Design Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Research Articles

Flutter Characteristics of a Modified Z-Shaped Folding Wing Using a New Non-Intrusive Model

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with folding wings can serve in multiple mission profiles, usually accompanied by sudden changes in flight speed. These bring great challenges to the aeroelastic design of UAVs, especially in the calculation of flutter characteristics. This paper developed a new non-intrusive aeroelastic model to quickly calculate the flutter characteristics of Z-shaped folding wings at different folding angles. First, the original Z-shaped folding wing was designed to be enhanced. Beams and ribs were arranged inside each wing segment to enhance the structural strength performance. Control surfaces were arranged in the middle-wing and outer-wing to enhance the aerodynamic control performance. Second, a parametric aeroelastic model at any folding angle was reconstructed based on the input file of Nastran software for the flutter calculation of the folding wing in the unfolded state. Finally, the effects of parameters such as folding angle, hinge stiffness between different wing segments, and hinge stiffness of the control surfaces on the flutter characteristics of the folding wing were investigated. The results show that the enhancement scheme could significantly increase the flutter speed and flutter frequency of the folding wing. The hinge stiffness between each wing segment had a significant impact on the flutter characteristics of the folding wing, but flutter at the control surface basically did not occur.

Integrated Multi-fidelity Structural Optimization for UAV Wings

The paper explores comprehensive Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) wing optimization, integrating aerodynamic and structural techniques. A detailed comparison between the base and optimized modules while considering specifications such as composite material orientation, spar and rib material, deformation, stress, strain, safety factor, and weight. The methodology utilizes material changes for wing weight reduction while maintaining structural integrity. The optimized module (Case 7) balances weight reduction, safety, and structural performance, notably shifting from Al 7075 to Al 2024. Structural optimization focuses on changes in Carbon Fiber/Epoxy orientation, leveraging material changes for weight reduction. Constitutive equations and transformation matrices calculate stiffness matrices for the laminate, resulting in a robust wing. This holistic optimization combines low and high-fidelity techniques, addressing UAV wing structural aspects. Outcomes include weight reduction, deformation minimization, fluttering modal deformation and buckling points, an increased factor of safety, and improved strength-to-weight ratio. The research significantly advances aerospace engineering, particularly in UAV design and optimization.

Design and Control of an Ultra-Low-Cost Logistic Delivery Fixed-Wing UAV

In contemporary logistics, the deployment of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a transportation platform is experiencing rapid advancements, garnering substantial application within numerous logistic operations with pronounced efficacies. There are notable impediments to the utilization of commercial logistic-oriented fixed-wing UAVs, including elevated procurement and maintenance costs, extensive maintenance intervals, and unsuitability for small-volume, low-altitude transport tasks. These factors collectively exacerbate the risk associated with enterprise procurement and elevate the cost–benefit ratio. This study introduces the design and fabrication of a cost-efficient UAV for logistic delivery purposes, constructed primarily from cost-effective wood materials. This UAV is engineered to ferry payloads of up to 1000 g across a predefined aerial route at an altitude of 40 m. Upon reaching the designated location, the UAV is programmed to initiate the identification of the drop zone, thereafter descending to facilitate the release of the cargo. To mitigate the impact force during the landing phase, the payload was encapsulated within a sponge-damping layer, thereby preserving the integrity of the transported items. The empirical findings from outdoor delivery trials underscore the UAV’s ability to precisely execute payload drops at the targeted locations, confirming its potential to fulfill the logistical requirements for the transportation and delivery of small-volume items in a cost-effective, low-altitude framework. This investigation contributes to the burgeoning discourse on leveraging ultra-low-cost UAVs in logistics, offering a feasible solution to the challenges of cost and efficiency in UAV-operated delivery systems.

Thermodynamic design and evolution of unmanned aerial vehicles

This paper reviews the recent evolution of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) through the lens of thermodynamic design. Emphasis is placed on using constructal theory in order to understand the relationship between different degrees of freedom within these complex dynamic systems. Size scale, the way in which UAVs are categorized based on weight and dimensions and one of the most significant factors in the design of any UAV, is analyzed in terms of its relationship to energy consumption. Specifically, constructal theory is used to predict the minimum size at which any UAV will need to be tethered in order to support its energy requirements.

Experimental investigation of the dynamic characteristic and performance improvement of kW-grade air-cooled fuel cells

Air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cells (AC-PEMFC) have wide applications due to their simple structure, and high efficiency. However, AC-PEMFC also needs effective methods to further improve the dynamic response and output power in the kW-grade power. Thus, this paper analyzed the dynamic characteristics and stability of the designed kW-grade AC-PEMFC at the beginning. Then, the effect of purging and active short-circuit activation strategy (ASC) are studied to solve the flooding and Pt oxidation problems, respectively. The results are as follows: (1) The AC-PEMFC capability of water and thermal self-regulation is limited in high power. Thus, active water management strategies based on flooding degree need to be researched; (2) To improve performance consistency and stability of the system, the ASC has high effectiveness on the performance improvement and dynamic performance consistency due to Pt catalyst oxidation prevention, note that the operating efficiency of the stack can be effectively improved 3-5% by using ASC. These results provide a novel reference for portable power source design and unmanned aerial vehicle design to improve the performance of kW-grade AC-PEMFC.

Maximisation the autonomous flight performance of unmanned helicopter using BSO algorithm

Abstract The usage areas of rotary or fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have become very widespread with technological developments. For this reason, UAV designs differ in terms of aerodynamic design, flight performance and endurance depending on the intended use. In this study, maximising of the autonomous flight performance of the unmanned helicopter produced at Erciyes University using an optimisation algorithm is discussed. For this purpose, the input parameters of the dynamic model are chosen as blade length, blade mass density, blade chord width and blade twist angle of the unmanned helicopter and the proportional, integral, derivative gain coefficients of the lateral axis of the autopilot. The output parameters of the dynamic model are selected as settling time, rise time and maximum overshoot, which are autonomous performance parameters. The dynamic model consisting of helicopter and autopilot parameters is integrated into the back-tracking search optimisation (BSO) algorithm as an objective function. In the optimization process, where mean squared error (MSE) is used as the performance criterion, optimum input and output values were determined. Thus, helicopter and autopilot parameters, which are among the factors affecting autonomous performance, are taken into account with equal importance and simultaneously. Simulations show that the obtained values are satisfactory. With this approach based on the optimisation method, complex and time-consuming dynamic model calculations are reduced, time and cost are saved, and practicality is achieved in applications. Therefore, this approach can be an innovative and alternative method to improve UAV designs and increase flight performance compared to classical methods.

Innovative Hybrid UAV Design, Development, and Manufacture for Forest Preservation and Acoustic Surveillance

The research described in this paper focuses on the development of an innovative unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tailored for a specific mission: detecting the acoustic signature emitted by chainsaws, identifying deforestation, and reporting its location for legality assessment. Various calculations were conducted to determine the optimal solution, resulting in the choice of a fixed-wing UAV. A comparative analysis between tri-rotor and quadcopter systems was performed, leading to the selection of the tri-rotor configuration. The primary objective of this study is to design an innovative hybrid UAV concept with key features including a fixed-wing design and integrated VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) capability in the experimental model. The aircraft has been constructed using advanced materials such as fiber-reinforced polymer composites, manufactured using both conventional and advanced techniques like continuous fiber additive manufacturing and the use of a polymer matrix. Additionally, the aerodynamic configuration is optimized to achieve a cruise speed of approximately 50 km/h and a flight autonomy exceeding 3 h. The UAV has been equipped with payloads for mounting sensors to collect meteorological data, and crucially, the VTOL system has been optimized to vectorize thrust for improved performance during the transition from hover to cruise flight. This paper details the entire manufacturing and assembly process of the drone, covering both the structural framework and associated electrical installations. A dedicated sound detection system is incorporated into the drone to identify chainsaw noise, with the aim of preventing deforestation.

Design and Fabrication of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Object Recognition

The innovative realm of unmanned aerial vehicle assisted human face recognition. By amalgamating unmanned aerial vehicle technology and advanced computer vision algorithms, the research presents a robust system capable of detecting and identifying human faces from aerial perspectives. Real-time image processing and artificial intelligence methodologies are harnessed to ensure accurate performance across diverse environmental conditions. The proposed framework showcases its potential in surveillance, search and rescue missions, and crowd monitoring. Ethical considerations, limitations, and effectiveness are scrutinized through empirical evaluations, contributing valuable insights to the discourse surrounding privacy, security, and responsible unmanned aerial vehicle utilization.

Mission‐based design of UAVs

AbstractOver the past decades, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have increasingly been used in a wide variety of missions that range from surveillance to delivery. Unlike aircraft that always carry goods and passengers from an airport to another, UAVs do not systematically implement the same type of mission. UAVs are indeed multi‐mission during their time in operation, and the systems engineering approaches developed for one mission aircraft must be adapted to the multi‐mission context. Therefore, UAV design requires application of mission engineering upstream systems engineering, either to assess there is a UAV system that may accomplish a new mission, or to specify a new UAV system according to a given mission. To achieve that goal, the authors of the paper support the use of Model‐Based Mission Engineering. A three‐layer architecture ‐ purpose, operation, functions or capabilities ‐ is proposed as a design framework for missions. The Goal‐Oriented Requirements Language (GRL) serves as mission description language. The paper extends GRL to better address mission‐based design of UAVs. It is proposed to distinguish between internal and external resources. A goal detailing mechanism is introduced. A degraded mode evaluation becomes possible. GRL tools make it possible to evaluate how much a UAV system ‐ at least, an operator, a ground station, and a UAV ‐ may satisfy every stakeholder in both nominal and degraded modes. The proposed approach is applied to a high voltage surveillance UAV. The case study enables the introduction of four actors—Authority, Client, UAV and MissionSupervisor—that turn out to be generic and can be reused for other missions and UAV designs.

Design and construction of the army unmanned aerial vehicle with a new generation launch system «RPSKD-2»

The scientific article presents the design and construction of a two-case army unmanned aerial vehicle with a launch system of a new generation «RPSKD-2», which can be used for combat purposes. The study lists the main design units of the launch system, army unmanned aerial vehicle and cases. The combat equipment of the RPSKD-2 UAV provides for suspended armed cases that will be attached to the lower part. When designing and constructing an army UAV, foreign and domestic experience in machine-building production in this field of knowledge was studied. When modeling the UAV, the Compass and Siemens NX software product was used. The following general scientific methods for studying research materials were used in the article: analysis, deduction and modeling. The purpose of the study is to develop a two-case UAV with a launch system. This article is the first part of the study, in a number of author's scientific articles. Further publications of the authors will be devoted to the UAV structural and functional control system, which includes: telemetry, gyroscopes, automatic control system, sensors, controllers, engine, etc.

Design and Flight Test of a Tube-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have already proven valuable for intelligence, search, and reconnaissance missions; however, their integration into manned aircraft to augment existing capabilities is still an emerging field. This paper describes the design of an aircraft that fits inside a G-sized sonobuoy canister, deploys from a manned aircraft in-flight, and flies for up to 111 km and 83 min while providing telemetry to a remote operator. While UAVs with similar performance requirements exist, most were designed to fit in larger canisters. Multiple UAVs can be deployed in the air to expand the search capabilities of manned aircraft, ultimately allowing a larger search area per cost compared to manned aircraft alone. Individual performance characteristics of the aircraft such as aerodynamics, weight, propulsion, and stability were developed in the preliminary design phase based on given performance requirements. The performance of the aircraft was assessed using analytical and empirical methods. Wing folding mechanisms were prototyped for use on the production aircraft for flight testing. Propulsion, aerodynamic, and structural capabilities were validated separately using experimental methods. The folding mechanisms used in this UAV allow it to achieve the benefits of a longer wingspan while remaining compact and easy to deploy.

A case study on the modeling and simulation of UAVs

The current work presents the flow and structural analysis of the application design in un-manned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as well as indicates a case of the modeling and simulation study with the ANSYS Fluent and Mechanical programs. This research reveals the unmanned aerial vehicle’s structural and mechanical design, structure configurations, energy-flow and struc-tural analysis, propulsion and firing systems, prototype production and testing, and design flow models. This study aims to complete the unmanned aerial vehicle design by determining its aerodynamic configurations. Due to the complexity of the design, a preliminary prepa-ration for flow analysis is performed with simplified geometry as well as flow analysis. The unmanned aerial vehicle is tested at different velocities by numerical analysis. In addition, different density flow analyses provide predictions about the aerodynamic forces of the UAVs at different heights and temperatures. The thrust results are 4240 g, power became 1711.62 W with 2.48 g/W efficiency, and 12179 [rpm] revolution for 22.2 V voltage and 77.1 A current, respectively. The 5 different analyses are performed in the range of 2.9-12 million elements, and the solution meshes with the lowest number of elements by performing parametric stud-ies with the ANSYS program that gives the most accurate result.

Design and Analysis of UAV Propeller for Composite Materials

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have witnessed significant advancements and growth in recent years, where the efficiency and performance of propellers play a vital role. This study focuses on the design and analysis of UAV propellers utilizing ANSYS software. The propeller's structural behavior and aerodynamic effects are investigated through advanced engineering approaches. This study involves using ANSYS software to conduct a comprehensive analysis of UAV propellers, focusing on a comparative study of three distinct materials: Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP), and aluminum alloy. A comparative study is conducted by analyzing various results such as maxim stress, maximum deformation and also the fluid flows. By considering the advantages and limitations of CFRP, GFRP, and aluminum alloy, this research contributes to the advancement of unmanned aerial technology, driving innovation and efficiency in UAV design and performance optimization.

Strong Electromagnetic Interference and Protection in UAVs

With the proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the escalating electromagnetic environment in space, there has been growing attention and research focus on the strong electromagnetic effects and electromagnetic protection design of UAVs. This paper aims to introduce the potential strong electromagnetic interference that UAVs may encounter during flight. It specifically concentrates on three crucial subsystems: the datalink system, the flight control and navigation system, and the power system. The goal is to provide an overview of the current state of research on the strong electromagnetic effects of UAVs, along with a discussion of commonly employed research methods. Additionally, this paper introduces various means of strong electromagnetic protection that can be utilized for UAVs. Finally, it concludes with a summary of the research status and development trends concerning the effects of strong electromagnetic interference and the corresponding protection measures for UAVs.

Large Eddy Simulation of Low Reynolds Number Flow Around a NACA0015 Airfoil with Modified Trailing Edges

The flow field of a low Reynolds number regime is three-dimensional and exceedingly complicated due to numerous forms of vortical phenomena, which has triggered the interest of many researchers. This study aims to investigate the influence of various trailing edge configurations on the aerodynamic characteristics and flow structure of airfoils. Specifically, five different configurations, namely baseline, serration, comb, and comb-serration are analyzed in detail. The study seeks to identify the configuration that provides optimal aerodynamic performance, which can then inform the design of more efficient airfoils for a range of applications, including unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wind energy, and automotive design. A Large-eddy simulation numerical model was developed to effectively evaluate unsteady pressure fluctuations and turbulence parameters at the source. The pressure coefficient and skin friction coefficient figures reveal that modifications result in an early negative pressure zone and uneven flow along the airfoil surfaces. This study presents numerical findings on the NACA0015 airfoil at a zero angle of attack. The pressure coefficient distribution along the airfoil surface exhibits a symmetrical pattern, with the highest pressure observed at the leading edge due to flow deceleration. Analysis of the skin friction coefficient confirms the absence of separation zones on the airfoil surface, except for the tip of the trailing edge. The velocity profile demonstrates a consistent and smooth flow, indicating stable and symmetrical conditions across the airfoil. Moreover, the velocity profiles of the baseline airfoil at zero angle of attack do not indicate any signs of flow separation. Notably, the serrated, combed and comb-serrated trailing edge configurations each yield distinctive effects on fluid flow. The serrated trailing edge promotes increased fluid velocity and pressure drop, while the combed configuration induces separation at the root. Meanwhile, the comb-serrated design sustains a continuous fluid flow over the airfoil surface. Overall, these results contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the aerodynamic behavior and flow characteristics influenced by various trailing edge configurations.

Accelerating model evaluations in uncertainty propagation on tensor grids using computational graph transformations

Methods such as non-intrusive polynomial chaos (NIPC), and stochastic collocation are frequently used for uncertainty propagation problems. Particularly for low-dimensional problems, these methods often use a tensor-product grid for sampling the space of uncertain inputs. A limitation of this approach is that it encounters a significant challenge: the number of sample points grows exponentially with the increase of uncertain inputs. Current strategies to mitigate computational costs abandon the tensor structure of sampling points, with the aim of reducing their overall count. Contrastingly, our investigation reveals that preserving the tensor structure of sample points can offer distinct advantages in specific scenarios. Notably, by manipulating the computational graph of the targeted model, it is feasible to avoid redundant evaluations at the operation level to significantly reduce the model evaluation cost on tensor-grid inputs. This paper presents a pioneering method: Accelerated Model Evaluations on Tensor grids using Computational graph transformations (AMTC). The core premise of AMTC lies in the strategic modification of the computational graph of the target model to algorithmically remove the repeated evaluations on the operation level. We implemented the AMTC method within the compiler of a new modeling language called the Computational System Design Language (CSDL). We demonstrate the effectiveness of AMTC by using it with the full-grid NIPC method to solve four low-dimensional UQ problems involving an analytical piston model, a multidisciplinary unmanned aerial vehicle design model, a multi-point air taxi mission analysis model, and a single-disciplinary rotor model, respectively. For three of the four test problems, AMTC reduces the model evaluation cost by between 50% and 90%, making the full-grid NIPC the most efficacious method to use among the UQ methods implemented.

Energy optimization for full-duplex wireless-powered IoT networks using rotary-wing UAV with multiple antennas

In this paper, we propose a novel design for the rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled full-duplex (FD) wireless-powered Internet of Things (IoT) networks. In this network, the UAV is equipped with an antenna array, and the K IoT sensors, which are distributed randomly, use single-antenna to communicate. By sending the energy, the UAV as a hybrid access point, charges the sensors and collects information from them. Then, to manage the time and optimize the energy, the sensors are divided into N groups, so that the UAV equipped with multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technology can serve the sensors in a group, during the total time T. We provide a simple implementation of the wireless power transfer protocol in the sensors by using the time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme to receive information from the users. In other words, the sensors of each group receive energy from the UAV, when it hovers over the sensors of the previous group, and also when the UAV flies over the previous group to the current group. The sensors of each group send their information to the UAV, when the UAV is hovering over their group. Under these assumptions, we formulate two optimization problems: a sum throughput maximization problem, and a total time minimization problem. Numerical results show that our proposed optimal network provides better performance than the existing networks. In fact, our novel design can serve more sensors at the cost of using more antennas compared to that of the conventional networks.

Aerodynamic performance study of propellers for Mars atmospheric environment

In terms of flight conditions, the Martian atmospheric environment is undoubtedly much harsher than the Earth atmospheric environment, with extremely low air density, ultra-low Reynolds number, and raging Martian sandstorms, all of which have serious impacts on the design of Martian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), especially for the design of the power system. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of the Martian atmospheric environment on the aerodynamic performance of the propeller system. The computational fluid dynamics numerical simulation was used to study the impact of varying degrees of sand and dust accumulation on the aerodynamic performance of Martian propellers caused by Martian sandstorms and widespread dust. It was found that in the Martian atmospheric environment, the rough surface of propeller blades after sand and dust accumulation has better aerodynamic performance than the smooth surface, which is greatly different from the Earth environment; The aerodynamic characteristics of the propeller are tested in the simulated Martian atmosphere vacuum chamber environment, and the experiment has shown that the propeller has better aerodynamic performance under the condition of 8° angle of attack; under the condition of 8° angle of attack, the aerodynamic performance of the propeller is simulated by different Reynolds numbers and different Mach numbers, so as to obtain the influence of the Reynolds number and the Mach number on lift–drag characteristics under the Martian atmospheric environment, and then, the modified blead element theory suitable for the Martian atmospheric environment is derived, which provides a detailed reference for the accurate modeling of the Mars UAV. It has important guiding significance for the design of flight controller.

Subjective Response Test of Auralized Brushless Direct Current Motor-Propeller System Noise

The auralization can be an effective asset in the design of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and urban air mobility vehicles, serving as a valuable resource in decision-making regarding the mitigation of noise-related issues. However, in order to be effective, the auralization must be perceptually accurate. During the process of auralization, a multirotor noise evaluation framework based on multidisciplinary principles was employed to model the periodical fluctuations in rotational speed. The subjective response test was utilized to evaluate synthesized UAV-like noise. The tests included participants becoming acquainted with different noise sources (ice-breaking), assessing participants' emotional responses to different noises (helicopter and UAV-like), and evaluating participants' ability to differentiate between measured and auralized sounds. Statistical analysis of the results of the subjective response test showed that the measured noise and the auralized noise were not identical, but were not perfectly indistinguishable. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of psychoacoustic methods and statistical analysis in the perceptual assessment of noise and validate a comprehensive rotor noise assessment framework based on a multidisciplinary approach.

Control Schemes for Quadrotor UAV: Taxonomy and Survey

Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an unstable system, so it needs to be controlled efficiently and intelligently. Moreover, due to its non-linear, coupled, and under-actuated nature, the quadrotor has become an important research platform to study and validate various control theories. Different control approaches have been used to control the quadrotor UAV. In this context, a comprehensive study of different control schemes is presented in this research. First, an overview of the working and different applications of quadrotor UAVs is presented. Second, a mathematical model of the quadrotor is discussed. Later, the experimental results of various existing control techniques are discussed and compared. The various control schemes discussed and described for quadrotors are; Proportional Integral and Derivative (PID), Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), H-infinity ( H ∞ ), Sliding Mode Control (SMC), Feedback Linearization (FBL), Model Predictive Control (MPC), Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Iterative Learning Control (ILC), Reinforcement Learning Control (RLC), Brain Emotional Learning Control (BELC), Memory Based Control (MBC), Nested Saturation Control (NSC), and Hybrid Controllers (HC). Comparison is done among all the control techniques and it is concluded that the hybrid control method gives improved results. This survey presents a broad overview of the state-of-the-art in UAV design, control, and implementation for real-life applications.