PROJECTO DE UM SISTEMA EXPERIMENTAL PARA DETERMINAÇÃO DO DESEMPENHO DO CONJUNTO MOTOR‐HÉLICE DE VEÍCULOS REMOTAMENTE PILOTADOS

Abstract

Data related to remotely piloted vehicles (RPV) of small dimensions is scarce. Aerodynamic instabilities are difficult to predict by the existing analytical methods. Previous work concluded that commercial software, easily found in the internet, present poor qualitative agreement with experimental data. Worldwide, there is little and sparse in time scientific research. National research has any kind of system that can accurately measure performance of propulsion system. High efficiency and low power wind turbines together with the unmanned aerial vehicles for military and civil purposes, lead to research and development on this subject. It is intended to analyze the performance of electro-mechanical assembly, collecting five physical parameters: torque, thrust, current being consumed, battery’s voltage and propeller’s rotation speed. It is under development a new balance, with data acquisition implemented by a Labview™ platform and programming language. The design of an automated system is of utmost importance for a highly repeatable and accurate data acquisition. A performance mapping of propulsion system with a systematic set of data, presented in a proper manner is needed. It should help to improve new components and assess whether specially designed components can provide significant gain over those available in market. Keywords: remotely piloted vehicles; performance mapping; data acquisition