MICRO AIR VEHICLE

A micro air vehicle (MAV), or micro aerial vehicle, is a class of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that has a size restriction and may be autonomous. The constraint for overall design of vehicle is that it must fit in a sphere of diameter 300 mm. Modern craft can be as small as 15 centimetres. This constraint on design has been put so as the vehicle can make use of very small volume effectively and thus helps in reducing the Radar Cross Section (RCS) of the craft. The reason of keeping the RCS of the vehicle low is to avoid detection of the vehicle by enemy radar. But this also a big problem for the designers of the vehicle as it makes our available volume very low. This puts limitations on the amount of lift and thus the amount of reconnaissance equipment that can be put onboard the vehicle. Development is driven by commercial, research, government, and military purposes; with insect-sized aircraft reportedly expected in the future. Micro air vehicles are either fixed wing aircraft, rotary wing aircraft (helo), or flapping-wing designs, each being used for different purposes. Fixed-wing craft require higher, forward flight speeds to stay airborne, and are therefore able to cover long distances; however they are unable to effectively manoeuvre inside structures such as buildings. Rotary-wing designs allow the craft to hover and move in any direction, at the cost of requiring closer proximity for launch and recovery. Flapping-wing-powered flight has yet to reach the same level of maturity as fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. However, flapping-wing designs, if fully realized would boast a manoeuvrability that is superior to both fixed and rotary wing designs due to extremely high wing loadings achieved via unsteady aerodynamics.

The demand for small unmanned air vehicles, commonly termed micro air vehicles, is rapidly increasing. Driven by applications ranging from civil search-and-rescue missions to military surveillance missions, there is a rising level of interest and investment in better vehicle designs, and miniaturized components are enabling many rapid advances. Fast-response non-linear controls, nano-structures, integrated propulsion and lift mechanisms, highly flexible structures, and low Reynolds aerodynamics are just a few of the important considerations which may be combined in the execution of MAV research.

FUNCTIONS OF MAV Used for communications Used for tagging and targeting Surveillance For missions in interior of building Power line inspections Rescue operations Aerial photography

CHALLENGES Flight control is difficult All system is based on microelectronics Requirement of Flapping wings Stabilization and guidance require highly autonomous control systems

The state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) have launched an ambitious joint National Programme for Micro Air Vehicles (NP-MICAV). According to DRDO officials, an estimated $21.5 million will be spent on this programme involving the creation of micro air vehicles in two phases. The MAV programs first phase will be completed in three years and the second phase, which will focus on futuristic technologies, will take up the last two years.