Papers by Keyword: UAV

Abstract: Solar-powered UAV is an alternative way to achieve high endurance and long range UAV flight. However, solar irradiance is not always available during the flight. Thus, secondary power source which is electrical batteries will improve the performance of solar-powered UAV when solar irradiance is not available. Therefore, bench test for LiPo battery is conducted in this paper for the design of solar-powered UAV power system. The impact of operating temperature at various charging and discharging rate on the duration to full charge and discharge and capacity level of a single LiPo battery were assessed. The solar module installed in solar-powered UAV developed by Aircraft Design Group, Cranfield University has to be designed to charge the battery pack at a nominal or maximum rate of 0.129 C and 0.155 C correspondingly. The solar module requires roughly 5.73 hours on nominal charging rate on 30 °C operating temperature to fully charge capacity level instead of 5.54 hours theoretical predicted. The battery pack will then discharge at cruise flight roughly about 0.071 C to a maximum of 1.685 C if required. If the battery pack is not charged, during cruise flight the battery capacity will deplete completely at about 6.51 hours for the same operating temperature, in contrast to the 6.48 hours based on the theoretical prediction. In addition, the usage of LiPo batteries for operation at high altitudes and/or extreme temperatures without an additional heating or cooling system for these battery packs is not favorable. Thus, it is best to charge at low charging rate and high operating temperature to store and utilize the most capacity from this battery.

Abstract: The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a light weight flight system that can carry sensors and cameras for data collection. Tremendous excitement surrounds the use of UAVs because they can be deployed easily and rapidly for data collection; they also can be programmed to execute missions with high degrees of autonomy. For these reasons, UAVs hold promise in accelerating the collection of data in geophysical explorations. In this study, a UAV platform is explored for the collection of data from geophones deployed to measure the vibrations of a concrete slab foundation. The UAV is designed to drop a weight as a controlled energy source. Both the energy and location of the impulsive load are adjustable by the flight parameters of the UAV. The study adopts a time-domain analysis for source localization using the dense array of geophones

Abstract: The manufacturing process of lightweight and strong (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) UAV and composite aircraft flight testing capability is described in this research. Nowadays, UAV development becomes more creative and high technology. Mapping and monitoring process from a UAV will be more effective and efficient. Mapping and monitoring process needs high durability UAV so that development with lightweight and strong material is needed. Lightweight technology is very suitable applied in the UAV technology. The composite material has many benefits for an aerodynamics world. The composite material was made of fiberglass and resin, and this material was used in components that are not loaded to high loads. The aircraft industry uses fiberglass composites widely because of the stiffness, strength, and toughness of composite.This research was conducted by manufacturing an aircraft with a fiberglass composite. The first manufacturing process was making a master prototype from styrofoam and then the styrofoam master was used to make a mold. The next process is called hand lay-up in which fiberglass and resin were laid to the model to produce half side of the aircraft. The process refined by vacuum bag to obtain a thin, flat, and good surface of the aircraft. Aircraft flight testing is needed to obtain statistical of the stability in pitch, roll and altitude, so the data result will determine the feasibility of composite aircraft in this research. The flight data have shown that the aircraft has high stability on roll and pitch.

Abstract: In this paper, a formation control method of quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) by vision-based positioning is presented. The relative positions and attitudes of two UAVs with respect to a visual marker attached to the third UAV is estimated by a camera calibration method. Based on the estimated positions and attitudes, two UAVs are controlled to the desired positions to form a given formation with respect to the third UAV. A simplified dynamics model of a quadrotor UAV is utilized to design a controller. The proposed formation control method is validated by an experiment with a motion capture system which provides the ground truth of the position data.

Abstract: This article presents the design of a low altitude long endurance solar powered unmanned airship. In the first part of the article, a brief introduction about the airships, their potential areas of usage, the advantages of using an unmanned air vehicle, and a comparison between unmanned counterparts will be given. In the second part, the design criteria and the general design specifications will be outlined briefly. During the design, emphasis is given on the general design parameters of the Lighter Than Air (LTA) vehicles. Lastly, the detailed design results, in order to reach the projected design parameters, have been presented.

Abstract: This paper analyzes the future trends of both solar and non-solar-powered electric types of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The impacts of solar cell efficiency and battery energy density on the potential of reducing the maximum take-off and payload enhancement for both types of UAV are studied. The battery energy density and solar efficiency’s extrapolated forecast data do not show any sign of technology maturation. Component weight, ratio of solar module to wing area, and solar module power are also analyzed to further emphasize the need to improve the solar and battery technology for the development of solar-powered electric UAVs. Results show that a solar-powered electric UAV should be lighter, smaller, and be able to carry more payload than a non-solar-powered electric UAV in the near future depending on the payload and endurance requirement. Thus, a solar-powered aircraft can be the future of aviation.

Abstract: Electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems powered solely by battery cannot achieve long endurance. Despite recent improvements in battery technology, UAVs barely last for 4 hours, thereby decreasing the attractiveness of battery-powered UAVs. Progress has been made in developing hybrid-powered solar and battery systems for UAVs. However, the small number of solar UAVs developed indicates the research gap, particularly in the aspect of power system and integration. Accordingly, this paper provides a detailed review of solar cell and battery development applicable to small UAVs. This review includes the technologies of miniature electric motors, batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells. A comprehensive battery and solar cell technology trend is then discussed. This wok elucidates the effect of solar and battery technology progress on solar UAV development. The combination of electric motor, battery, and solar cells offers an excellent solution to the requirements of various long-endurance applications.

Abstract: A hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) platform for unmanned air vehicle (UAV) systems is designed that demonstrates flight attitudes on yaw, pitch and roll axes. The design combines a sophisticated flight simulation software with a platform capable of moving 360 degrees on all axes. This enables the testing of the flight sensors and autopilot algorithms for all sorts of scenarios including emergency and acrobatic cases where an indefinite number of full rotations in the yaw, roll and pitch might take place.

Abstract: To meet the demand for long-endurance capabilities,MALE (medium-altitude long-endurance) and HALE (high-altitude long-endurance) UAVs are generally equipped with wing tanks to increase fuel loads. MALE and HALE UAVs use relatively larger aspect ratio wing to provide larger wing area and smaller wing thickness, so that the relative thickness of wing tank is smaller and its center of gravity is further away from the aircraft center of gravity, and the moment of inertia is greater. As a result of aerodynamic and structural arrangement, the horizontal and vertical manipulation of safety control and balance of such UAVs is very sensitive, thus making ​​higher demand for the fuel system. This paper describes and summarizes the typical fuel system design of MALE and HALE UAVs for fuel transfer and restructuring design, primarily focusing on fault condition, reconfiguration and the center of gravity control, and providing reference for fuel system design.

Abstract: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is becoming increasingly popular because it can perform variety of functions. These functions include surveillance, reconnaissance, monitoring, data collection and rescue operation. The purpose of this work is to design, fabricate and fly a low weight, low cost, small size UAV for a surveillance mission. The design is carried out based on Advanced Aircraft Analysis (AAA) software. The design process starts with the design specifications for a typical surveillance mission. Aircraft weight, wing loading and power loading were estimated in performance sizing process. Geometry was estimated using preliminary sizing. Aerodynamics of the aircraft was determined, which enabled the performance and stability to be analysed. If the desired performance is not achieved, the sizing is readjusted until a final design is reached. The aircraft was manufactured using foam, carbon rods, and fibreglass. The aircraft successfully flew at the first trial flight. This was followed by a successful flight with aerial photography. Keywords: UAV, design process, fabrication process, composite structure, flight test