Design Methodology for Heavy-Lift Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with Coaxial Rotors

This work presents a novel design methodology for multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). To specifically address the design of vehicles with heavy lift capabilities, we have extended existing design methodologies to include coaxial rotor systems which have exhibit the best thrust-to-volume ratio for operation of UAVs in urban environments. Such coaxial systems, however, come with decreased aerodynamic efficiency and the design approach developed in this work can account for this. The proposed design methodology and included market studies have been demonstrated for the development of a multi-parcel delivery drone that can deliver up to four packages using a novel morphing concept. Flight test results in this paper serve to validate the predictions of thrust and battery life of the coaxial propulsion system suggesting errors in predicted flight time of less than 5 percent

Perching Drones for Distributed Communication Systems in IoT Applications

A major limitation to using drones for IoT applications is the limited flight time. What if drones could operate without the need to land or return to home for recharging? This paper presents a perching concept for multirotor drones which allows them to operate as perpetual sensor or communication hubs in remote or urban areas. Unlike existing concepts of perching drones which rely on grasping mechanism and spikes, the proposed concept uses electro-permanent magnets (EPM) to attach to ferrous surfaces. EPMs are small, lightweight and can hold up to 15kg potentially enabling the perching of heavy-lifting drones. Similar to electromagnetic door locks, EPMs can be charged and discharged with a small power supply operating at 5V which is suitable for a range of multirotor vehicles. The paper experimentally demonstrates the perching concept for horizontal and vertical surfaces in manual flight and provides a control strategy to enable autonomous perching manoeuvres

Design Considerations for Autonomous Cargo Transportation Multirotor UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have proven to be an advanced tool for a variety of applications in the civilian and military sectors. Different categories of UAVs are used in various missions and are also the subject of numerous researches. Due to their characteristics and potential in specific conditions, multirotor UAVs imposes itself as a solution for many tasks, including transport. This chapter presents a conceptual solution of autonomous cargo transportation where the primary research objective is the design of a heavy lift multirotor UAV system. The process of designing a multirotor UAV that can carry heavy lift cargo is quite challenging due to many parameters and constraints. Five selected series of electric propulsion systems are analyzed, with different multirotor configurations, and results are graphically displayed for payloads from 10 kg up to 100 kg

Morphing Concept for Multirotor UAVs Enabling Stability Augmentation and Multiple-Parcel Delivery

This paper presents a novel morphing concept for multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to optimize the vehicle ight performance during multi-parcel deliveries. Abrupt changes in the vehicle weight distribution during a parcel delivery can cause the UAVs to be unbalanced. This is usually compensated by the vehicle ight control system but the motors may need to operate outside their design range which can deteriorate the stability and performance of the system. Morphing the geometry of a conventional multirotor airframe enables the vehicle to continuously re-balanced itself which improves the overall vehicle performance and safety. The paper derives expressions for the static stability of multirotor UAVs and discusses the experimental implementation of the morphing technology on a Y6 tricopter configuration. Flight test results of multi-parcel delivery scenarios demonstrate the capability of the proposed technology to balance the throttle outputs of all rotors

Rapid Design Process of Shrouded Rotors for Efficient UAV Propulsion

A novel approach for the rapid design of unconventional rotor shrouds combining a rapid manufacturing approach with a high-fidelity CFD prediction tool is proposed in this work. Using 3D printing and thrust stand measurements, different shroud designs have been explored experimentally to evaluate the performance gains of propeller shrouds for multirotor vehicles with small-scale, off-the-shelf propellers. The experimental studies are complimented with 3D quasi-steady CFD simulations to gain further insights into the flow fields for unconventional shroud geometries. The framework has been demonstrated for a commercial 5-inch racing-drone propeller, featuring significant performance gains using NACA-shaped shroud profiles

Arquitectura para el transporte de mercancías mediante UAS

This document proposes and theoretically develops an UAS network for goods delivery applications. Likewise, it dentifies its main organizational and technology difficulties, suggests possible solutions and determine the aspects that deserve particular attention from the competent authorities and the future researchers. The network presented has been specially designed to respond the needs of potential users which have been identified as companies b2c with a last-mile delivery in urban areas and companies b2b with a JIT storage strategy. This project also contemplates the current and future legislation to find necessary modifications and setting the network to legality. In this field solutions have been proposed based on sectorized STS and automatic flight plan validations. Moreover, this document reviews the required UAV’s characteristics to perform a goods delivery operation. Specifically, it assess the different implications of the employable power sources, presents the necessary protocols and control systems, and establish the optimum vehicle's frame according to each service and task. Besides, different VLL structures have also been proposed depending on the region where the network implementation intends to take place. These structures have been designed to provide the best solutions in terms of efficiency, capacity and safety. Lastly, this project presents algorithms and tactic and pre-tactic procedures to increase the efficiency and the safety, as well as to decrease the costs, the environmental footprint and the potential waiting times of the whole network. Due to the high theoretical content of this document, it lacks practicality to sumup all the distinct conclusions in this overview. Therefore, Chapter 5 has been added: a section exclusively created to lay out clearly and concisely the most important conclusions of this study.Aquest document planteja i desenvolupa de forma teòrica una arquitectura pel transport de mercaderies mitjançant UAS. De la mateixa manera, identifica quines son les principals dificultats organitzatives i tecnològiques actuals per dur-la a terme, proposa possibles solucions i determina quins aspectes mereixen especial atenció per part de les autoritats competents i dels futurs investigadors. L’arquitectura que aquí es presenta ha estat especialment dissenyada per respondre a les necessitats dels potencials usuaris finals, els quals han sigut identificats com empreses b2c que precisen de una last-mile delivery en zones urbanes i empreses b2b amb un model JIT d'emmagatzematge. Aquest projecte també considera la legislació vigent i futura per tal de detectar modificacions necessàries i ajustar l’arquitectura a la legalitat. En aquest àmbit es proposa i detalla solucions per les autoritats competents basades en STS per sectors i en validacions automàtiques de plans de vols. Així mateix, aquest document examina les característiques que precisa un UAV per realitzar les entregues de les mercaderies. Concretament estudia les implicacions de les diferents fonts d’alimentació empleables, presenta els protocols i sistemes necessaris pel control de les operacions i determina les estructures més òptimes dels vehicles segons el seu servei i missió. Per altra banda, també es proposen diferents estructures del VLL en funció de l’espai on es vulgui implementar l'arquitectura. Aquestes organitzacions estan dissenyades per oferir la millor solució possible des del punt de vista de l'eficiència, la capacitat i la seguretat. Finalment, aquest projecte planteja l’ús de diversos algoritmes i procediments tàctics i pre-tàctics per incrementar l'eficiència i la seguretat, així com per reduir els costos, la petjada mediambiental i els possibles temps d’espera del conjunt de tota l’arquitectura. Degut a l’alt contingut teòric d’aquest document, resulta poc pràctic i precís resumir les diferents conclusions dins d’aquest resum. Per això, s’inclou el Capítol 5: un apartat específicament dedicat a exposar de forma clara i concisa les conclusions més importants que s’extreuen d'aquest estudi.Este documento propone y desarrolla de forma teórica una arquitectura para el transporte de mercancías mediante UAS. Asimismo, identifica cuales son las principales dificultades organizativas y tecnológicas para llevarla a cabo, propone posibles soluciones y determina qué aspectos merecen especial atención por parte de las autoridades competentes y de los futuros investigadores. La arquitectura que aquí se presenta ha estado especialmente diseñada para responder a las necesidades de los posibles usuarios finales, los cuales han sido identificados como empresas b2c que precisan de una last-mile delivery en zonas urbanas y empresas b2b con un modelo JIT de almacenamiento. Este proyecto también considera la legislación vigente y futura para detectar modificaciones necesarias y para ajustar la arquitectura a la legalidad. En este campo se proponen y detallan soluciones para las autoridades competentes basadas en STS por sectores y en validaciones automáticas de planes de vuelo. De la misma forma, este documento examina las características que precisa un UAV para realizar las entregas de las mercancías. Concretamente estudia las implicaciones de las distintas fuentes de alimentación empleables, presenta los protocolos y sistemas necesarios para el control de las operaciones y determina las estructuras más óptimas de los vehículos según su servicio y función. Por otra parte, también se proponen diferentes estructuras del VLL en función del espacio donde se desee implementar la arquitectura. Estas organizaciones están diseñadas para ofrecer la mejor solución posible des del punto de vista de la eficiencia, la capacidad y la seguridad. Finalmente, este proyecto plantea el uso de distintos algoritmos y procedimientos tácticos y pre-tácticos para incrementar la eficiencia y la seguridad, así como para reducir los costes, la contaminación y los posibles tiempos de espera del conjunto de toda la arquitectura. Debido al alto contenido teórico de este documento, resulta poco práctico y preciso resumir las distintas conclusiones en este resumen. Por eso, se añade el Capítulo 5: un apartado específicamente dedicado a exponer de forma clara y concisa las conclusiones más importantes que se pueden extraer de este estudio