Flettner-rotor-powered VTOL’s theoretical performances

Abstract

The demand for VTOLs is growing rapidly. From inspection to logistics, thanks to the evolution of autonomous technology. However, most of the fields remain just possibilities rather than actual usage cases due to the limited flight range, wall interaction, noise and instability of the aircraft. Alleviating an instability is especially an important key to achieve a reliable aerial system. One reason of instability is due to the limited four degrees of freedom. (i.e. VTOLs have to tilt to move horizontally) In this paper, a Flettner-force-powered VTOL that has sixdegrees of freedom, called Horizonist, is proposed and the stability of Horizonist is discussed in comparison to the conventional. (Horizonist is filed as a patent in Japan (issued as JP6938005) and PCT) The performances are evaluated in terms of settling time and power consumption against various inputs and a wind.