Discussions

Hey guys,

After trawling around for a decent UAV website, diydrones.com has finally answered a void.

Im currently studing at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield UK. My degree is in Aerospace Technology with Pilot Studies (BSc Hons), Im currently at the begining of my third year and my dissertation project is well underway. 

Forgive my ignorance but I never really thought much about the whole UAV scheme of things, i've mainly concentrated on GA. However now that im in the literature reasearch stage, im bloody surprised how big the UAV network is around the world. And ill tell you what, its quite fascinating.

For my final year project, I will be designing and building the airframe for a  UAV platform mainly concerned with complete autonomous launch, flight plan and landing.  The main priorities will be high endurance with a small payload capacity and choice of materials.

the broad directives are as follows

1.)   To research, design and create an airframe for a fully functional  UAV

2.)   To be built using relatively affordable materials, in this instance SPAD/Coroplast – “Simple Plastic Aircraft Design”

3.)   The aircraft should glide naturally; need little or no (Soaring) propulsion for forward motion and for lift.

4.)   Design will be open ended either single or dual prop driven

5.)   Must be able to carry a payload of a given mass (XX)

6.)   Aircraft will be fully autonomous, once launched the UAV will follow a set of predetermined and programmed commands.

7.) The cost must be within £100

So as you can see the design is quite open ended owing to the fact that I must stick to coroplast as the main material.

Has anyone here attempted to build a UAV of this nature?  I'd love to hear of similar projects.