Summary draft 1 of Helicopter Ingenuity Rotor Sub-system

 In the publication, “Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstrator”, Balaram (2018) described the features of the rotor system of the Ingenuity.

The Ingenuity has a 1.21 m diameter coaxial counter-rotating rotor to minimize its size and constraints of its host aircraft. It’s also designed with a rigid rotor with stiff blades with a high flap frequency of more than 1.9/rev to prevent flapping, the out-of-plane motion the blades do to deflect forces rather than absorb it. This is due to the thin Martian atmosphere causing poor aerodynamic damping which affects the flapping dynamics. This alters the response of inputs as well as potentially destabilizing the helicopter. Hence the blades are designed to vibrate rather than oscillate. The maximum rotation rate for the rotors is 2800 rpm. The bearings and swashplates are enclosed with seals and soft boots to prevent dust build up.