This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of drone technology and its applications in the mining industry. The mining industry has shown increased interest in the use of drones for routine operations. These applications include 3D mapping of the mine environment, ore control, rock discontinuities mapping, postblast rock fragmentation measurements, and tailing stability monitoring, to name a few. The article offers a review of drone types, specifications, and applications of commercially available drones for mining applications. Finally, the research needs for the design and implementation of drones for underground mining applications are discussed.
This study attempts to present a new and comprehensive cycle for the design of fixed wing micro air vehicles. The idea is to propose a complete cycle containing all micro air vehicles design subjects such as aerodynamics, stability, structure, and navigation. The main aim of the cycle is to decrease the designing time for an optimum design. In this method, the sizing process is started simultaneously, which involves the following cases: specification of mission and aviation plan; determination of planform and aspect ratio; constraint analysis; estimation of plane weight. Completion of these four phases results in the specification of the geometry and dimensions of the wing in an optimum manner. After determination of the planform geometry, selection of the airfoil is carried out by complying with the defined criteria. After this stage, the wing of micro air vehicle is designed completely and analysis is carried out to determine the aerodynamics coefficients. Next step is designing the fuselage for the airplane. Then micro air vehicle and aerodynamic center of wing are calculated and stability equations for micro air vehicle are simulated. The results of these processes are determination of surfaces, dimensions and airfoils of the tails and center of gravity of the plane. After calculation of the control surfaces, the designed micro air vehicle is analyzed in XFLR5 software. Next step is selection of electric equipment such as motor, batteries, servo, etc. The final step of design is the optimization of the micro air vehicle for increasing its performance and endurance. After the design, steps of manufacturing will be started.
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