Low cost, high endurance, disposable fixed wing platform

DIY experts,I have a specific application. I need a high endurance disposable platform to make measurements in clouds and storms. Recovery is not important. The UAV would be equipped to transfer data to ground control station in near real time. Once data is obtained, recovery will be attempted. If recovery is not possible due to storm conditions, the UAV will be abondoned. Subsequent mission would be conducted with an identically equipped UAV.Important requirements:1. Cruise speed ~ minimum 50 knots2. Flight time (endurance) at cruise speed ~ 20 hours3. Payload (with full fuel onboard) ~ 3 kg4. Cost ~ less than $5,000 for airframeI know requirements are challenging but each will have to be specified for this project. Thank you all for your feedback!

Replies

- Justinclouds > Dan McKenna February 8, 2015 at 8:24pm
  
  5000 ft
Jon Farhat February 5, 2015 at 10:15pm

May I suggest the PaperDrone Disposable concept for Pixhawk?

http://ospheric.com

http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/new-paper-drone-concept-in-ultra-...
Walter Hynson February 5, 2015 at 7:22pm

Hi Well you need to talk to the folks at Johns Hopkins Applied physics Labs in Md,also a talk with the Navy will help ...WCH
Chris Gough February 3, 2015 at 9:20pm

Aerosonde did exactly this sort of thing 15+ years ago with a twin boom pusher, superficially similar to a Muggin. I'm sure they can sell you what you need, but they are part of AII now so not at $5K :)

That aircraft has some interesting trade-offs. Catapult launch (or car rooftop contraption in the early versions) and belly or net landing, so it probably won't slow down much. The Muggin landing gear was a weak point in the version we used (it may have improved in future versions). The Aerosonde looks higher AR than the Muggin, but given NASA flew one version of them into cyclones I imagine those long thin wings are light and highly loaded == expensive. A few $k materials cost for the airframe sounds plausible but up-front investment in tooling and per-airframe labor components would be significant.

There used to be an interesting narrative online (sorry, couldn't find it now) about their eventually successful Atlantic crossing attempts in the 90's. The one that landed was full of rainwater (yikes!), they lost one due to using the wrong kind of sticky tape somewhere - exciting stuff, really pushing the envelope. Deliberately flying into storms means you probably want a high stall margin so you don't loose control with tail-gusts, so a different set of compromises to their long distance case.

I've played with the thought experiment of building a small, fast, fully sealed, lightening-proof chevron wing for flying into the big cumulus storm clouds we sometimes get around here, to see if I could catch and survive the 8km purple updraft. How heavy is your instrumentation? could you launch something like that into your storm from a long-range mother-ship?
- james sowell > Chris Gough February 3, 2015 at 9:54pm
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Butts_Farm
- Justinclouds > Chris Gough February 3, 2015 at 9:52pm
  
  The instrumentation would be 3 kg. NOAA moved to the mother-ship idea. But it's a big mother! They use the P3 to launch a Coyote UAV into the storm from a chute on the airplane. From what I've read the Muggin doesn't have a good wing for long endurance. Using manned aircraft as a mother-ship increases cost which reduces long term feasibility.
Ravi February 3, 2015 at 3:01am

your best bet could be telemaster with a modified high lift aerofoil. wingspan 2 meters. I tried 10cc evolution gas engine. with 1.2 ltr of fuel. it gave three hours of cruise with a 11x6 prop. the max you can get is 10 hrs. the speed would be much lower 30 knots since it has a high glide aerofoil.

IMG_5441.JPG
Mitchell Berry February 1, 2015 at 11:03pm

No offence and i'm probably wrong, but this all sounds like a university assignment you want someone else to do for you.

Any links your actual project? Cheers.
- Justinclouds > Mitchell Berry February 2, 2015 at 10:03am
  
  No offense and yes you are wrong.
Paul Meier February 1, 2015 at 2:36am
MUGIN Twinboom UAV platform
- Wingspan 3 mete.
- 6 litres fuel loaded.
- 3 hours flying time.
- The minimum flight speed of 40 km, 150 km maximum.
You are looking at 2 liters (almost 2 kgs) of fuel per hour, so if you want 20 hours.......

of 3

RT @f1tenth: Say hi to our newest #F1TENTH creation for @ieee_ras_icra next week in Philly. It’s going to be huge! 😎 🔥 @AutowareFdn @PennEn…

Discussions

Low cost, high endurance, disposable fixed wing platform

Replies

MUGIN Twinboom UAV platform

Activity