Investigation of Longitudinal Aero-Propulsive Interactions of a Small Quadrotor Unmanned Aircraft

This paper presents recent results studyingthe influence of aero-propulsive interactioneffects on a small quadrotor vehicle using isolated rotor, bareairframe,andpoweredairframe static wind tunnel test results.Aerodynamic interaction model development was explored utilizing system identification tools and incorporatedintoa previously developed NASA quadrotor flight dynamic simulation.The aerodynamic interaction model improvedtheaccuracyof the simulation in comparisonto free-flight and static wind tunnel resultswithheld from model development. Comparisons between models of different fidelity were completed to demonstrate the effects of aerodynamic interactionson model accuracy and provide recommendations for modeling requirements.