Smart Material Airfoil Anemometer Could Boost Safety, Efficiency of Future Drones and Small Aircraft
Designed to do away with bulky wind speed sensors causing drag, this compact airfoil can generate its own electricity while it works.
Researchers from the Ohio State University have developed a new wind sensor, shaped like an airfoil, which they say maintains aerodynamics while providing effective wind speed and direction sensing for drones and other uncrewed aircraft — providing quality data for safe flying.
"Our ability to use the airspace to move or transport things in an efficient manner has huge societal implications," claims Marcelo Dapino, co-author of the study and professor of mechanical engineering at the Ohio State University, of the potential impact of the team's work. "But to operate these flying objects, precise wind measurements must be available in real time whether the vehicle is manned or unmanned."
Traditional anemometers can be used, but don't scale well to smaller aircraft like drones and other uncrewed vehicles — typically requiring relatively large amounts of energy to operate and being based on approaches, like spinning blades turned by the wind, which increase drag and reduce performance.
The solution: a new form of anemometer, designed like an airfoil from "smart materials" — in particular polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which exhibits piezoelectric properties, producing an electrical charge under pressure. As the airfoil is exposed to the wind, it generates its own power — and rotates freely to read both the direction and speed of the wind.
In sealed-environment and wind-tunnel testing, the airfoil provided accurate readings for both metrics — though the team has yet to integrate it into a drone for field testing. The researchers are, however, eager to see where else the design could be used — suggesting that the same technology could be used to improve the efficiency of wind turbines in the future.
"These are very advanced materials and they can be used in many applications," Dapino claims. "We would like to build on those applications to bring compact wind energy generation to the home."
The team's work has been published in the journal Frontiers in Materials under open-access terms.