Some problems of micro air vehicles development

Abstract

This paper is an overview of the application potential and design challenges of micro air vehicles (MAVs), defined as small enough to be practical for a single-person transport and use. Four types of MAVs are considered: 1) fixed-wing, 2) rotarywing, 3) ornithopters (bird-like flapping) and 4) entomopters (insect-like flapping). In particular, advantages of a propeller-driven delta wing configuration for type 1 are discussed. Some detail is also given for type 4, the least understood of the four, including a new concept of manoeuvre control for such MAVs. The paper concludes with a brief prognostic of the future of each MAV type.