NASA Albatross Dynamic Soaring Open Ocean Persistent Platform UAV Concept

This concept investigate the feasibility of a dynamic soaring (DS) UAV that will have an endurance on the order of months. This capability is enabling for numerous civil missions from ocean and atmospheric science to fishery surveillance and monitoring. Many of these missions are simply not feasible do to the cost of operating a fueled aircraft with limited endurance. An aircraft such as this could be built in the thousands. They would distribute themselves over the oceans of the planet providing a robust surveillance network that has persistence which is only limited by the reliability of the hardware. This aircraft is based on the Albatross which in habitats the southern oceans by Antarctica. The typical Albatross weighs about 25 lbs. They have an aspect ratio 16 wing with an 11 foot span. They are estimated to have an L/D of 27. Since there are few static soaring opportunities over the ocean, the Albatross uses a technique called Dynamic Soaring (DS) to maintain flight. Dynamic soaring is a figure eight-like flight maneuver that takes advantage of horizontal wind gradients to maintain flight speed and altitude. The albatross can travel over 1000 km per day without ever flapping their wings through the constant use of such maneuvers, while able to tack any direction with independence of wind direction The Albatross is also able to lock their shoulder joint to rest their muscles and even capable of sleeping while performing the DS flight maneuvers. This UAV Concept has the same weight and size of the Albatross and would be propelled by the wind alone utilizing this same DS technique. Tip turbines on the wing tips extract power from the tip vortex to power the payload and recharge the batteries. When the wind dies the aircraft has the ability to safely land on the surface of the ocean. Solar cells will be used to keep the payload and other electronics running. The tip turbines can also be used as propellers to provide takeoff thrust and at other times to provide auxiliary propulsion to allow the aircraft to maneuver away from an obstacle.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NASA
• Advanced
• Concept
• Aircraft
• Dynamic
• Soaring
• UAV
• Open
• Ocean
• Persistent
• Platform

[pauljs75]

If you had a way to regularly identify where wind-shear is occurring at altitude and during clear weather, it would be possible to take this dynamic soaring to a whole new level. (Quite literally in fact.) Instead of skirting breakers, it could be surfing the jet-stream. Apparently I'm not the first with this idea, and was considered possible based on research in the 1970's. (Other than the problem of finding wind-shear in clear skies, the electronics now exist to make it work.)

[NASAPAV]

Small lightweight LIDAR systems are just now becoming available to 'see' the wind shear. Besides doing DS down low like this, Greg Cole in Oregon is attempting to set the world altitude gliding record through exactly what you are talking about - he has a very exciting research project that is being assisted by a longtime U2 pilot. So you are quite correct.

[2bornot2b1984]

Pt.2

Even if you lost the uplink, as soon as it re-charged it would start sending out signal again and you could re-launch it.

I think there are enough publicly available GPS utilities to build the craft from existing components without having to design much proprietary equipment/protocols.

[NASAPAV]

Yes, I think this is doable - but I don't know enough about maintaining GPS for an around the world flight. You could use a simple satellite phone modem to monitor location (and even transmit still pictures every once in a while - but the modem speed is quite low for Iridium). This could be done - but this is not a NASA type of effort, but is better suited as a private effort to establish a world record.

[Womenftw12345]

this is possible but the plane would have a limited range of flight distance even gliding because you would have to rely on winds and winds can be crazy sometimes in the open acoean

[legion2]

i would recommend using taido yuden PAS capacitor instead of a battery. please share information about lightweight LIDAR. this seems to me to be a difficult thing to achieve!

[legion2]

i hope you guys manage a way to do this. theres so much excitement in the concept of unpowered uavs.

[recoveringcultmember]

Is this a way to fake a geostatic satelite?

[GreenAce92]

That's a neat way to mount your powerplant... what happens if one is stronger than the other (or one engine dies) does it mean that it can't fly on one?

I like the concept of the aircraft or the "looks of it" nice sea plane. (Looks like it to me hull and small pontoons

[magua73]

I love it when technology imitates nature.