The Joker 2 RC Helicopter

Executive Summary

This report describes the RC helicopter digital data acquisition senior design project.  Using a helicopter test stand developed by previous semester design projects a digital control system and interactive monitoring system using LabVIEW has been developed. This has been a combined effort between mechanical and aerospace undergraduate engineers and a graduate aerospace engineer.  The mechanical engineering students have overseen the general tasks of machining, mounting, and calibrating of sensors on the helicopter, while the aerospace engineers have performed all of the preliminary calculations and created the digital interface via LabVIEW.

Once all of the sensors have been implemented properly the stand will be tested for functionality using the modified Joker 2 RC Helicopter with different rotor blade profiles.  A series of strain gauges, linear potentiometers, and a thermocouple will be used to record and observe the data. Most of the machining, mounting, preliminary calculations and calibrating have to be completed before any digital data acquisition can take place.

            The test stand being used is similar to a conventional sting mount, utilizing six strain gauges at various points on the beam to quantify torque, longitudinal forces, and pitch.  The helicopter mounting plate was replaced due to the fabrication of a new body for the Joker 2 helicopter and the replacing of the gas motor with an electric motor.  The new helicopter has been attached to the new mounting plate and is much more secure and should give more precise results.  Three MLP-25 linear potentiometers are mounted to the swash plate of the helicopter rotor to define the position of the rotor blades at all times. One linear potentiometer will be used for each degree of freedom. In addition, a J type thermocouple has been mounted on the motor housing to monitor the temperature of the electric motor so it doesn’t overheat and burn out.  All of the data compiled from the sensors will be included in the final report which will serve as another stepping stone for future senior design projects that will be able to take the RC helicopter digital data acquisition project to the next level.

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