The folks at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson AFB are carrying out some fascinating work on MUAVs - Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

USAF Captains David Curtis and Nathan Pitcher used PhotoModeler and the PMV module to track changes to 3D wing shape.

Captain Curtis developed testing methods for analyzing the performance of a miniature flapping wing mechanism that could later be adapted to a flapping wing micro air vehicle. He used a non-intrusive photogrammetry method employing laser dot projection and PhotoModeler Video to measure the shape of the wing during flapping. Approximately 100 data points representing wing shape and orientation were collected at 1000 Hz. Captain Curtis' Master's thesis, Laser Dot Projection Photogrammetry and Force Balance Measurement Techniques for Flapping Wing Micro Air Vechicles, describes this work in great detail.

Captain Pitcher examined the static aeroelastic behavior of the Nighthawk MUAV wings using a combined experimental and computational approach. He used PhotoModeler Video during wind tunnel testing to measure the average deflected shape of the flexible and stiff wings during flight. Captain Pitcher's Master's thesis, A Static Aeroelastic Analysis of a Flexible Wing Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, and the paper, Videogrammetry Dynamics Measurements of a Lightweight Flexible Wing in a Wind Tunnel, provide detailed information about these works.

PhotoModeler and the PMV module gave Captains Curtis and Pitcher a powerful, accurate and non-contact tool for measuring 3D wing shape changes at video frame rates.

For further information you can contact Dr. Jonathan Black, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB.