Download or read book The Design Prototyping Modeling and Flight Tests of a Vertical Take off and Landing VTOL Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV written by Ya Wang and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Development of a Miniature VTOL Tail sitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle written by Jeffrey V. Hogge and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The design, analysis, construction and flight testing of a miniature Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) tail-sitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) prototype is presented in detail. Classic aircraft design methods were combined with numerical analysis to estimate the aircraft performance and flight characteristics. The numerical analysis employed a propeller blade-element theory coupled with momentum equations to predict the influence of a propeller slipstream on the freestream flow field, then the aircraft was analyzed using 3-D vortex lifting-line theory to model finite wings immersed in the flow field. Four prototypes were designed, built, and tested and the evolution of these prototypes is presented. The final prototype design is discussed in detail. A method for sizing control surfaces for a tail-sitter was defined. The final prototype successfully demonstrated controllability both in horizontal flight and vertical flight. Significant contributions included the development of a control system that was effective in hover as well as descending vertical flight, and the development of a strong but light weight airframe. The aircraft had a payload weight fraction of 14.5% and a maximum dimension of one meter, making it the smallest tail-sitter UAV to carry a useful payload. This project is expected to provide a knowledge base for the future design of small electric VTOL tail-sitter aircraft and to provide an airframe for future use in tail-sitter research.
Download or read book Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Design and Technology written by T. Hikmet Karakoc and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-12-19 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Design and Technology provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology basics. The book presents clear, concise guidance on UAS system design, components, control, and operations fundamentals. Additional chapters look at unmanned aerial regulations and ethics and the historical background of UAS technology. This textbook offers a well-rounded look at unmanned flight technology, making it an ideal primer for aviation and aerospace students and anyone interested in learning more about unmanned aerial systems, including engineers, technicians, drone and flight hobbyists, and civil aviation organization officials.
Download or read book Small Unmanned Fixed wing Aircraft Design written by Andrew J. Keane and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small Unmanned Fixed-wing Aircraft Design is the essential guide to designing, building and testing fixed wing UAVs (or drones). It deals with aircraft from two to 150 kg in weight and is based on the first-hand experiences of the world renowned UAV team at the UK’s University of Southampton. The book covers both the practical aspects of designing, manufacturing and flight testing and outlines and the essential calculations needed to underpin successful designs. It describes the entire process of UAV design from requirements definition to configuration layout and sizing, through preliminary design and analysis using simple panel codes and spreadsheets to full CFD and FEA models and on to detailed design with parametric CAD tools. Its focus is on modest cost approaches that draw heavily on the latest digital design and manufacturing methods, including a strong emphasis on utilizing off-the-shelf components, low cost analysis, automated geometry modelling and 3D printing. It deliberately avoids a deep theoretical coverage of aerodynamics or structural mechanics; rather it provides a design team with sufficient insights and guidance to get the essentials undertaken more pragmatically. The book contains many all-colour illustrations of the dozens of aircraft built by the authors and their students over the last ten years giving much detailed information on what works best. It is predominantly aimed at under-graduate and MSc level student design and build projects, but will be of interest to anyone engaged in the practical problems of getting quite complex unmanned aircraft flying. It should also appeal to the more sophisticated aero-modeller and those engaged on research based around fixed wing UAVs.
Download or read book Proceedings of 2021 International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Systems ICAUS 2021 written by Meiping Wu and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-03-18 with total page 3575 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book includes original, peer-reviewed research papers from the ICAUS 2021, which offers a unique and interesting platform for scientists, engineers and practitioners throughout the world to present and share their most recent research and innovative ideas. The aim of the ICAUS 2021 is to stimulate researchers active in the areas pertinent to intelligent unmanned systems. The topics covered include but are not limited to Unmanned Aerial/Ground/Surface/Underwater Systems, Robotic, Autonomous Control/Navigation and Positioning/ Architecture, Energy and Task Planning and Effectiveness Evaluation Technologies, Artificial Intelligence Algorithm/Bionic Technology and Its Application in Unmanned Systems. The papers showcased here share the latest findings on Unmanned Systems, Robotics, Automation, Intelligent Systems, Control Systems, Integrated Networks, Modeling and Simulation. It makes the book a valuable asset for researchers, engineers, and university students alike.
Download or read book Design and Control of a Vertical Takeoff and Landing Fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle written by Yasir Malang and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the goal of extending capabilities of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for wetland conservation missions, a novel hybrid aircraft design consisting of four tilting rotors and a fixed wing is designed and built. The tilting rotors and nonlinear aerodynamic effects introduce a control challenge for autonomous flight, and the research focus is to develop and validate an autonomous transition flight controller. The overall controller structure consists of separate cascaded Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controllers whose gains are scheduled according to the rotors' tilt angle. A control mechanism effectiveness factor is used to mix the multi-rotor and fixed-wing control actuators during transition. A nonlinear flight dynamics model is created and transition stability is shown through MATLAB simulations, which proves gain-scheduled control is a good fit for tilt-rotor aircraft. Experiments carried out using the prototype UAV validate simulation results for VTOL and tilted-rotor flight.
Download or read book Unmanned Aircraft Systems written by Reg Austin and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-09-20 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unmanned Aircraft Systems delivers a much needed introduction to UAV System technology, taking an integrated approach that avoids compartmentalising the subject. Arranged in four sections, parts 1-3 examine the way in which various engineering disciplines affect the design, development and deployment of UAS. The fourth section assesses the future challenges and opportunities of UAS. Technological innovation and increasingly diverse applications are two key drivers of the rapid expansion of UAS technology. The global defence budget for UAS procurement is expanding, and in the future the market for civilian UAVs is expected to outmatch that of the military. Agriculture, meteorology, conservation and border control are just a few of the diverse areas in which UAVs are making a significant impact; the author addresses all of these applications, looking at the roles and technology behind both fixed wing and rotorcraft UAVs. Leading aeronautical consultant Reg Austin co-founded the Bristol International Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) conferences in 1979, which are now the longest-established UAS conferences worldwide. In addition, Austin has over 40 years' experience in the design and development of UAS. One of Austin's programmes, the "Sprite UAV System" has been deployed around the world and operated by day and night, in all weathers.
Download or read book In Flight Learning Based Flight Control of an Unmanned Aircraft System written by Mohammed Alabsi and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) popularity has increased substantially in the last few years. UAVs capabilities continue to improve as a result of advances in battery technology, communication, navigation systems and electronics. Increased popularity has driven researchers to improve UAVs reliability and safety which is reflected by the number of publications and accelerating educational programs interest. UAVs are suited for a wide range of civilian and military applications; however, UAVs currently can not integrate with civilian airspace because of stringent safety requirements. Hence, it is necessary to push the envelope for UAVs design and control so that they can learn from nature and have more self-aware capabilities to improve safety and reliability. This dissertation addresses some challenges involved with flight controller learning based on real-time modeling of UAV. Plenty of UAV applications require different operational capabilities within a composite mission. These capabilities include landing and taking off using short runways, while being able to perform missions that require a high cruise speed i.e. tracking applications. A composite mission also requires the aircraft to be able to hover or operate with low cruise speeds for applications involving stationary moments. All of these different operational modes require a hybrid aircraft design that combines fixed wing aircraft capabilities and Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft capabilities. However, extensive resources required for hybrid aircraft design prohibited the discovery of different revolutionary designs. The work presented in this dissertation describes the development of a rapid modeling, prototyping and controller design platform of an unmanned quadrotor aircraft. Three main objectives are investigated: intelligent excitation input design, real-time parameter estimation, and learning control. Real-time estimation of dynamic model parameters is important for control adaptation. However, the aircraft model estimation performance can be severely degraded by an active control system and highly collinear model terms such as those found on a quadrotor unmanned aircraft. Recursive Fourier Transform Regression was applied to estimate parameters of different model forms/structures and using different excitation levels. The generated models are utilized to reconfigure a Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (NDI) controller considering different testing conditions: normal, failure, and learning flights. Finally,an intelligent input design technique is proposed which enables autonomous identification of the vehicle’s response modal frequencies and emphasizes excitation power accordingly.
Download or read book Unmanned Aircraft Design written by Mohammad Sadraey and published by Morgan & Claypool Publishers. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides fundamental principles, design procedures, and design tools for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with three sections focusing on vehicle design, autopilot design, and ground system design. The design of manned aircraft and the design of UAVs have some similarities and some differences. They include the design process, constraints (e.g., g-load, pressurization), and UAV main components (autopilot, ground station, communication, sensors, and payload). A UAV designer must be aware of the latest UAV developments; current technologies; know lessons learned from past failures; and they should appreciate the breadth of UAV design options. The contribution of unmanned aircraft continues to expand every day and over 20 countries are developing and employing UAVs for both military and scientific purposes. A UAV system is much more than a reusable air vehicle or vehicles. UAVs are air vehicles, they fly like airplanes and operate in an airplane environment. They are designed like air vehicles; they have to meet flight critical air vehicle requirements. A designer needs to know how to integrate complex, multi-disciplinary systems, and to understand the environment, the requirements and the design challenges and this book is an excellent overview of the fundamentals from an engineering perspective. This book is meant to meet the needs of newcomers into the world of UAVs. The materials are intended to provide enough information in each area and illustrate how they all play together to support the design of a complete UAV. Therefore, this book can be used both as a reference for engineers entering the field or as a supplementary text for a UAV design course to provide system-level context for each specialized topic.
Download or read book Aerodynamic Design of Long Endurance Convertible UAV written by Yuchen Leng and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The research objective is to establish a complete methodology for long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability, or transitioning UAV. In the thesis, key technical challenges will be identified and simulated using reduced-order models to form a rapid engineering method in assisting aerodynamic design of such vehicles. In view of maximizing the performance of long endurance transitioning UAVs, critical technologies include: 1) propulsion/airframe integration; 2) aerodynamic effects of flight control configuration; 3) system level overall aerodynamic optimization. Calculating methods for each problem will be developed based on existing theories. The solution will be validated with campaigns of high fidelity numerical simulation such as URANS or Boltzmann Lattice Method. Component or full configuration experiments will also be conducted using low Reynolds Number wind tunnel at ISAE. Studies on the propulsion integration will be conducted within the first year. In transition flight, propeller performance at high incidence differs significantly from cruise flight, and the close presence of wings also alters lift and drag distribution. For this reason a reduced-order model for propeller at high incidence angle will be developed based on Leishman's BEMT method [1]. The skewed slipstream will be modelled by modifying conventional method such as Selig [2]. Propeller model will be combined with a propeller-wing interaction analysis based on Veldhuis [3] to study critical parameters during transition flight. The static and dynamic aerodynamic force and moments generated by control surfaces are critical for robust transition flight control, and therefore a configuration study will then be conducted comparing potential transitioning UAV configurations with different propeller arrangements and flight control surface layouts. Following the work by McCormick [4] and Phillips [5], detailed study on the longitudinal and lateral aerodynamic moment characteristics of different configurations will be carried before summer 2019 for transition flight regime. Final phase of the thesis will be devoted to integrating various reduced-order models for propulsion integration, flight control analysis and classic cruise performance analysis to form a platform for overall aerodynamic optimization to assist design long endurance transitioning UAV. The method will be demonstrated through a prototype analysis consistent with specifications from DelairTech. Through collaboration with ENAC, a prototype will be manufactured to demonstrate the developed technologies. The prototype design will incorporate flight control law implemented by Paparazzi autopilot platform, and data acquired from actual flight tests will further validate the methodology in operational environment. The final methodology of aerodynamic design will be available in the form of open source computer program as well as published manuscript. Refs: [1] Leishman, Gordon J. Principles of helicopter aerodynamics with CD extra. Cambridge university press, 2006. [2] Selig, Michael S. 'Modeling propeller aerodynamics and slipstream effects on small UAVs in realtime.' AIAA Paper 7938 (2010). [3] Veldhuis, L. M., “Review of Propeller Wing Aerodynamic Interference,” ICAS 2004, 24th international congress of the aeronautical sciences, 2004. [4] McCormick, Barnes Warnock. Aerodynamics, aeronautics, and flight mechanics. Vol. 2. New York: Wiley, 1995. [5] Phillips, Warren F. Mechanics of flight. John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
Download or read book Unmanned Aircraft Design written by Mohammad H. Sadraey and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book On Subscale Flight Testing written by Alejandro Sobron and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. This book was released on 2018-11-05 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Downscaled physical models, also referred to as subscale models, have played an essential role in the investigation of the complex physics of flight until the recent disruption of numerical simulation. Despite the fact that improvements in computational methods are slowly pushing experimental techniques towards a secondary role as verification or calibration tools, real-world testing of physical prototypes still provides an unmatched confidence. Physical models are very effective at revealing issues that are sometimes not correctly identified in the virtual domain, and hence can be a valuable complement to other design tools. But traditional wind-tunnel testing cannot always meet all of the requirements of modern aeronautical research and development. It is nowadays too expensive to use these scarce facilities to explore different design iterations during the initial stages of aircraft development, or to experiment with new and immature technologies. Testing of free-flight subscale models, referred to as Subscale Flight Testing (SFT), could offer an affordable and low-risk alternative for complementing conventional techniques with both qualitative and quantitative information. The miniaturisation of mechatronic systems, the advances in rapid-prototyping techniques and power storage, as well as new manufacturing methods, currently enable the development of sophisticated test objects at scales that were impractical some decades ago. Moreover, the recent boom in the commercial drone industry has driven a quick development of specialised electronics and sensors, which offer nowadays surprising capabilities at competitive prices. These recent technological disruptions have significantly altered the cost-benefit function of SFT and it is necessary to re-evaluate its potential in the contemporary aircraft development context. This thesis aims to increase the comprehension and knowledge of the SFT method in order to define a practical framework for its use in aircraft design; focusing on low-cost, short-time solutions that don’t require more than a small organization and few resources. This objective is approached from a theoretical point of view by means of an analysis of the physical and practical limitations of the scaling laws; and from an empirical point of view by means of field experiments aimed at identifying practical needs for equipment, methods, and tools. A low-cost data acquisition system is developed and tested; a novel method for semi-automated flight testing in small airspaces is proposed; a set of tools for analysis and visualisation of flight data is presented; and it is also demonstrated that it is possible to explore and demonstrate new technology using SFT with a very limited amount of economic and human resources. All these, together with a theoretical review and contextualisation, contribute to increasing the comprehension and knowledge of the SFT method in general, and its potential applications in aircraft conceptual design in particular.
Download or read book Electrical Vertical Take Off and Landing Aircrafts in a Civilian Urban Environment Concepts Technology and Legislative Framework written by Niklas Lohse and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2019-12-11 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Engineering - Aerospace Technology, grade: 1,5, University of Applied Sciences Wildau, language: English, abstract: This Paper will introduce the most developed concept of vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts and assess them. It will also analyse the key technology challenges and the legislative situation. The world’s population is growing and people continue to move from rural to urban areas. This is accompanied by an increasing number of cars. As a result of this, traffic jams in densely populated areas and long commutes are becoming omnipresent. Extension possibilities for existing infrastructure, especially within urban areas, are very limited due to space. Consequently, innovative alternatives are required. Flying cars, also known as vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, still appear to be a future vision which seems to be far away. However, to date, more than 200 of such concepts around the world are being developed, some of which are even performing flight tests. The objective of this Master’s Thesis therefore is to evaluate if flying cars have a realistic potential to improve the overloaded ground infrastructure systems on a mid-term ten years basis. In order to answer the research question, a conceptual examination and subsequent classification of the existing concepts is conducted. Based on this a profound content analysis of the four most mature aircraft is carried out. As a result, three significant technical challenges emerge: batteries, noise pollution and the autonomous flying capability. By performing another content analysis on these obstacles, their respective relevance and impact following an upcoming vehicle certification is investigated. Furthermore, VTOL aircraft operations would require legislative amendments. Hence, the current legal situations and actual activities in those regions are studied, where the four companies with the most mature concepts are based. On that basis it can be concluded, that flying cars have a huge potential to relieve the overstressed infrastructure systems on the ground. Although more than ten years will be required to significantly improve this situation, the first flying cars will most likely be visible much sooner. Technical as well as legal challenges exist, but are not insurmountable and especially the latter are relatively well developed already to enable VTOL operations in an urban environment in the near future.
Download or read book Enabling Efficient Vertical Takeoff landing and Forward Flight of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles written by Peter Timothy Mancuso and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that offer vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and forward flight capability suffer from sub-par performance in both flight modes. Achieving the next generation of efficient hybrid aircraft requires innovations in: (i) power management, (ii) efficient structures, and (iii) control methodologies. Existing hybrid UAVs generally utilize one of three transitioning mechanisms: an external power mechanism to tilt the rotor-propulsion pod, separate propulsion units and rotors during hover and forward flight, or tilt body craft (smaller scale). Thus, hybrid concepts require more energy compared to dedicated fixed-wing or rotorcraft UAVs. Moreover, design trade-offs to reinforce the wing structure (typically to accommodate the propulsion systems and enable hover, i.e. tilt-rotor concepts) adversely impacts the aerodynamics, controllability and efficiency of the aircraft in both hover and forward flight modes. The goal of this research is to develop more efficient VTOL/ hover and forward flight UAVs. In doing so, the transition sequence, transition mechanism, and actuator performance are heavily considered. A design and control methodology was implemented to address these issues through a series of computer simulations and prototype benchtop tests to verify the proposed solution. Finally, preliminary field testing with a first-generation prototype was conducted. The methods used in this research offer guidelines and a new dual-arm rotor UAV concept to designing more efficient hybrid UAVs in both hover and forward flight.
Download or read book Conceptual Design Development and Simulation of a Tilt duct Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with Vertical Takeoff and Landing Capabilities written by Peter Gabriel Cross and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Unmanned aerial vehicles possessing vertical takeoff and landing capabilities are receiving growing interest within the aerospace industry, as these aircraft can be operated in areas and on missions that preclude the use of conventional aircraft. This thesis presents the development and analysis of the triple tilt-duct aircraft configuration, an aircraft design suited for future generations of VTOL UAVs. The development of a conceptual design for a small-scale, "proof of concept" tilt-duct UAV is presented, culminating in a description of the final conceptual design. The methodology for a detailed analysis of the performance and the stability and control characteristics of the tilt-duct UAV design is outlined, along with the results from these analyses. The tilt-duct UAV has good stability and handling characteristics when in horizontal flight mode, but is highly unstable when hovering or in vertical flight mode. A study of the motion of the tilt-duct aircraft during transition maneuvers between horizontal and vertical flight modes is also presented; schemes for performing optimal transition maneuvers and maintaining adequate pitch control during the transitions are given as well. A flight simulation model was utilized to test the performance and stability and control of the tilt-duct UAV. Though it was not possible to accurately simulate transition maneuvers with the software package used, it was possible to obtain reasonable measurements of the aircraft's performance and response to control inputs. An outlook for the triple tilt-duct configuration is given, along with suggestions for future research. It is felt that the triple tilt-duct configuration is a viable design for future VTOL aircraft"--Abstract, leaf iii.
Download or read book Analysis of the Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle VTUAV in Small Unit Urban Operations written by Roman K. Cason and published by . This book was released on 2004-09-01 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Marine Corps has recently embarked on the development of a Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) to replace the aging Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system. This thesis examines the critical elements this platform must possess to effectively support small units operating in urban environments. The author addresses this issue by creating and exploring an agent-based simulation of a platoon conducting an urban patrol in a setting similar to those currently being encountered in Iraq. The platoon utilizes the VTUAV as an intelligence-gathering asset. The author designed an experiment to generate data from the simulation scenario, and then used multiple regression analysis and regression trees to relate the UAV capabilities to the patrol's operational effectiveness. The results suggest that the effectiveness of a VTUAV is greatly influenced by noise in the urban warfare environment. He uses a loss function, along with the regression models, to identify UAV configurations that improve operational effectiveness, yet are robust to uncertainties about civilian and insurgent behavior. The VTUAV must have high communication capability, as well as accurate sensing, to perform well across a range of environmental conditions. (6 tables, 27 figures, 23 refs.)
Download or read book Design Fabrication and Test of a Vertical Attitude Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Air Vehicle written by Robert Brian Stoney and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
