In-situ Calibration of Four-Hole Pressure Probes on a Small UAV for Free Flight Measurement

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Contributors

Abstract

This paper describes the calibration process of cone-shaped four-hole pressure probes to be used for wind estimation based on airborne sensing with small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Due to the limited payload capacity and system resources of small UAVs, the probes do only have four holes in contrast to conventional five-hole probes. The probes are calibrated solely and together with the aircraft in a wind tunnel to cover retroactive effects originating from the flow field around the airframe. A lifting line model is set up to accompany this approach and to correct test section blockage. The calibration is approximated by polynomial functions of fifth and fourth order for main and cross sensitivities, respectively. The fitting results show a satisfactory representation of the probes’ behavior within the calibrated range of flow angles, that covers the expected flight envelope very well. As a result, four-hole probes can be called applicable for the task of flow angle measurement at small UAVs.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAIAA SciTech Forum, 2025
ISBN (electronic)978-1-62410-723-8
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jan 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0001-6734-704X/work/176341995
Scopus 85217811251

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas