Optimal Design of a High-altitude Solar-Powered Unmanned Airplane

Mattos, Bento Silva de; Secco, Ney R.; Salles, Eduardo Francisco

doi:10.5028/jatm.v5i3.223

Cited by 29 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…While numerous studies [9][10][11][12] discuss the design and performance of solar-powered aircraft, most focus on aeronautics. A few studies [13,14] consider solar cell energy harvesting in relation to solar-powered aircraft.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Energy Management of Solar-Powered Aircraft-Based High Altitude Platform for Wireless Communications

et al. 2020

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With the increasing interest in wireless communications from solar-powered aircraft-based high altitude platforms (HAPs), it is imperative to assess the feasibility of their deployment in different locations with the constraints on energy consumption and payload weight under consideration. This paper considers the energy management of solar-powered aircraft-based HAPs for wireless communications service provisioning in equatorial regions and regions further up the northern hemisphere. The total solar energy harvested and consumed on the shortest day of the year is analyzed, and it is explained how this determines the feasibility of long endurance, semi-permanent missions. This takes into account the different aircraft-based HAPs and the energy storage systems currently available, and how these can be deployed for wireless communications. We show that the solar-powered HAPs are energy and weight limited, and this depends largely on the platform’s wingspan available for the deployment of solar collectors. Our analysis show that services can be provided for a duration of 15–24 h/day using current platforms, with wingspans ranging between 25–35 m, depending on the configuration and coverage radius. Furthermore, we show that doubling an aircraft’s wingspan can increase its payload capacity by a factor of 6, which in turn enhances its feasibility for wireless communications.

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Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…All platforms under study use laminar aerofoils. In [11], the drag polar of two typical laminar aerofoils are shown. Drag coefficients corresponding to the lift coefficients of 25 m, 33 m and 35 m wingspan aircraft evaluated above are estimated from the drag polar to be approximately 0.0070, 0.0075 and 0.0071, respectively.…”

Section: Propulsionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Management of Solar-Powered Aircraft-Based High Altitude Platform for Wireless Communications

et al. 2020

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“…The power required during the climb flight is calculated by using the drag (D), flight speed (V), weight (W), and climb speed (V c ), as given in (3). The propeller thrust is simply predicted from the relationship P = TV by assuming that the propeller generates the required power.…”

Section: Methods Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Performance Evaluation of Propeller for Solar-Powered High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Park

Lee

Cho

et al. 2018

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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Design, wind tunnel test, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, and flight test data analysis are conducted for the propeller of EAV-3, which is a solar-powered high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The blade element momentum theory, in conjunction with minimum induced loss, is used as a basic design method. Airfoil data are obtained from CFD analysis, which takes into account the low Reynolds number effect. The response surface is evaluated for design variables by using design of experiment and kriging metamodel. The optimization is based on desirability function. A wind tunnel test is conducted on the designed propeller. Numerical analyses are performed by using a commercial CFD code, and results are compared with those obtained from the design code and wind tunnel test data. Flight test data are analyzed based on several approximations and assumptions. The propeller performance is in good agreement with the numerical and measurement data in terms of tendency and behavior. The comparison of data confirms that the design method, wind tunnel test, and CFD analysis used in this study are practically useful and valid for the development of a high-altitude propeller.

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“…Bearing in mind that the temperature of the cells do not match the ambient temperature, it was necessary to estimate the variation of their temperature in relation to the environmental temperature. According to Mattos et al (2013) and Skoplaki and Palyvos (2009), the efficiency of the cells at ambient temperature, between 19 and 20 °C, oscillates in a range from 4 to 7%. As there is variability in the electrical properties of and panels are connected to a 12-V 2.2-A step-down voltage regulator D24V22F12 in order to keep a constant voltage of 12 V. Th e energy distribution of the electrical system is shown in Fig.…”

Section: Aircraft Performance Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Manufacture of a Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Civilian Surveillance Missions

Betancourth

Villamarín

Ríos

et al. 2016

J.Aerosp. Technol. Manag.

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In order to promote the development of renewable energy and take advantage of the new technologies for the benefit of sustainability, both the design and the manufacture methodologies of an experimental solarpowered unmanned aerial vehicle for civilian surveillance applications are presented. Throughout the document, it is provided the historical process around the development of the aircraft. Therefore, in the first part, it is shown the aerodynamic design, which includes the 2-D and 3-D analyses of the wing platform using numerical and experimental methods, the analytical design of the empennage configuration, and the main characteristics of the performance analysis. In addition, major systems and components that characterize the aircraft are described, such as the photovoltaic solar cells configuration as well as the electronics and control system into the unmanned aerial vehicle. Lastly, the modeling for the weights distribution of the components was carried out in a preliminary test using CAD tools. Thus, it was obtained a suitable process for the manufacture of the unmanned aerial vehicle, considering that the purpose of the aircraft is to be as light and aerodynamic as possible to accomplish the mission for which it was created.

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Optimal Design of a High-altitude Solar-Powered Unmanned Airplane

Cited by 29 publications

References 6 publications

Energy Management of Solar-Powered Aircraft-Based High Altitude Platform for Wireless Communications

Energy Management of Solar-Powered Aircraft-Based High Altitude Platform for Wireless Communications

Design and Performance Evaluation of Propeller for Solar-Powered High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Design and Manufacture of a Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Civilian Surveillance Missions

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