Abstract
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.
Highlights
In the quest to find energy systems less harmful to the environment and more efficient than the currents, the processes of design and manufacture of a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that operates with photovoltaic solar energy are described in this paper
The first prototype of a light, solar-powered UAV for civilian surveillance missions was designed and successfully constructed, being one of the first projects that are registered in Colombia as viable due to the integration of independent complex systems
It has expanded the discussion of the development of unmanned systems designs with the aim of performing missions that could not be made with traditional aircraft
Summary
In the quest to find energy systems less harmful to the environment and more efficient than the currents, the processes of design and manufacture of a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that operates with photovoltaic solar energy are described in this paper. The application of alternative energy sources in UAVs has established one of the broader challenges in its design and implementation, as specified by Ramanathan et al (2007), promoting ideas through the use of solar cells (Lubkowski et al 2010), liquid fuel cells (Fürrutter and Meyer 2009), lithiumpolymer (LiPo) batteries (Song and James 2000), among others. Based on the experience of Austin (2010) and Wilkins et al (2009), the determining factors for the use of alternative types of energy in UAVs are the mission and the size for which the vehicles are designed; these factors are reflected in the weight, which is one of the most important aspects when calculating the model It has been established, according to survey data, that hybrid energy configurations exist linking various types of energy; among the different alternatives are: the combination of hydrogen fuel cells (LH2) with Diesel
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