Innovative Airspeed Sensing Based on a Micromachined Sensor

Abstract

The adaptability of QVAR to integrate with inertial sensors makes it useful as an auxiliary sensor for navigation. It can assist in navigation under challenging GPS conditions by utilizing Dead Reckoning based on airspeed estimates and inertial data. Additionally, QVAR can enhance the accuracy of air data sensors by utilizing cross-sensor queuing with air data sensors. The innovative technology of QVAR offers significant advantages for navigation compared to traditional Pitot tubes. It eliminates the need for airspeed estimation inlets and serves as a low-cost digital sensor. Moreover, QVAR can be easily tested on remotely piloted aircraft systems. Its minimal requirements in terms of mass, size, power consumption, and complexity make it a highly promising solution for airspeed sensing, especially on platforms with limited available resources like small unmanned aircraft. The following paper presents the development of a prototypal sensor, namely Qvar, produced by STMicroelectronics and based on MEMS technology. A digital output has been derived, and several laboratory tests have been conducted to find a correlation between this output and the speed of airflow, with the aim to exploit the developed sensor for estimating the airspeed of a drone.