abstract
- Micro Air Vehicles, often known as MAVs, are minuscule aircraft with immense promise for various uses. These include environmental monitoring, agricultural monitoring, and aircraft surveillance. However, improving their airborne mobility remains a challenging task. This research aims to assess how different wing geometry parameters affect the micro air vehicles' (MAVs') lift and drag coefficients. The studies in the wind tunnel are conducted with an angle of attack that is changed between 0° and 30°, at 8.57x10^4 (8 m/s) Reynolds number. Through systematic wind tunnel experiments, it has been established that specific wing geometry parameters, such as a canted winglet of 3° dihedral angle, and wing taper ratio of 1, significantly enhance aerodynamic performance. The completed MAV shows a significant increase in aerodynamic performance over the previous model with a specification of no winglet at 3° dihedral angle and wing taper ratio of 0.75, concluded with an average elevation of 11.20% in the lift-to-drag ratio. The greatest improvement was seen at a 24° angle of attack, yielding a significant 24.44% increase. These results significantly advance our comprehension of how wing design can optimize MAV performance, thereby enhancing their effectiveness in vital missions.