Electromagnetic Locking Device Design for Aerial Towed System Probe Docking

The aerial towing system consists of a towing aircraft platform, a cable, and a towed body. It can perform tasks such as material transportation and load recovery, significantly expanding the scope of aerial operation space. During the connection process between the towed body and the towing aircraft platform, the towed body faces difficulties in connection due to the interference from the wake flow field of the towing aircraft platform and the influence of airflow on the flexible cable. Therefore, a detailed study on the docking method is required. The research object is the aerial towed system probe docking. An electromagnetic locking device is designed. The electromagnetic locking principle of rapid locking and emergency release is given. By establishing the finite element model considering the docking process, the response data of the electromagnetic docking mechanism is obtained considering the electromagnetic force as a variable. When the capacitor is used for power supply, the maximum electromagnetic force can reach more than 1000 N under the condition of 2 mm×15 mm wire gauge when the capacitor is above 0.5 F. This docking electromagnetic locking device in this paper provides a new idea for the air docking design.