The influence of rotor rotation of hexacopter on wind measurement accuracy

MUAV (Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) can replace the mast to measure the wind field at a fixed point or multiple points at the same time, but the disturbance caused by the rotor rotation can affect the wind measurement accuracy. An ultrasonic anemometer is attached on a hexacopter using different height brackets, and wind tunnel tests are carried out to investigate the influence of the rotor rotation on the wind field at different heights above the center of the hexacopter and the influence of different wind directions and the tilted fuselage on the measurement accuracy. The results show that rotor rotation causes a great relative wind speed error except for a few situations; The wind speed error caused by the rotor rotation increases first and then decreases with height; when the fuselage is horizontal, the absolute wind speed error tends to be the same under various conditions as the height increases, and when the control wind speed is greater than 6 m/s, the relative wind speed error decreases as the wind speed increases. Rotor rotation has almost no influence on the measurement of the wind direction angle. The results can provide reference for the practical application of wind measurement using MUAVs equipped with wind measurement devices.