Indoor Testing Facilities available at the NASA Unmanned Autonomy Research Complex (NUARC) – NASA

A large WindShaper fan array is available for dynamic low-speed and hovering flight research.  The WindShaper is ideal for generating arbitrary wind gradients and wind gusts via a simple Python API.  A companion WindProbe is also available for quick surveys of flows.  The WindProbe utilizes the lab’s OptiTrack motion capture system to extract the position and orientation of the 5-hole cone probe located on the probe tip.

• Large dynamic fan array: 9’x7’, 1134 fans arranged as 567 ‘wind pixels’
• Wind speeds: 0 to 16 m/s (0 to 36 mph/31 kts)
• Acceleration: 4 m/s², Deceleration: 2.5 m/s²
• Each fan is programmable via Python scripting
• Replicates steady winds, gusts, and wind gradients