"Theoretically you may be correct but at the speeds we fly wings are king, less mass less drag= more payload, my x5 flying with camera at 1,1kg on 3amps cruise will beat most conventional set ups because its simple."
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Simon Howroyd
- Male
- Loughborough
- United Kingdom
- Blog Posts (1)
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Simon Howroyd's Discussions
GoPro HD Hero 3
Started this discussion. Last reply by Simon Howroyd Apr 30. 3 Replies 0 Likes
Hi all,Has anybody managed to use the new GoPro 3 for onboard real-time video?Regards,SimonContinue
Tags: gopro
Two motors, one prop
Started Mar 12 0 Replies 0 Likes
Hi all,Does anyone know of a gearbox which allows two motors to power one output shaft? Looking around the 1kW mark total power of the motors.SimonContinue
APM2.5 and XBee not working
Started this discussion. Last reply by Bill Bonney Jan 18. 12 Replies 0 Likes
Hi all,For some reason I just cannot get any data from my APM2.5 via xbee. Never had any troubles with APM2.I am connected to the "new wireless port" on APM2.5 via a…Continue
Fuel Cells in Unmanned Aircraft
Started this discussion. Last reply by Simon Howroyd Jun 16, 2012. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Hi all,Just thought I should raise a bit of awareness into the research being conducted at Loughborugh University here in the UK!I'm in the early stages of a 4yr project implementing both PEM and…Continue
Tags: loughborough, university, apm2, hydrogen, Cell
Simon Howroyd's Groups
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ArduCopter User Group
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X8
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ArduPlane User Group
693 members
Simon Howroyd's Page
Fuel Cells in Unmanned Aircraft
This project is researching and developing, the implementation of a hydrogen fuel cell into a small autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle.
The aircraft will be a development platform for the integration of a Horizon 100W hydrogen fuel cell, along with the development of eco power management to increase endurance.
Using ArduPilot Mega 2.5 and a RaspberryPi with WiFi dongle, flight and power data can be obtained and transmitted in real time to a laptop, over a network or the internet. The system can also accommodate a webcam (to be upgraded to a GoPro 3) and stream all this data on a user friendly webpage.
Try the link below for a brief description of the aircraft. Fast forward for some flight footage. The 4.5kg flight test is right at the end.
Latest Challenges
Overweight testing of the X8 has begun. A few modifications include a larger prop 15x10" folding and fiberglass tape on the lower wing. Flying at 4kg very well, next stage to push towards 6kg!
Calculations on wing loading done by Robert of NuvAero Flight Systems give promising leads to the capabilities of the X8:
X8 has 80 sq. dm of wing area. Lets compare it to the popular Gatewing X100 which is 23 sq. dm. Gatewing is 4.4lbs so has a wing loading of 31.5 oz/sq. ft. Cruises around 75km/hr and reported stall speed of 45 km/hr.
Our X8 at 8.5lbs has a wing loading of 15.8 oz/sq. ft. At 9.9 lbs it would be 18.5 oz/sq. ft. In fact our X8 would need to weigh 16.8 lbs to have the same wing loading as the Gatewing.
I'd say that at 8.5lbs it flys great. Could easily handle a couple extra pounds as far as flight characteristics go. Would consider proper carbon fibre wing spars and maybe some fiberglass packing tape first.
Watch this space for results!
I am also in need of peoples flight data; I need current, voltage and throttle for any flights you do, which I can include in my PhD research. Inbox me if you can help!
Any advice, experience or ideas please let me know!News
The X8 has successfully flown at 4kg, rocketing into the sky with no issues. I have also now finished the fist prototype of my hybrid power setup, which will eventually see the raspPi take over from the Horizon controller to manage the whole system. And, of course, the various components will be condensed onto a single breakout board rather than wires & bits everywhere!
All suggestions for improvements welcome!
Older News
In order to take such a high weight I have beefed up the structure using fiberglass tape. I am also running a 4Ah 7s LiPo with 1800W motor (needs to be a high voltage for fuel cell integration). Currently I am running a smaller 12x7" prop which stalls if much above 50% throttle, stopping torque roll completely. I will up the prop as I increase the weight.
The X8 has now flown! Cruising around on 20% throttle on the first flight. I shall be doing some more flights (weather permitting) and collecting some data & video.
All-in-all this is a very impressive aircraft, currently weighing in at 2.72kg including about 500g of ballast.
I've also got the raspberry pi transmitting a nice HD webcam with low latency (~0.25s) and about 15fps!
I have successfully moved from using XBee to connect our vehicles together and to the ground, and have replaced them with a WiFi network. It could be set up as an ad-hoc network, but for development I am using a standard home router to host a wireless-g network, which my laptop with mission planner connects to, as do our vehicles, at the full 54Mbps (less errors than 100Mbps). This is 100x faster than the XBee's, and in testing has proved to have a better range and signal quality. Below is an image showing the new setup, and how "plug-and-play" it is. I have no experience of networking but this was very easy to set up in 30mins.
Much Older News
I have now received ArduPilot Mega 2.0 (APM2), a full autopilot suite for model aircraft. This has a 6DOF accelerometer/gyro MEMS sensor, static and dynamic pressure, GNSS (GPS) and a magnetometer (compass). Is can be used in pass through mode (manual control), fly-by-wire for automatic stabilisation and autonomous for waypoint following. It has 2.4GHz telemetry to communicate with ground station software on my laptop, where missions can be updated in flight!
This has now had three flights, all successful! It is heavy, requiring 60-70% throttle to cruise in wind. I have tuned the low level stabilisation gains allowing for carefree handling. Airspeed hold is proving to be more difficult for FBW-B mode, so when the weather perks up I will go straight for autonomous circuits with me commanding throttle!
Simon Howroyd's Photos
Profile Information
- About Me:
- Love flying fixed wing aircraft, primarily electric but I was taught on glow.
- Tell us a bit about your UAV interest
- Researcher
Autonomous Systems Specialist
Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Hometown:
- Loughborough
Latest Activity
Massimo V. commented on Simon Howroyd's blog post Hydrogen Fuel Cell UAV"Simon, you told that "Flying wings ... are normally more aerodynamically efficient since you do not need a tailplane creating downforce, and all the structure to support it."
I don't think it's true. The profile of a flying wing…"
Mohamed Zahana replied to Simon Howroyd's discussion Multiple MAVLink Channels (UART)"I just checked that. I am using APM2.0, and they are not the same!"
Ufuk Irmak replied to Simon Howroyd's discussion Multiple MAVLink Channels (UART)"Hi Mohammed;
Why don't you use telemetry as I checked with multimeter (with no power on board) they are exactly same.
Thanks"
Simon Howroyd's Blog
Hydrogen Fuel Cell UAV
Posted on April 23, 2013 at 12:30pm 14 Comments 10 Likes
A hydrogen fuel cell is a device that converts hydrogen gas & air into electricity and water. Although these devices are much lower power density than batteries, they can pump out that power for many hours, depending on the amount of fuel you are storing.
At Loughborough University UK, we are working on a fuel cell and LiPo…
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Comment Wall (5 comments)
Hi
What is your X8 weight before you put the batteries in ?
The operating weight empty, everything except batteries, is 2.3kg. The rest is made up of a 4Ah 7s Hyperion 25c LiPo (~350g ish I think) and a load of dummy weight.
My goal is to put an expensive fuel cell, so at the moment I'm testing it with buts of junk inside to simulate the weight.
Ok :)
I have been looking into FC myself. I have seen the H-100 and also this one :
http://www.pragma-industries.com/products/fuel-cells/fuel-cell-systems/?gclid=CIDwkPmwgbYCFSx7cAod9SoAjg
Ah cool. I'm using the horizon h100...because that's what I was given lol.
Hi Simon
How is your overweight testing at 6kg going ? :-)
Tommy
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