strategies geared toward maximizing on-demand energy generation.
Investigation of the Performance Characteristics of Unequal Co-Axial Rotors
Max Miles and Stephen D. Prior
Co-axial rotors are a well understood propulsion method, which are especially practical for large Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), due to their increased thrust without changing the vehicle footprint. However, for co-axial systems with varying propeller diameters between the two disks, available research is more limited...
Assessing wind impact on semi-autonomous drone landings for in-contact power-line inspection
Gendron, Étienne, Marc-Antoine Leclerc, Samuel Hovington, Étienne Perron, David Rancourt, Alexis Lussier-Desbiens, Philippe Hamelin, and Alexandre Girard.
In recent years, the use of inspection drones has become increasingly popular for high-voltage electric cable inspections due to their efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and ability to access hard-to-reach areas. However, safely landing drones on power lines, especially under windy conditions, remains a significant challenge.
Exploring Vibrations of UAV Propellers: A Preliminary Study for Characterization and Fault Detection
Karel Hylmar, Daniel Urban, and Vladimir Socha
The propulsion systems of unmanned aircraft such as multicopters are very vulnerable to any kind of damage. Thus, the presented study introduces the possibility of using vibration sensing to determine the condition of the rotating propeller to detect possible damage or contamination...
Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Analysis of Looped Propeller Blades
Justin Du plessis and Abdessalem Bouferrouk
This paper investigates the potential of looped propeller blades to reduce aerodynamic noise through the diminution of blade tip-vortex interactions. Flow simulations were performed in ANSYS Fluent using high-fidelity LES combined with the Ffowcs William-Hawkings model to evaluate the acoustics...
Exploring Small Scale propeller performance at low advance ratios and low reynolds number
Ali Akber Mollick, Clement C. Tang, and Forrest Ames
The performance of small-scale propellers were experimentally measured at low advance ratios and Reynolds numbers. The propeller diameters range from 14 to 19 inches, with all propeller having the same pitch of 12...
Validation of Wind Wall Suitability for Evaluating Characteristics of UA Propulsion Systems.
Urban, Daniel, Karel Hylmar, and Stanislav Kušmírek
The subject of this paper is validating the applicability of a wind wall as opposed to a wind tunnel in testing the performance parameters of a propeller propulsion unit...
Adaptive morphing of wing and tail for stable, resilient, and energy-efficient flight of avian-inspired drones
Simon Luis Jeger, Valentin Wüest, Charbel Toumieh, and Dario Floreano
Avian-inspired drones feature morphing wing and tail surfaces, enhancing agility and adaptability in flight. Despite their large potential, realising their full capabilities remains challenging due to the lack of generalized control strategies accommodating their large degrees of freedom and cross-coupling effects between their control surfaces...
A Study of the Efficiency of Toroidal Propeller Designs
Andrew Alm, William Parker, Victor R. C. Gomes, Caleb H. Harris, Gabriel Troy Shrauger, Caleb Whitacre, and Dr. John E. Matsson
Over the past few years, drones have become increasingly popular due to the variety of tasks that they are able to perform. However, one hindrance to the increase in commercial drone utilization is noise generated by the vortices coming off the propellers...
An experimental investigation of µUAV rotor blade tip vortices through high spatial resolution PIV
Giosuè Longobardo1, Tommaso Astarita1, and Fabrizio De Gregorio
The interest for μUAVs platforms with VTOL capabilities dramatically rose over the last decade due to the fast paced advancements in electronics and control. However, the vortical structures shedded from the rotary wings -and their interaction-, which are responsible for high power usage and high noise level emissions, are yet to be fully understood. In this work, an experimental PIV campaign was conducted on a commercially available propeller with a 230mm diameter...
2023
On the scalability of experimentally determined aerodynamic model for model-based navigation on a delta-wing UAV
P. Longobardi and J. Skaloud
Model-based navigation is a promising approach for autonomous navigation of small drones in challenging conditions such as GNSS denied flight scenarios. However, the lack of analysis of aerodynamic model structure for model-based navigation applications on delta-wing UAVs, characterized by a reduced number of control surfaces, has hindered its practical implementation...
Wind Tunnel Characterization of a Delta-Wing UAV for Model-Based Navigation
Pasquale Longobardi, Guillaume Bonneau, and Jan Skaloud
This paper presents an experimental procedure for aerodynamic characterization of a delta-wing UAV for model-based navigation applications. We report the design of experiments, aimed to maximize aerodynamic coefficients observability while meeting time constraints requirements, as well as the significance of secondary aerodynamic influences...
Boundary layer tuning using PIV data in an open jet multi-fan facility for ground-effect research
Cyprien de Sepibus and Flavio Noca
A finite-span wing is tested for ground-effect aerodynamics in a multi-fan open jet facility over a stationary ground. A multi-fan facility enables a fine control of the ground boundary layer morphology through a suitable modulation of each individual fan speeds.
Thermal Analysis of Air-Cooled Motor for UAV Using Numerical and Experimental Methods
Jae-Beom Kang, Ji-Young Lee, Tung Nguyen, Ji-Heon Lee, and Hyeong-Jin Kim
This paper deals with the thermal analysis of air-cooled motor for UAV using numerical and experimental methods considering the structures in which the motor is attached to the UAV...
Unmanned aircraft propulsion system suitable for operations within spatially limited areas
Daniel Urban, Karel Hylmar, Stanislav Kusmirek, Lenka Hanakova, and Vladimir Socha
The subject of this research is the development of ducted propulsion systems as replacements for traditional propeller propulsion systems intended for unmanned aircraft (UA). With the increasing number of operating UA and level of their automation, new possibilities for using UA in a number of applications are emerging...
Identification of an Electric UAV Propulsion System in Icing Conditions
Bogdan Løw-Hansen, Nicolas C. Müller, Erlend M. Coates, Tor Arne Johansen, Richard Hann
In-flight atmospheric icing is a severe hazard for propeller-driven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can lead to issues ranging from reduced flight performance to unacceptable loss of lift and control...
NetherDrone: a tethered and ducted propulsion multirotor drone for complex underground mining stope inspections
Marc-Antoine Leclerc, John Bass, Mathieu Labbé, David Dozois, Jonathan Delisle, David Rancourt, and Alexis Lussier Desbiens
Underground stope mapping is crucial to evaluate the quantity of blasted rock and the site integrity. In recent years, lidar-equipped drones have been used to map stopes with higher precision and without blind spots...
Use of Variable Pitch Propeller to Increase Efficiency of Small-Scale Unmanned Aerial Systems
Alejandro Echanove, Evan Kaullen, Alexandru Crisan, Sam Leib, Reno Marino, and Sarah Stobb
Intrinsically Safe Drone Propulsion System for Underground Coal Mining Applications: Computational and Experimental Studies
2022
Modeling and validation of electric multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle system energy dynamics
Investigation of Rotor Efficiency with Varying Rotor Pitch Angle for a Coaxial Drone
Design of Rotary Wings with Passive Mitigation of Coherent Tip Vortex Roll-Up
Experimental and Numerical Study of Novel Coanda-Based Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Aerodynamic Analysis of V-Shaped Flight Formation of Flapping-Wing Drones: Analytical and Experimental Studies
A computational and experimental study on aerodynamics of motor-driven propellers using thrust stand and rotating cup anemometer
What is A Wireless UAV? a design blueprint for 6G flying wireless nodes
The influence of rotor downwash on spray distribution under a quadrotor unmanned aerial system
Applying an Icing Wind Tunnel for Drone Propeller Research, Validation of New Measurement Instrument
การ พัฒนา ระบบ ควบคุม การ บิน สำหรับ อากาศยาน ไร้ คน ขับ แบบ ปรับ เอียง ใบพัด ได้ ใน ช่วง การ บิน เปลี่ยน เฟส
Low-Cost Quadrotor Micro-Aerial Vehicle
Lifting Line Framework for Optimization of Rotary Wing Systems
2021
Carlos Barrera
March 30, 2026
Submission – Latest InFlow Generation – State of the Art Novel Top Tech: ·1-Gearturbine Reaction Turbine Rotary Turbo, ·2-Imploturbocompressor Impulse Turbine 1 Compression Step:
·1-Gearturbine: Reaction Turbine, ·Rotary-Turbo, Similar System of the Aeolipile ·Heron Steam Device from 10-70 AD, ·With Retrodynamic = DextroGiro/RPM VS LevoGiro/InFlow, + ·Ying Yang Power Type, ·Non Waste Parasitic Looses,
·2-Imploturbocompressor: Impulse Turbine, ·Implo-Ducted, One Moving Part System Excellence Design, ·InFlow Goes from Macro to Micro, ·One Compression Step, ·Same Hurricane Satellite View.
http://stateoftheartnovelinflowtech.blogspot.com
https://padlet.com/gearturbine/un2slbar3s94