Remote and Feedback Control of the Flap Angle in a Wind Tunnel Test Model by Optical Measurement

Abstract

We have developed a remote and precise feedback control system using optical measurement technology to alter the angle of a flap, which is part of a wind tunnel test model, automatically and to earn the aerodynamic data efficiently. To rectify the wasteful circumstance that Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s low-turbulence wind tunnel stops ventilation every time to switch model configurations, we repaired hardware for remote operation and generated software for feedback control. As a result, we have accomplished a system that dramatically advances the efficiency of wind tunnel tests. Moreover, the system was able to consider the deformation of the model through optical measurement; the system controlled flap angles with errors less than the minimum resolution of optical measurement equipment. Consequently, we successfully grasped the nonlinearity of three aerodynamic coefficients C L , C D , and C M p that was impossible so far.

Keywords

• remote operation
• feedback control
• optical measurement
• wind tunnel test
• aerodynamic characteristics
• aircraft
• flap