DSI Funds RMIT Research Project

As of Friday 20th November the Defence Science Institute (DSI) informed us our collaborative research grant application with RMIT had been successful. This research project will develop the StopRotor dynamics model to validate the performance capability of the aircraft and be used as leverage for future engagement and collaboration with Defence, Government and industry.

Investigating the dynamics model, scalability of the design and performance will uncover the true capability of the platform and identify the range of missions it can successfully undertake. This project will give a clear indication of the minimum and maximum capability of the StopRotor and how these parameters can be approximated for various scales of the platform. The RMIT Industrial Wind Tunnel will be utilized for full scale wind-tunnel tests to gather the main steady-state aerodynamic derivatives. Dynamic derivatives, which are needed to model the dynamic flight behavior, will be acquired through a combination of engineering theory and flight tests. The complete StopRotor model will allow various developments in its performance characteristics while enabling the design of an appropriate control system for autonomous or assisted control from a specialized autopilot system.

The StopRotor aircraft design and method of operation is a ‘new to the world’ first of type. Part of the novelty and inventive step is the expanded flight envelope which allows aerodynamic in-flight transition between flight modes to occur. The end result is the combination of the two most commercially viable aircraft capabilities into a single platform. This creates exciting new research opportunities and the potential for an Australian invention to provide a solution to a long standing limitation in aviation performance.

This aircraft will be delivered to RMIT by mid January 2016. Dr Roberto Sabatini will be the lead investigator for this project.

More about the DSI Collaborative Research Grant

We will be releasing information and images of the SR800 demonstrator aircraft that this project will support very soon.