Main
Home
Media
Team
Rocket
UAV
Awards
Documents
Proposal
PDR
CDR
FRR
Final Report
Other
AIAA
Wiki
Contact
Links
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
The cornerstone of this year's USLI effort is our Rocket-Launched Reconnaissance UAV. Deployed from the Rocket, this aircraft will be landed separately, under control of a pilot at a computer terminal, after conducting an aerial reconnaissance mission.

UAV Basic Features
The competition UAV is being designed, built, and flight tested by Vanderbilt Mechanical and Computer engineers. It is a sophisticated, small-scale airplane designed specifically for the mission of being deployed from the team's 10"-diameter, 16'-tall rocket and conducting a reconnaissance mission. It carries a sophisticated electronics suite including a 500 MHz computer and a wide array of sensors. In addition to being a full-fledged remotely-controlled airplane, due to the constraint of having to fit inside the rocket, it has a rotating wing and other unique design features to permit safe packaging inside the rocket.
Basic Features
 - 4"Carbon Fiber Fuselage (square cross-section)
 - 58" wingspan
 - 8" chord length
 - Rotating wing
 - Folding Propeller
 - Folding V-Tail Empennage
 - 48" Wingspan
 - 4-cell, 5000 mAh Lithium-Polymer battery
 - 55 mph cruise speed, 75mph max cruise
 - 20 mph stall speed

UAV Electronics Payload
In order to conduct an effective reconnaissance mission, the airplane must be navigated and piloted without visual reference, e.g. by reference to a computer screen. To accomplish this mission, the airplane will carry an onboard computer of it's own, as well as a wide array of sensors and cameras. These features are outlined below.

 - Forward-facing camera for navigation, transmitted as analog on 900 MHz
 - Downward facing tilt-pan-zoom camera for reconnaissance, feeding to computer via USB
 - Infrared Thermometer attached to downward-facing camera for thermal data collection
 - 500 mhz onboard computer for data encapsulation and transmission
 - High-fidelity, long-range Wifi uplink to the ground station computer
 - Linear accelerometers and Angle Roll Rate Sensors for attitude resolution
 - GPS for navigation and back-up altitude data.
 - Pitot-static system for airspeed resolution.
 - Pressure transducer for barometric altitude resolution.



Plan of Attack
In order to accomplish it's ambitious goal of building the sophisticated and high-performance Reconnaissance UAV detailed above, the Vanderbilt USLI Team aka the Vanderbilt Aerospace Club has developed a rigorous and comprehensive timeline and plan of attack. The main features of this plan are as follows: The Competition UAV will be built in 3 iterations; a Proof of Concept UAV will demonstrate and hone the team's fabrication and basic design skills. A 2nd UAV is currently being built with the basic dimensions of the Competition UAV. If this aircraft's design is sufficiently robust, it will either be modified to accomodate the rotating wing and folding v-tail, or the Competition UAV will be built as a separate airplane, using the molds from the 2nd UAV. After thorough ground testing, the electronics payload will first be tested onboard an 8'-wingspan Telemaster aircraft. Once the electronics payload is proven, it will be flight tested onboard the Competition UAV. And, once it has been shown that the Competition UAV is flightworthy and that the electronics payload is fully functional and sufficient for remote navigation and pilotage, the Competition UAV will be ready to be launched in the team's rocket!

Profili Wing Analysis:
Profili was used to investigate a number of possible wing cross-sections to be used by the team. We compared several common UAV airfoils under cruise condition and approach condition, and then, taking into consideration our fabrication method and the constraints that that would impose (a sharp trailing edge would be difficult, rapid curvature changes would be difficult), we decided upon the NACA 4415 airfoil.

This is the Profili output for the NACA 4415 -


Fluent Wing Studies:
After picking the NACA 4415 wing cross-section, we decided on a 48" span and 8" chord, based largely on the parameter of having to fit in the rocket, and then running a few quick analytic equations to make sure we'd have sufficient lift in all phases of flight. Fluent is a powerful Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software used to visualize flow, determine areas of high drag, and then finally to determine the overall lift and drag characteristics of a body under a given flight regime. We drew our wing in Gambit, and then studied the flow around the wing in our cruise and approach configurations. The report can be viewed in full Here. In short, our analytical work was verified, we learned a little bit more about lift and drag, and we produced lots of countours of lift and drag on the wing and in the vicinity.

Velocity Contour at the wing tip, at the wing center, and at 2" inboard from the tip -


Pressure contour on the top of the wing surface -


Pressure Contour on the bottom of the wing -


Vorticity contuors on the wing surface, at the wing tip, and at a point 2" inboard from the tip -


Patran/NASTRAN Load Quantification
After the design is basically complete, we export the ProEngineer drawing to NASTRAN for load quantification. The design is meshed in Patran, and then NASTRAN can be used to apply a load - at a point, across a line, or over an entire area. This is very useful for locating areas of stress concentration, for quantifying the load at any given point, and for approximating the deflection of the wing or fuselage in flight. This work is still underway. This is a graphic of the wing loading and deflection under 5g loading.


Setting up one of the load quantification studies on the wing.


The +1G loading scenario, and the resulting stress throughout the wing.


Internal Assemblies and placement.
These graphics show where we're planning on putting the various internal components in the UAV.
A ProE model of the internal component placement for our Competition UAV. In this picture, I labeled what's what. This model was made by Ty Barringer, and it came out really nice, despite being just a rough display.


Same as above.


Same as above, but from below.


From above.


Ground Testing:
There are four basic ground tests that we do prior to flight testing the aircraft. Wing Loading Test - First comes the Wing Loading Test. In this test, the wing is suspended, and loaded as it would be for various flight conditions. We've doen the static wing loading test for the Proof of Concept UAV's wing. The wing is loaded down with bags of sand or gravel to simulate loading during flight. We tested our wing to +5/-3 g's - we'd be flying some pretty extreme aerobatics to develop any more loading than that. Static Wing-Loading Test on POC#1's Wing -


Drop Test -
The Drop Test serves to demonstrate that the aircraft's landing gear will stand up to a reasonable amount of landing force. A hard landing can result from pilot error - misjudging the aircraft's height and "flaring" the landing when the airplane is too high, or by a tail gust stailling the wing prematurely before the plane has landed. POC#1's landing gear were tested to a 10 ft/s drop speed.

Drop Test on POC#1 -


Control Surface Clearance and Throw Test -
This test demonstrates that the control surfaces can travel freely and are not inhibited or blocked by anything. The control surfaces are moved to full deflection in both direction, with the throw and rates being adjusted to the satisfaction of the test pilot.

Range Test -
The Range test is performed to demonstrate that the transmitter/receiver combination has sufficient range. This is performed at the field, immediately prior to flight. Holding the controller, the pilot walks away from the plane, wiggling the joysticks to manipulate the controls. If the pilot can't walk at least 300' away from the aircraft, than there is a problem with the transmitter or receiver.

Proof of Concept UAV (POC#1):
The Proof of Concept UAV is already built and has been successfully flight tested. It is built with the basic fabrication techniques to be used by the team, but it carries no real payload, aside from a single wireless camera. It has a conventional aircraft design, and is propeller-driven. It is pictured below:









Flight Test Video -


Second Proof of Concept UAV:
The purpose of the Second Proof of Concept UAV is multifacteted. First, it must demonstrate the rotating wing, folding propeller, and folding v-tails. It must fit inside the rocket, and it has a very similar design to the Competition UAV. It was originally intended to BE the competition UAV, and it could fill that role if needed, but we wanted to re-make the airplane lighter, with a longer wingspan, larger fuselage, and a few other minor tweaks. The Second Proof of Concept UAV will be our "standby" aircraft, in case we accidentally destroy the Competition UAV in flight testing.





Fabrication:

Here Tyler is cutting the spar for the wing for our Competition UAV.


Carroll is slotting the wing to accept the spar.


Now, installing the spar into the slotted wing-halves.


And, the finished wing, ready to be sanded and fiberglassed.


One of the V-Tails.


Kyser, with his Fuselage mold.


Kyser, laying up the Fuselage.


The wing, with the Ailerons ready to be installed, and the fuselage.


The UAV. OK, it's not really ready to fly yet, but it sure looks nice.


Again.


Ready to fly!









And here's the UAV with its big friend, our 10"-diameter, 16'-tall rocket.


Flight Testing Pictures -

From left to right, this is Haziq Mazlan, Thomas Carroll, Will Runge, Ty Barringer, and then the corner of Kyser Miree's yellow jacket.


Ready for the maiden flight. Left to right, this is Will Runge, Ty Barringer, Thomas Carroll, Ben Havrilesko, Kyser Miree, and Haziq Mazlan.


Here's Randy setting up the controller, with Thomas Carroll looking on.


In Flight.


Some mild aerobatics.


Coming in for a beautiful landing.


Launch and deployment from the rocket (March 15, 2009)

Prepping the UAV for flight.


Wiring up the altimeters. Kyser is wearing the face shield.


Loading the sabot (and UAV!) into the rocket.


Ready to go to the launch pad. From left to right, it's Zach Smith, Thomas Carroll (Tyler Lamb partially obscured), Matt Heller, (Will Runge partially obscured), Kyser Miree (Randy in background), Thomas Bowden, and Ty Barringer.


Carrying the rocket to the pad. Left to right, it's Thomas Bowden, Will Runge, Thomas Carroll, Zach Smith.


Erecting the rocket. In the foreground is Russ Bruner. Left to right is Rodney in orange, Tyler Lamb, Thomas Bowden, Will Runge, and Ty Barringer.


Locking the rocket into the launch position.


Checking the level.


Arming the altimeters via the screw-switches.


Installing the igniters. On the ground is Rodney McMillan (NAR II, Low Explosives User/Dealer) and Russ Bruner in the bomber jacket (NAR III).


Ready to launch.


Liftoff!


Climbing!


There goes our baby....


Getting smaller....


Just a speck now.


Apogee, waiting for the drogue parachutes to be deployed.


Parachutes! At the top is the tail section, under it's red main parachute, with the pink drogue parachute nearby; at the right is the tail section, plainly visible. Down lower is the payload section, under it's red main parachute, with the green drogue parachute down below. UAV is out of frame.


The UAV, in a dive, captured by our ace cameraman Haziq Mazlan. Randy hasn't started pulling up yet.


Randy has recovered, and flies a pass near to the Payload section and nosecone, visible at top right.


Randy is hot-dogging it now, making a pass for the camera-man.


In the foreground is Randy, flying, with spotter Kyser Miree on the lookout for stray rocket parts. The payload section is landing nearby.


The tail section comes in to a soft landing.


The mid-section follows the tail-section down.


Electronics Flight Testing:
It would be decidedly unwise to prematurely fly the highly experimental Competition UAV with the costly and sophisticated electronics payload onboard. Furthermore, it would be unnecessarily challenging and ill-advised to flight-test the electronics using the Competition UAV as a test bed. For this reason, the team has acquired a large Off-The-Shelf R/C airplane to serve as a flying testbed for the electronics package. The 8'-Telemaster is a large, easy-flying electric airplane. It is equipped with a beefed-up motor and battery to support a 2-lb payload, and after the electronics payload is thoroughly tested on the ground, it will be installed into the telemaster for flight testing.





Airborne!


Another low pass.


I got the gimbal for the Reconnaissance camera assembled and installed into the bottom of the Telemaster. Matt Heller helped me modify the servos to travel a full 180* (normally servos only travel 60* or so out of the box). Tomorrow we'll be attaching the reconnaissance camera.