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

Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics
An Entomopter for Flight on Mars
was performed on the lower end of the potential lift coefficient range to provide some margin
and conservatism.
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
Total Wing Mass (kg)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6
Wing Length (m)
Figure 3-8: Total Wing Mass as a Function of Wing Length
The relative lifting capacity for various wing lengths and engine power levels is shown in
Figure 3-8. From this figure it can be seen that wing length has a fairly large effect on the lifting
capacity of the vehicle, but an increase in engine power produced only a modest increase in lifting.
It can be inferred that increasing wing length has a much greater benefit then increasing
engine power. Increasing the flap angle for a given power level, has a benefit for increasing relative
lifting capacity. By increasing the wing length and or flapping frequency and maintaining
the same power level the flapping frequency must decrease. Although the absolute relative lifting
capacity values shown in these curves are specific to the flight speed and operational configuration
specified, the trends shown should be consistent for all vehicle configurations and flight
speeds. This figure demonstrates that the Entomopter wing and flapping angle should be as large
as possible to maximize the relative lifting capacity of the vehicle for a given power level.
The complete design space for the Entomopter is quite large. Changing any of the parameters
can affect power required and relative lifting capacity. To determine the best configuration for
the proposed Mars mission, power required and relative lifting capacity were plotted over a
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Phase II Final Report