VTS 2022 AAM Concepts Innovation Challenge - Hermes

We present Hermes – a novel, low-cost, wireless, batteryless, energy harvesting system for aerial vehicles for sensing wind speed and Angle of Attack (AoA) concurrently. Hermes comprises a set of piezoelectric films which flutter due to incoming wind and the characteristics of this aeroelastic flutter are utilized for determining the wind speed and AoA of the head-wind. Hermes consists of five piezoelectric flags that are mounted on rigid clamps specifically placed at different angles. We designed Hermes to maximize the sensing performance and energy harvesting capability simultaneously, without compromising either accuracy or harvesting efficiency. Our current prototype can harvest the power of 440 μW on average. Over a wide range AoA from -10° to 30°, the estimation of the wind speed is within 0.7 km/h error with 90% probability, and AoA error is within 1.2° with 90% probability. Since Hermes necessitates no wires and batteries and is a low-cost sensor, it is well suited for a range of UAVs, gliders, and aircraft, which require flexible sensor placement and do not require new wiring, which is often complex in aircraft. Hermes is the first of its kind that exploits piezoelectric energy harvesting to simultaneously sense AoA and wind speed.

本报告推出赫米斯——一款新颖、低成本、无线、免电池、能源采集系统，专为空中飞行器设计，以同时感知风速和攻角（AoA）。赫米斯由一组压电薄膜组成，这些薄膜因迎面而来的风而振动，该气动弹性振动的特性被用于确定迎风的风速和攻角。赫米斯由五个安装在不同角度的刚性夹具上的压电旗帜组成。我们设计赫米斯旨在最大化传感性能和能源采集能力，同时不牺牲准确性和采集效率。我们的当前原型平均可以采集到440 μW的功率。在-10°至30°的广泛攻角范围内，风速的估计误差在0.7 km/h以内，概率为90%，攻角误差在1.2°以内，概率为90%。由于赫米斯无需电线和电池，且成本低廉，非常适合多种无人机、滑翔机和飞机，这些设备需要灵活的传感器放置，且无需新增布线，这在飞机中往往复杂难行。赫米斯是首例利用压电能源采集技术同时感知攻角和风速的系统。