of a design candidate; and (3) Evaluation: the process of performance calculation and comparing the predicted performance of each feasible design candidate to determine the deficiencies. A designer needs to know how to integrate complex, multi-disciplinary systems, and to understand the environment, the requirements and the design challenges.
The objectives of this book are to review the design fundamentals of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. It will have three Parts and ten Chapters. Part I (Chapters 1 and 2) is on “Vehicle Design” and covers design fundamentals, and design disciplines. This part covers UAV classifications, design project planning, decision making, feasibility analysis, systems engineering approach, design groups, design phases, design reviews, evaluation, feedback, aerodynamic design, structural design, propulsion system design, landing gear design, mechanical systems design, and control surfaces design.
Part II (Chapters 3–7) is dedicated to the Autopilot Design. It will cover dynamic modeling, control system design, navigation system design, guidance system design, and microcontroller. This part will discuss the topics such as: aircraft aerodynamic forces and moments, stability and control derivatives, transfer function model, state-space model, aircraft dynamics, linearization, fundamentals of control systems, control laws, conventional design techniques, optimal control, robust control, digital control, stability augmentation, coordinate systems, inertial navigation, way-point navigation, sensors, avionics, gyroscopes, GPS, navigation laws, guidance laws, proportional navigation guidance, line-of-sight guidance, lead angle, tracking a command, flight path stabilization, turn coordination, command systems, modules/components, flight software, integration, and full autonomy. A few advanced topics such as detect (i.e., sense)-and-avoid, automated recovery, fault monitoring, intelligent flight planning, and manned-unmanned teaming will also be reviewed in this part.
In Part III (Chapters 8, 9, and 10), equipment design is presented which includes ground control station communication systems, payloads, and launch and recovery. The following topics will be discussed: ground element types, portable ground station, mission control elements, remote control personnel, support equipment, transportation, coordination, hardware and software, radio frequencies, elements of communication system, communication techniques, transmitters, receivers, telemetry, measurement devices, antennas, radar, civil payloads, military payloads, disposable payloads, imagery equipment, payload handling, payload management, payload-structure integration, conventional launch, rail launchers, hand launch, air launch, and recovery systems. Due to the limited length of this book, many topics are reviewed in brief.
Putting a book together requires the talents of many people, and talented individuals abound at Morgan & Claypool Publishers. My sincere gratitude goes to Paul Petralia, Executive Editor of Engineering, and Deb Gabriel for composition. My special thanks go to the outstanding copy editor and proof-reader who are essential in creating an error-free text. I especially owe a large debt of gratitude to my students and the reviewers of this text. Their questions, suggestions, and criticisms have helped me to write more clearly and accurately and have markedly influenced the evolution of this book.
Mohammad Sadraey
July 2017
[Unattributed figures are held in the public domain and are from either the U.S. Government Departments or Wikipedia.]
Part I
CHAPTER 1
Design Fundamentals
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a remotely piloted or self-piloted aircraft that can carry payloads such as cameras, sensors, and communications equipment. All flight operations (including take-off and landing) are performed without on-board human pilot. In some reports of DOD, Unmanned UAV System (UAS) is preferred. In media reports, the term “drone” is utilized. The UAV mission is to perform critical flight operations without risk to personnel and more cost effectively than comparable manned system. A civilian UAV is designed to perform a particular mission at a lower cost or impact than a manned aircraft equivalent.
UAV design is essentially a branch of engineering design. Design is primarily an analytical process which is usually accompanied by drawing/drafting. Design contains its own body of knowledge that is independent of the science-based analysis tools that is usually coupled with it. Design is a more advanced version of a problem solving technique that many people use routinely.
Research in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has grown in interest over the past couple decades. There has been tremendous emphasis in unmanned aerial vehicles, both of fixed and rotary wing types over the past decades. Historically, UAVs were designed to maximize endurance and range, but demands for UAV designs have changed in recent years. Applications span both civilian and military domains, the latter being the more important at this stage. Early statements about performance, operation cost, and manufacturability are highly desirable already early during the design process. Individual technical requirements have been satisfied in various prototype, demonstrator and initial production programs like Predator, Global Hawk, and other international programs. The possible break-through of UAV technology requires support from the aforementioned awareness of general UAV design requirements and their consequences on cost, operation and performance of UAV systems.
In June of 2016, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has finalized the first operational rules for routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems [27], opening pathways toward fully integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. These new regulations aim to harness new innovations safely, to spur job growth, advance critical scientific research and save lives. Moreover, in June of 2017, European Commission has released a blueprint for UAV standards which will “unify laws across the EU” by creating a common low-level airspace called the U-space that covers altitudes of up to 150 m.
The design principles for UAVs are similar to the principles developed over the years and used successfully for the design of manned UAV. The size of UAV varies according to the purpose of their utility. In many cases the design and constructions of UAVs faces new challenges and, as a result of these new requirements, several recent works are concerned with the design of innovative UAVs. Autonomous vehicle technologies for small and large fixed-wing UAVs are being developed by various startups and established corporations such as Lockheed Martin. A number of conceptual design techniques, preliminary design methodologies, and optimization has been applied to the design of various UAVs including Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV using multi-objective genetic algorithm.
The first UAV designs that appeared in the early nineties were based on the general design principles for full UAV and findings of experimental investigations. The main limitation of civil UAV’s is often low cost. An important area of UAV technology is the design of autonomous systems. The tremendous increase of computing power in the last two decades and developments of general purpose reliable software packages made possible the use of full configuration design software packages for the design, evaluation, and optimization of modern UAV.
UAVs are air vehicles, they fly like airplanes and operate in an airplane
