The Genius of Cycloidal Propellers: Future of Flight?

The first

cycloidal

propellers

were devised in the early 20th century, but the same principles are now being reused for modern vertical take-off and landing vehicles. Later we will look at the company's Tech cyclists who are doing just that and see if their idea is succeeding. from the ground, but first let's look at how

cycloidal

propellers

really work and why they might be more favorable than conventional ones. The first notable design of something resembling a cycle rotor is the saml jot of a Russian engineer near EP sov in 1909, this vehicle using paddle wheels for propulsion. was a step in the development of Cycl Roto, but it failed to fly.

In the 1930s further advances were made, especially by Adolf Robach in Germany, the DVL, which is the German Research Institute for Aviation, evaluated the robox design, but foreign aviation magazines of the time questioned the design which meant that funds for the projects could not be raised. I also found this ridiculous clip of something resembling a plane by Jonathan Edward Caldwell. The plan was for the rotary wings to make the plane fly like a goose. Mr. Caldwell was later charged. with fraud and a functional aircraft was never completed. I'm sure everyone is as surprised as I am.

There was also the 1930 Schroer S1, a full-size prototype that used a cyclic rotor for forward thrust only and looked very similar. a flying harvester I can't find much information about the Schroer S1 online, but it represents an era of innovation and interest in the mid-20th century, where engineers were trying to find new and interesting ways to increase the performance and maneuverability of aircraft for the first time. time. The operational application of cyclor technology was the vo Schneider propeller developed by Ernst Schneider and improved by the vo company. Unlike other systems, this was built for marine propulsion and was successfully tested in 1937.

The vo Schneider propeller or vssp is a type of cycloidal propeller that was patented. In 1931, this propeller revolutionized the way ships could maneuver offering unparalleled precision and control compared to traditional propeller systems. The ability of vssp-equipped vessels to move laterally, turn in place, and provide precise thrust in any direction made it particularly useful for tugboats and other vessels. requiring high maneuverability The VSP's potential was further recognized during World War II, where the need for agile and highly maneuverable vessels became evident; However, its widespread adoption in military applications was somewhat restricted due to the demands of war and the need for more mature technologies in the post-war era.

The Voice Schneider propeller found its niche in civil maritime applications. Its adoption was driven by growing recognition of its advantages in safety, efficiency and operational versatility. Ports and the burgeoning offshore industry saw the vssp as a solution to their increasingly complex operational challenges over the decades. vo continued to refine and innovate vssp's advances in hydrodynamic control systems and materials science continues to improve its performance and range of applications today, not only found in marine vessels but also in dynamic positioning systems for floating cranes and even in renewable energy applications like tidal and river current turbines, I found some videos of these in action and they are pretty incredible to see out of the water, they look like some kind of death trap, but on a scale model of a tugboat You can see how it is able to easily move in any direction without having to turn the entire boat.

The transition from the cycloidal propeller concept that had been operating in maritime applications for decades to aviation is a fascinating example of technological adaptation, while the basic principles are based on the same theory successfully using the cycle. Aircraft rotors involve significant reengineering to adapt to air instead of water. Given the continued success of the Schneider vo propeller, you can see why the search for Airbound cycle rotors continues. Engineers are understandably still excited about the promise of greater maneuverability and efficient thrust vectoring. The ability to change thrust direction in any direction can be seen in action in a test video from cycl Tech.

You can precisely control the direction of the outgoing smoke to understand how this precise control is possible, let's take a closer look at how exactly this propeller works and then see it on an airplane, but before that, if you want to design your own propellers or any other thing, you need to know about the current sponsor. onshape onshape is a professional level computer, design software that is completely free for all creators and hobbyists forever, it is even free for engineers and companies for 6 months so they can test it properly. What surprises me is that you can set everything up in 2 minutes without downloading anything and do whatever you want like me.

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Well, now for the magic of cycloidal propellers, the exact working principle of different cyclic rotors changes from one system to another, but let's start with the similarities, since you have probably seen that the rotors have several errors in the arrangement. Ed in a circular pattern around a disc, these FS generate lift and drag as the cylinders rotate; However, to generate lift or thrust in a single uniform direction, these air sheets must be at different angles of attack depending on where they are located. In the circular loop, for example, if we want to go upwards, the leading edge of the air wing on top would have to point away from the center of rotation, while the leading edge of the wing below would have to point toward the center.

Therefore, FS air on the sides would be drawn in as they transition to try to minimize their drag. The direction in which these air fins can be used to quickly change the direction of the propeller thrust, for example to change the direction downwards on the top. the blade would have to point towards the center and the bottom of the air blade away from the center, this means that the high pressure side of the air blade is now on the upper side, forcing it downwards similarly, the angle of the side air blades could be modified from side to side. lateral movement, many cycle rotors will use a mechanical linkage so that they can control the angle of attack of all the air blades at once.

This is an easy way to check everything to make sure it's in unison and make sure each blade turns clockwise. point, this is important because each blade must change orientation as it changes from being on the top and bottom sides. Modern setups like the ABB dinin actually use individual servomotors to control each air blade, although this is more complex from a control point of view. allows for greater flexibility and probably greater efficiency due to the different properties of water and air. Cycle times and angles of attack on rotors for each application vary. In fact, some marine systems I've seen launch a blade with such a high angle of attack.

It seems to act more like a paddle, however, that's how they work, which brings me to some other interesting benefits, unlike conventional propellers which have tips that move much faster than the internal parts of the propeller, the blades. The cyclist rotors all move at the same speed. at the same speed, this means the lift they generate is more uniform by default, but it also means they are quieter and don't create vortexes or loud noises with fast-moving tips. This noise reduction could be a pretty big benefit if you want to use these in air taxis in urban environments, which I think is the plan for cye.

Before looking at cycl Tech, it's worth noting that these propellers aren't all sunshine and their unique blade movement requires complex control systems that can increase cost and maintenance requirements. The variable angle of attack and the dynamic nature of its operation subject the blades and structures to significant stresses that can cause wear or even failure in difficult conditions. This is compounded by the fact that the rotor is essentially trying to separate faster. spin size of cycloidal propeller systems is also considerably larger than conventional propellers, which in turn increases their weight, even if the thrust vectoring capabilities of a cyclic rotor make it more efficient, in some scenarios it could be useless if the thrust-to-weight ratio is too low, fortunately engineers don't want to give up quickly when things get complicated and possibly impractical.

Flying cars have been a childhood dream for many of us and I think part of the excitement around the cycling technology vehicle is based on the flying car feeling it gives off. All the vertical take-off and landing vehicles or EVs might take a while to get me from my driveway to a big utopian city of opportunity, but what they've accomplished is still pretty incredible. Cycl Tech is an Austrian company that has been working on their rotor. design for over 15 years and just received over $20 million in additional funding. Its main test vehicle appears to be a carbon fiber chassis with four of its Cy rotors attached.

The vehicle weighs only 83 kg, of which about half are bicycle rotors. Every bicycle rotor. spins up to 3100 RPM and have successfully demonstrated the vehicle's ability to fly indoors tethered; However, after the permission of the European Union aviation safety agency in 2023, they also demonstrated that the vehicle flies in the open air, there is no talk about the

flight

time available here. but I imagine it is very limited since adding batteries would quickly increase the weight of the system. I have to wonder if the cyclic rotor design offers any real benefits over conventional propellers. In this use case, we have already seen products like the Jetson 1.

I demonstrate that it is possible to achieve many of the goals of Cycl Tech using more mature technologies. The Jetson 1 has a similar weight of 86kg, but allows for another 95kg of pilot weight on top of that, with a

flight

time of 20 minutes. to say I really want to try one of these, think about how easy it would be to cut down all the local Hedges or lose an arm while you're still watching, please subscribe to the channel as I think you'll like some of the other videos I make like this one about drones that can print houses in 3D.

Your support helps the channel a lot and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the

future

of cyclorotors in the comments below, thanks for watching.