Design, Implementation, and Test Flight of a Lightweight Camber Morphing Wing Aircraft

Inspired by nature and avionic birds, this paper introduces the process of designing, building, and flying a camber-morphing wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Unlike conventional fixed-wing aircraft that use control surfaces such as flaps and ailerons for flight control, the concept of morphing is a more substantial and conformal shape change that has the advantages of enhanced aerodynamic performances, including longer flight time and range, radar signature, from increased lift (L), reduced drag (D), or improved lift and drag ratio (L/D) at a certain angle of attack (AoA) range. Camber is the curvature of the airfoil, and camber morphing is one way to adjust the camber rate or curvature, thereby modifying the flight profile by altering L and D. Numerical analysis of the aerodynamic performance of camber morphing airfoils compared to conventional wings with control surfaces reveals that camber morphing outperforms. In addition, most morphing designs are not conformal but rather employ partial morphing in either the trailing or leading edge of the airfoil. Various studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of camber morphing; however, most research related to morphing focuses on aerodynamic analysis and is primarily conceptual, often existing only in academic papers. The actual system and its performance verification have yet to be fully developed for UAVs, as camber morphing requires specific internal mechanisms that are lightweight, simple, and capable of conformally changing the camber rate accordingly. This paper presents the detailed design, implementation, performance evaluation, and test flight of the developed, entirely conformal camber morphing wing UAV. The impact of lightweight, reduced noise, and enhanced L/D aerodynamic performance of the designed UAV is introduced in this paper. Its significant contribution lies in the actual and effective implementation of the entire camber morphing, including leading and trailing edges, for various futuristic applications.