Design Performance Evaluation and Optimization of a UAV

Abstract

Following current trends towards UAV innovative designs, a small size light UAV was designed, constructed and tested in flight. The purpose of this light UAV aircraft is to serve as a reconnaissance plane capable of carrying state-of-the-art photography and video equipment. The UAV is also equipped with first person view (FPV) systems for easier and more accurate control by a remote user. For the initial configuration, apart from classical conceptual design procedures, some new relations were developed and used. For the preliminary design, linear aerodynamic performance and stability analysis was carried out first. Next, the aerodynamic characteristics and efficiency of the airfoil section, the wing, and the full configuration were evaluated using CFD. Finally, further improvements of the aerodynamic efficiency of the full configuration were carried out through computational optimization.

Conceptual Design of an Unmanned Fixed-Wing Aerial Vehicle Based on Alternative Energy

“…A weight estimation is evaluated in the design process (see Table 1). In the estimation of the weight of the UAV [21], for future work, an ABS material is considered which has a density of 1.1 g/cm 3 ; for that reason, the conceptual and preliminary design is evaluated with a uniform mass. International Journal of Aerospace Engineering For this vehicle, the main wing carries the solar cells in the upper surface and it generates the aerodynamic force in the air [23].…”

Pemilihan Airfoil Pesawat Terbang Tanpa Awak LSU-05 NG dengan Menggunakan Analytical Hierarchy Process

“…Gambar 2-2: Gaya aerodinamika yang bekerja pada airfoil dengan sudut serang tertentu (Kontogiannis & Ekaterinaris, 2013) Gaya aerodinamika yang bekerja pada suatu airfoil pada aliran udara ditunjukkan pada Gambar 2-2. Sudut serang atau angle of attack adalah sudut yang dibentuk oleh geometri chord line dari airfoil terhadap arah aliran udara (Lubis, 2012).…”

“…Terdapat dua batasan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini, yaitu kecepatan stall berkisar 12 m/s dan panjang landasan untuk takeoff tidak lebih dari 60 m. Dari dua batasan ini diperoleh nilai CL saat takeoff/landing yang harus dipenuhi untuk airfoil adalah sekitar 1,3. Airfoil yang terpilih dalam penelitian ini adalah E420 (Kontogiannis & Ekaterinaris, 2013).…”

Propulsion Sizing Correlations for Electrical and Fuel Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

“…Blended Wing Body aircraft) [7,8]. Furthermore, under certain considerations, these correlations have been firstly adapted and then employed for the conceptual design of unmanned aerial platforms that generally fit in the category of HALE UAVs [9][10][11]. However, their applicability on the design of other UAV categories (specially medium, small and micro) could lead to over or underestimate the aircraft components since UAVs employ different design trade-offs compared with transport aircraft [12].…”