Aerodynamic Modeling of an Aerobot for Exploration of Titan

Kyle Dyroff.

The specific problem being addressed by my SURF project is the creation and validation of a robust aerobot model for the exploration of Saturn's moon Titan. This requires an accurate aerodynamic model to be coded on the computer such that one can view how the aerobot would react to aerodynamic forces, control surface inputs, thrust vectoring, and wind-fields which will be encountered. This model will come from the basic equations of motion and aerodynamic laws and then will draw upon the gathered real world flight data from aerobot testing. Another part of the task to be completed includes the creation of automated software to expedite the process of data massaging for model validation.

Additionally, the team is expecting to make another flight test in the month of July, so I will be devoting some time to the preparatory work for the launch and the collection of data. This will require an assessment of the planned experimental procedures to ensure that the methodology to be followed is feasible and will realize the maximum amount of useful results for the minimum flight time. Prior to this, I will be performing additional preparatory work for the analysis of the gathered data so that once collected it can be efficiently and automatically analyzed. This will greatly improve the time it will take to insure the fidelity of the models being constructed.

Surf Progress Report 1