As part of an envisioned autonomous swarm exploration mission in Valles Marineris on Mars a design investigation of a high-range scout UAV is performed in this work. Two VTOL configurations, a coaxial helicopter and a transition tailsitter, are examined to assess their suitability. A preliminary design framework using Python and the optimization framework OpenMDAO is created using the preliminary design software NDARC. To model the rotor performance, comprehensive analysis simulations are executed using CAMRAD II. Structural 2D-FEM beam models are created for the rotor blades and the wing for weight modeling. Design sizings are executed for operation in the extremely thin atmosphere and the mission performance for a scouting mission as part of the robotic Valles Marineris Explorer (VaMEx) swarm is examined. A behavioral model is created to evaluate the controllability of the configurations. The results for a mission with a cruise flight of 30 km and 1.4 kg of payload show that for such a mission the transition configuration does not offer advantages over a more conventional coaxial helicopter design. To understand design sensitivities and to evaluate the respective effects on vehicle performance parameter sweeps are conducted.
Hydrogen fuel cell driven electric vertical flight is a current area of research and an alternative to battery based electric flight. This paper presents the models and methods used to size the hydrogen power plant and tanks of an unmanned helicopter named AREA. The battery electric power system of AREA will be converted to hydrogen power in the future. The goal of the conversion is to increase the flight time from the current 25 minutes to more than one hour. The design is performed using the NDARC preliminary design software. AREA uses intermeshing rotors. First, the necessary settings are found to model intermeshing rotors in NDARC, as this rotor concept is not natively supported by NDARC. Second, the rotor performance model is calibrated based on CAMRAD II simulations and flight test data. For this purpose, an automated calibration tool is developed using a genetic algorithm for robust calibration results. Third, the hydrogen system components are modeled and sized for the planned 60 min cruise test mission at maximum endurance speed. The results show that the nominal fuel cell power should be 3.8 kW and 280 g of hydrogen are required. The sized hydrogen system weighs approximately 20 kg.
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