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The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system
Includes summary.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Mechanical Engineering
2014
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| _version_ | 1867614502243008512 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Norton, William Alexander |
| author2 | Redelinghuys, Christiaan |
| author_browse | Norton, William Alexander Redelinghuys, Christiaan |
| author_facet | Redelinghuys, Christiaan Norton, William Alexander |
| author_sort | Norton, William Alexander |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes summary. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5496 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:53:03.737Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| publisherStr | Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5496 The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system Norton, William Alexander Redelinghuys, Christiaan Mechanical Engineering Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73). Parafoils have been used in various aerospace, military and sport applications to return both personnel and payloads safely to the ground. Deflection of the trailing edge flaps by means of control lines allows for turn rates of up to 60° per second, which provides superior controllability when compared to conventional round parachutes. This steering ability has led to the development of autonomous control systems that are able to navigate a payload to land in close proximity to a designated landing site. In order to develop an autonomous navigation system a suitable dynamic model of the parafoil with suspended payload is required to determine the parameters and characteristics of the system in free flight. Flexible ram-air inflated parafoils display high sensitivity to atmospheric disturbances which complicates the comparison of measured flight-dynamic data to theoretical models in an open air free flight test. In order to improve the quality of results in studying the flight dynamics of an unmanned parafoil system in free flight, controlled conditions and a repeatable flight path are required to perform data analysis for various trim configurations. This leads to the requirement of a launching system that ensures consistent inflation of the canopy and repeatable launch velocities for various canopy and payload configurations. 2014-07-31T11:19:22Z 2014-07-31T11:19:22Z 2010 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5496 eng application/pdf Department of Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Mechanical Engineering Norton, William Alexander The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system |
| title_full | The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system |
| title_fullStr | The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system |
| title_full_unstemmed | The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system |
| title_short | The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system |
| title_sort | development optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system |
| topic | Mechanical Engineering |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5496 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nortonwilliamalexander thedevelopmentoptimisationandtestingofanunmannedparafoillaunchsystem AT nortonwilliamalexander developmentoptimisationandtestingofanunmannedparafoillaunchsystem |