I've been working on a universal pod, to carry additional equipment on drones. While I was playing around with my 3D program of choice (Shade 3D) I got the brilliant idea to add a set of small wings to my pod.
The idea is to create some additional lift and control to the combined drone+pod (the drone is a delta wing).
But does it make any sense? I know very little about aero dynamics, but thought it might make the delta wing carry a bigger load (the Pod), if the load had a set of wings of it's own.
The Pod could even be dropped for a glide landing when the mission was accomplished.
Question is - does it make sense and how should can the wing design be optimised placement and shape wise? Anyone?
Comments
It's much more efficient to increase the area of the main wing than adding some tiny wings to the plane. The increase in drag is much greater than the increase in lift.
@Dan - you might say so, but with exchangeable pods you can use the same base drone for multiple purposes - click on, click off.
@Gary - Delivery of sensor hardware to remote locations is very good idea. I was more thinking in ways of relieving the craft of the payload once it's done with it, but your idea is more fun.
A very interesting concept.
It seems to me that at least under some circumstances, the extra wings (and lift) could extend flight times.
Vehicle mounting angle and possibly wing mounting angle would need to be adjustable to provide minimal drag and optimized lift I think.
But it is even more interesting if a guidance and control system was provided that on drop could fly the (glider) over a set course or to a set landing spot. (You would need at least 2 channels worth of control surfaces).
Seems like it could be useful for launching one or more inexpensive remote transponders for data acquisition or for precisely delivering emergency or critical supplies.
And it would not tend to run afoul of laws that prohibit the secondary launch of "propelled" vehicles.
Clearly the military is already using this method to deliver explosive ordinance, but this could provide a very good platform for delivering something of actual positive value.
You could even make it out of biofoam or even paper mache so it would be biodegradable (and really cheap).
Best Regards,
Gary