A zero cost methodology for the measurement of the rolling resistance in UAVs

Abstract Despite the fact that measurements of the rolling friction coefficient are important in several areas, the subject in general is not adequately addressed in high school or college. This situation deprives the student of the knowledge of the experimental resources used to measure the friction coefficient, in addition to compromising the understanding of the phenomenon. In addition, certain pairs of materials of interest to engineering are simply not found in the literature, as in the case of tires used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In an attempt to fill both gaps, the present work presents a methodology for determining the rolling friction coefficient in UAVs. The method used is extremely simple, in terms of its implementation and of the theory used, but it is still interesting from a didactic point of view and due to the fact that its cost is practically zero, using only an inclined plane and measures of the distance covered by the UAV. The results show friction coefficient values depending on the vehicle's weight. The values obtained are discussed and suggestions for the future improvement of the experiment are presented.

摘要
尽管滚动摩擦系数的测量在诸多领域均具有重要意义，但当前高中与大学的教学体系中，该主题并未得到充分覆盖。此种现状不仅会导致学生无法掌握测量摩擦系数所需的实验方法，还会阻碍其对该物理现象的理解。此外，工程领域关注的部分材料配对在现有文献中鲜有记载，例如无人飞行器（unmanned aerial vehicles, UAV）所用轮胎这类材料配对的相关研究便付阙如。为填补上述两处空白，本研究提出了一种用于测定UAV滚动摩擦系数的方法。该方法在实施流程与理论基础层面均极为简便，同时兼具教学价值，且仅需利用斜面与UAV的滑行距离测量即可完成，实验成本几乎为零。实验结果表明，滚动摩擦系数的数值与飞行器自身重量相关。本文对所得的摩擦系数数值展开了讨论，并提出了该实验后续优化的相关建议。