[2605.07292] Variable Aerodynamic Damping via Co-Contraction: A Dynamic Isomorphism with Variable Stiffness Actuators
[Submitted on 8 May 2026]
Title:Variable Aerodynamic Damping via Co-Contraction: A Dynamic Isomorphism with Variable Stiffness Actuators
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Abstract:We prove that aerodynamic co-contraction in a redundant dual-rotor actuator can tune a passive, trim-defined aero-mechanical damping while keeping the commanded net force constant. In particular, we define an incremental damping coefficient as the local sensitivity of net thrust to air-relative velocity at a trim and prove that it increases monotonically along constant-force fibers under a mild aerodynamic hardening condition. We then validate the required damping and hardening properties from a first-principles Blade Element Theory derivation, which yields a minimal thrust model affine in inflow and explicitly reveals the speed--inflow coupling driving the effect. The resulting mechanism is formalized as a Variable Aerodynamic Damping Actuator (VADA) and shown to be dynamically isomorphic to stiffness modulation in antagonistic variable-stiffness actuation (VSA), similar to the co-contraction of tendons by muscle co-activation. The same fiber-density principle also enhances the active aerodynamic promptness measure of redundant multirotors. Finally, an impedance-form representation clarifies the roles of common-mode and differential-mode actuation in the control of passive impedance and the equilibrium velocity of the VADA system.
Subjects:
Robotics (cs.RO); Systems and Control (eess.SY); Optimization and Control (math.OC)
Cite as: arXiv:2605.07292 [cs.RO]
(or arXiv:2605.07292v1 [cs.RO] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.07292
arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)
Submission history
From: Antonio Franchi [view email] [v1] Fri, 8 May 2026 06:02:34 UTC (566 KB)
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