The primary objective of this design project was to design, build and fly a low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capable of stable flight at 8 m/s, a relatively slow speed flight for a fixed-wing system. This was achieved using a deployable flap and slat system, the first of its kind on an unmanned aircraft. In an industry saturated with rotary-wing systems for remote camerawork, the team set out to prove that a fixed-wing system can operate at velocities suitably low for stable, usable footage, whilst reaping the superior lifting efficiency of fixed wings. This sub-10kg aircraft was developed from the ground up with less than £2000 of funding.
The development process involved six months of aerodynamic and structural, analytical and computational analyses, the results of which were validated by three primary testing procedures. A prototype wing was constructed for the first of two wind tunnel tests in the R.J. Mitchell wind tunnel facility (December 2014) and a fully working aircraft was built ahead of the second (February 2015). Finally the system underwent two days of flying at Draycot Farm Aerodrome, controlled by a professional UAV pilot, and was fitted with a flight data recorder and three exterior cameras.
A series of prototypes and an optimised UAV were manufactured using a number of the facilities here at the University of Southampton. The wings were constructed predominantly from foam sections cut with a hot-wire foam cutter, strengthened with plywood ribs and carbon fibre spars; the flap and slat mechanisms were custom-built from aluminium at the University’s Engineering and Design Manufacturing Centre; and the fuselage’s space frame structure was assembled using 3D printed connector joints and carbon fibre tubes.
The project was undoubtedly a success, exceeding its goal with an unmanned aircraft capable of 7.9 m/s in wind tunnel testing, and 11.5 m/s flight on the airfield. The latter may be easily reduced by addressing pitch authority issues. This UAV conceptualises that fixed-wing systems deserve a place in the remote camerawork industry, and provides a building block for future lightweight UAVs taking advantage of its unique deployable high-lift system.
The development process involved six months of aerodynamic and structural, analytical and computational analyses, the results of which were validated by three primary testing procedures. A prototype wing was constructed for the first of two wind tunnel tests in the R.J. Mitchell wind tunnel facility (December 2014) and a fully working aircraft was built ahead of the second (February 2015). Finally the system underwent two days of flying at Draycot Farm Aerodrome, controlled by a professional UAV pilot, and was fitted with a flight data recorder and three exterior cameras.
A series of prototypes and an optimised UAV were manufactured using a number of the facilities here at the University of Southampton. The wings were constructed predominantly from foam sections cut with a hot-wire foam cutter, strengthened with plywood ribs and carbon fibre spars; the flap and slat mechanisms were custom-built from aluminium at the University’s Engineering and Design Manufacturing Centre; and the fuselage’s space frame structure was assembled using 3D printed connector joints and carbon fibre tubes.
The project was undoubtedly a success, exceeding its goal with an unmanned aircraft capable of 7.9 m/s in wind tunnel testing, and 11.5 m/s flight on the airfield. The latter may be easily reduced by addressing pitch authority issues. This UAV conceptualises that fixed-wing systems deserve a place in the remote camerawork industry, and provides a building block for future lightweight UAVs taking advantage of its unique deployable high-lift system.
