Phase II Final Report - NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts

Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics
An Entomopter for Flight on Mars
to address this subject. Similarly an analytical solution to blown flapping wing flight does not
exist and new formulations for the aerodynamics of the flapping wing have been developed during
this NIAC study as a first step toward addressing this deficiency.
In both the CFD and analytical formulations, certain physical properties have yet to be implemented.
For example, the analytical formulation correctly characterizes the aerodynamics of the
flapping wing and is in agreement with the CFD results, but it has yet to implement those modules
that account for the circulation due to the LEV and the effects of blowing. On the other
hand, while CFD has been able to show that the effects of a correctly configured and blown flap
significantly increase lift, the parameters of the point solution chosen did not yield the optimum
levels of performance encountered experimentally in the wind tunnel for other blown wings.
The analytical formulation for the flapping wing aerodynamics is designed to be a tool that can
allow rapid permutations of these parameters to define the bounds of the design space and also
to identify optima within that space. The CFD codes developed can then validate the analytical
findings, however the ultimate validation will be future wind tunnel tests that are designed to
test the Entomopter wing with the predicted optimal parameter set under Mars atmospheric conditions.
This NIAC study has been able to develop the basic tools that will ultimately lead to
these validating wind tunnel tests.
The Entomopter’s Reciprocating Chemical Muscle was also sized for the Mars flight vehicle.
Although torsional resonance is designed into the Entomopter’s wing flapping mechanism, this
has not been modeled as part of the power calculations used in the design of the propulsion system.
Therefore the payload capacity and endurance estimates for a Mars Entomopter with a 1.2
m wing span are conservative.
Having addressed the flight regime and sizing of the Mars Entomopter, the issues of navigation
and communication were considered. In particular the issues of Entomopter location and selfawareness
amid unbriefed Mars terrain features were addressed. Two approaches were taken,
the first of which was “rover-centric” with the philosophy that to reduce Entomopter weight and
increased endurance, as much communications and navigation capability as possible should be
contained in the Entomopter’s refueling rover. The second approach involved a more traditional
design in which various sensor systems would be carried by the Entomopter to allow greater
self-sufficiency albeit at the cost of greater gross weight and power consumption.
Various science payload packages have been identified as well as Entomopter-enabled missions.
Dual use of communications and navigation equipment was explored in support of the science
missions so as to reduce the weight of redundant electronics.
Based on the research conducted during this NIAC Phase II study, a design space has been identified
in which Mars Entomopter flight is practical. The added capability offered by an Entomopter-based
Mars surveyor is significant and will increase the amount of useful science that
can be conducted during a Mars mission. The results of this NIAC study indicate that no other
Mars surveying vehicle concept is comparable to that of the Entomopter when the combination
of mission endurance and surveillance information resolution is considered.
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Phase II Final Report