Mechanical Design Report

Conceptual and preliminary design of an

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Universidad Europea de Madrid

15.12.2016

Group 2

Marcelo Fraguas Velasco

Evelyn Stampfli

Hani Fardoun

Marcell Dalmau Balboa

Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

Abstract

Going back in time and taking a design and structure from the 1940s to create an innovative
and powerful UAV that simplifies the process of measuring the altitude and ground
elevation. The UAV is designed uniquely to fulfil the requirements and regulations given
while being limited to a budget of three hundred and fifty Euros. Apart from not exceeding
the budget, the UAV is required to have a maximum wingspan of 1.5m, have a low cruise
speed, and be as light as possible.

The project began by brainstorming ideas and coming up with a conceptual design that fits
our budget and requirements. The measurement of the ground elevation from an aircraft is
achieved by including a sonar device and a barometer. The position of the UAV is
determined by a GPS device.

The design and structure was one of the most complicated parts of this project. It required a
substantial amount of CATIA knowledge and ability to work in teams. The five main design
requirements, which guided our development process, were supplied to us by the
professors. The design of the product was divided into the wing, fuselage, tail, landing gear,
power plant, electronics and controls. Every single one of these parts was further divided
into subparts.

At the end, an evaluation was performed in order to measure the efficiency and reliability of
the design. Further, a preliminary structural analysis was done. This evaluation was governed
by testing the obtained results (from research and professors) and trying to make
assessments based on the acquired knowledge. Finally, future steps of what should be done
and how the project will be moving forward were discussed in detail. One of the most
important discussion topics was the facility of manufacturing and the final decision of what
manufacturing processes to choose. 3D printing is still a the main option for some
components but has a very high price compared to the traditional ways of manufacturing.
The next step will be to plan how to market and sell the UAV to make it standout in the
market of UAVs and aerospace products. Competition is high, for this reason a low budget
will allow for a low selling price which will give our UAV a competitive advantage.

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

Content
Problem Description 5
Problem Scope 5
Design requirements 5

Conceptual Design Description 6

Preliminary Design Description 7
Overview 7
Detailed description 8
Wing 9
Fuselage 10
Main structure 10
Fuselage box and nose 10
Tail 13
HTP 13
HTP Calculations 14
VTP 17
Landing Gear 18
Main landing gear 18
Rear landing gear 18
Control surfaces 19
Ailerons 19
Rudder 20
Elevator 22
Powerplant and Electronics 24
Engine 24
Propeller 25
Electronic components 27
Use 28

Evaluation 29
Overview 29
Testing and Results 30
Structural and Aerodynamic analysis of wing 30
Center of gravity 43
Evaluation of design against requirements 44
Requirement maximum span: 1.5m 44
Requirement budget ceiling: 350€ 44
Requirement payload and mission: measure ground elevation and altitude 44
Requirement weight: Minimum empty weight 44
Requirement cruise speed: Low cruise speed 45
Assessment 45
Review of last month’s progress 46
Mitigations 47
Payload & Mapping Device 47
Elliptic Wing Design 47

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Box With Attachments 47

Aerodynamics of the Nose 47
Vibrations and Instability In Motor 47
Risk Factors 47
Next Steps 48

Appendix 50
Components Control 50

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PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

PROBLEM SCOPE

The overall project is to build a UAV according to the given requirements. The main objective
of this UAV is to be able to perform mapping missions, focusing on measuring the altitude
and ground elevation.

The scope of the first part of the project is to do the preliminary and conceptual design of a
UAV with CATIA, including preliminary analyses of the structure and aerodynamics.

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

Five main design requirements were provided by the professors and guided our design
process over the whole scope of the project. These requirements are at the core of our
design and should be measurable. This enables us to evaluate at the end whether our
product fulfills the requirements and is successful.

Maximum span: 1.5m

Budget ceiling: 350€

Payload and mission: measure ground elevation and altitude

Weight: Minimum empty weight

Cruise speed: Low cruise speed

The unique condition given is that the UAV must fly at the lowest velocity possible, which is a
challenge due to the fact that the required dimensions for the vehicle do not allow to
perform a gliding wing configuration or another one designed for low velocities, which are
designs with high aspect ratio. The maximum span of 1.5m is due to the size of the wind
tunnel that will be used later to further test the UAV.

In addition, the UAV should include the following set of minimal components: Fixed wing
with ribs and spar, power plant, batteries, fuselage (lattice structure), payload, control
system, landing gear and a support for wind tunnel tests.

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN DESCRIPTION

The design process started with the UAV’s intended purpose. The aircraft we wanted to
design has a specific mission. The mission of our aircraft is to measure its altitude and to do
mapping of the terrain, in particular measure the ground elevation. This mission called for a
UAV that has the ability of flying slowly and has enough payload capacity to carry the
electronic devices needed for mapping.

At an early stage, different possibilities concerning the wing shape and position, fuselage
shape, tail configuration and propulsion were taken into account. A variety of different
aircraft configurations were sketched according to the design specifications.

At the end of this design stage we had a conceptual layout of the aircraft configuration on
paper. We decided to use an elliptical wing in a high position. The tail configuration we
decided on is the conventional with the HTP and VTP at the rear of the fuselage. The landing
gear configuration will be a tricycle, with two main wheels in the front and one smaller
wheel in the rear. Thrust will be provided by using an electrical motor and a propeller. The
fuselage should have the shape as shown above and is made of aluminium tubes.

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PRELIMINARY DESIGN DESCRIPTION

OVERVIEW

Our design takes you back to the early age of aircraft creation and yet uses today's powerful
technology. It is a combination of past and present, inspired by change and innovation. The
UAV is meant to have one main purpose, which is the measurement of altitude and ground
elevation. Therefore, we tried to simplify the design and made it with the minimum amount
of parts required to fulfil the desired functions and tasks.

The UAV has a fixed, elliptical, high wing configuration. The wing, vertical- and horizontal
stabilizer consist of two aluminium spars and wooden ribs. The wingtips are to be 3D-printed
with PLA. The landing gear has a tricycle configuration with two main wheels in the front and
a small steerable wheel in the back. The fuselage consists of a monocoque structure with
aluminium tubes and connectors. The UAV control surfaces are two ailerons, a rudder and
an elevator and moved by servos as actuators. The aircraft also includes an autopilot
connected with GPS. This enables the user to not only control the UAV manually, but also
automatically via a ground control unit connected with a mission planner software.

A scenario for its use is the following: GPS waypoints can be defined in the ground station
(mission planner) of a desired route, covering the terrain you want to map. The UAV,
controlled by the autopilot, will then follow the specified route while constantly measuring
the altitude with a barometer and distance to the ground with the sonar device. The
measured distances of the sonar can then be subtracted from the barometer data, yielding
the ground elevation.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The design of a UAV can become very complex due to the amount of functions and
components involved. The design has consequently been divided into sub functions and
parts, enabling the design to stay well-structured and comprehensible.

The following description follows the same structure. The block diagram below shows the
structure of the design process of the UAV as well as its description.

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WING

Since the beginning of the project the idea was to perform an elliptic wing. It was an
interesting idea because it was going to be a challenge to be able to design and find a way of
manufacture it.

The main structure is one of the most important ones which might still change along the
course. At the moment, the main structure is composed by two aluminium spars, several ribs
and the wingtips which are thought to be made of 3D printing material due to its accuracy.
The wingspan is approximately 1490 mm and the root chord is 300 mm.

It is a really simple structure which will be covered with aeromodelism paper to obtain the
final shape of an elliptic wing. The process of covering the wing can be performed without
much problem as there are already models with this wing configuration and are perfectly
covered with this material.

A structural analysis was done to determine if the wing would be strong enough to support
the flying loads. The analysis is described in the evaluation section, following the preliminary
design description.

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FUSELAGE

The fuselage is divided in two parts: the main structure and fuselage box. Both have
different functions and are designed to accomplish a specific task.

MAIN STRUCTURE

This is the strongest part of the fuselage. Its main purpose is to be strong enough to support
the loads from the wings, motor and payload. The configuration of this structure is
commonly known as lattice structure. It is composed by 12x9mm aluminium tubes and
plastic connectors. Everything is attached to the main structure, since the fuselage box,
wings, landing gear and the tip.

It is a really easy configuration to understand and to manufacture. Also is really light and
strong due to the materials used. Aluminium is one of the materials most used in aerospace
vehicles due to strength/weight relation. For the purpose of this UAV it is the perfect
material because aluminium tubes are so cheap. They are cheaper than wood.

FUSELAGE BOX AND NOSE

The fuselage box is an idea that came to mind to further simplify the design. Basically, we
have a single box that includes all the electrical components of the UAV. The base of the box
is the horizontal surface and it has a 4mm thickness to allow all the electronical components
to be securely fastened or glued.

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The Fuselage box can be directly inserted and easily taken out at any time to change
batteries, fix or replace any electrical component. A good advantage to this is if for instance,
lets imagine a part of the fuselage structure breaks cracks or gets damaged there will be no
need to take off all the electrical components the box can be simply slid out without any
complications.

The box will be manufactured innovatively by using 3D printing. The material that will be
used is PLA (Polylactic Acid). The beauty of 3D printing is its ability to transform any given
design no matter the level of difficulty into a solid and real part. This will also save a lot of
time. Generally speaking, after downloading the design into the printer it will take 8-9 hours
of manufacturing compared to the previous manufacturing procedures using human labour
and separate machines.

Advantages of having a fuselage box:

✓ Simplicity of instalment
✓ Ability to replace any electronics
✓ facility of access to components
✓ Manufacturing speed
✓ Strength of part
✓ Protection from damage
✓ Ease of designing and manufacturing with 3D printing

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The nose design is specifically made to support the propeller while allowing for a
aerodynamic airflow for maximum efficiency and performance. The motor support is built
for blocking any vibration or movement that can potentially affect the propeller's
performance or damage the structure. It has a full support that is covering the circular
surface of the motor from below and a ring shape to block it from above.

The Nose is also 3D printed and another advantage to it is its permanent connection with the
box. The box and the nose are designed together to in a fine tune that keeps the weight low
and simplifies the manufacturing process to just 9 hours.

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

TAIL

HTP

The horizontal tail plane consists of a simple system of ribs and spars. The spars are
aluminium and the ribs are plywood with a thickness of 2mm. In order to create a smooth
aerodynamic surface, the HTP will be covered with oracover.

The drawing below shows the structure of the horizontal tail plane including the basic
dimensions.

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HTP CALCULATIONS

The HTP apart from creating pitch it must balance the momentum created by the lift of the
wing. To do so, it is necessary that the HTP creates some lift to create a restoring moment
that in cruise flight maintain the UAV flying at constant pitch. This restoring moment can be
produced by a cambered airfoil to which generate lift at 0º or a symmetric airfoil with an
angle of incidence.

To calculate how much lift the HTP needs,

a small analysis has been performed at 2º

and 4º:

2º angle of incidence:

2D analysis with XFLR5

Cl=0.309

ANSYS 3D analysis L=0.3

4º angle of incidence:

2D analysis with XFLR5

Cl=0.536

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ANSYS 3D analysis L=0.63

Horizontal tailplane sizing according to control requirement

The horizontal tailplane sizing is based on the moment equilibrium around the lateral axis.
The sum of the moments around the center of gravity gives

The moment around the y-axis on the horizontal tailplane is comparatively small and is
therefore not taken into account here. The pitching moment through the nacelles does not
apply here and therefore is zero. The pitching moment of the fuselage is disregarded here.
This reduces the above equation to

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with

Reordering the equation to obtain required LH:

Less lift is generated then required. There are few options to mitigate this problem:

- move centre of gravity

- increase surface of HTP
- move HTP further back

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VTP

The structure of the VTP consists of plywood ribs and aluminium spars. Both the fin and the
rudder will be covered with oracover. The skin was designed in CATIA as a surface, however,
it is not depicted here in order to have the full view of the structure. The overall area of the
structure needed for directional stability was calculated to be 0.03m 2. As can be seen in the
drawings below, the spar of the rudder is elongated. The rear landing gear will be attached
to the rudder spar, which enables the aircraft to be steerable on ground.

The vertical tail plane is attached to the fuselage by adjustable aluminium links. These can be
pulled to the desired length and fastened by screws. The advantage of this is that the
position of the vertical tail plane can be changed easily and swiftly.

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LANDING GEAR

MAIN LANDING GEAR

The main landing gear consists of a simple design using 2mm strong steel wire that is bent
into the desired shape. The wire crosses the fuselage at the bottom in order to reinforce the
fuselage structure. The idea is specifically made to withstand high impacts and minimizing
complications.

REAR LANDING GEAR

The rear landing gear consists of a smaller wheel connected to the bottom of the elongated
rudder spar. The wheel is connected to the spar via a spring.

The connection of the rear wheel to the rudder spar has the advantage of making the
aircraft steerable on ground. Therefore, by moving the controls dedicated to the rudder, the
aircraft can be turned while taxiing.

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CONTROL SURFACES

AILERONS

We decided to put the ailerons towards the tips of the wing in order to maximize the
generated moment when they are deflected. Further we determined that the total surface
of the ailerons should be 0.03m2 to provide sufficient rolling motion.

We considered several designs concerning the control of the ailerons. Firstly, putting two
servos in the fuselage, each controlling one aileron over a mechanical connection. Secondly,
putting one servo each near the aileron and connecting it electronically with a long wire to
the autopilot in the fuselage.

Finally, the option we decided on is the one displayed below. The ailerons are connected to
the same servo, which is located in the fuselage. When the servo turns, the ailerons are
deflected in opposite directions. This configuration saves us the price and weight of one
fuselage, and uses one less channel of the receiver.

The image below shows the assembly of the servo-aileron spars connection in detail. The
Servo was modified to feature two horns instead of the standard one-horn-configuration.

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RUDDER

The table below shows the surface area needed in order to provide enough moment forces
to control the aircraft. These numbers were calculated in the beginning and served as a
guide throughout our design process.

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The movement of the rudder is achieved by a servo located in the fuselage. The servo moves
a 1mm thick steel rod that is connected indirectly to the bottom rib of the rudder. The
connection of the rod to the rudder can be seen in more detail in the next image.

The rotational movement of the servo is translated to a pushing and pulling movement of
the rod. Do to the applied mechanism, the rudder is moved to the right and left.

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ELEVATOR

The elevator has to have a surface of at least 0.014 square meters to provide enough
pitching moment. The design we have now has a surface of 0.024 square meters.

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The image below shows the control mechanism for the elevator. The mechanism is very
similar to the one described above in the section concerning rudder control.

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POWERPLANT AND ELECTRONICS

ENGINE

In order to make a good decision about which engine is the optimum for the project some
calculus about the requirements of it have been previously done. By doing these calculus the
following data has been obtained

Safe speed for takeoff and land 45.37 Km/h

Thrust needed to overcome wing drag 2.0113 N

Needed supplied power to provide thrust 27.91 W

The thrust previously calculated corresponds to the thrust in ideal conditions, ideal
conditions means that the aircraft is flying at constant altitude (with 0 angle of attack), and it
is just overcoming wing drag (it’s not accelerating). So in order to make a good approach this
needed thrust should be increased at least a 35%.

A safety factor must be applied to needed supplied power in order to ensure that the
selected engine will be powerful enough. At this point a safety factor of 50% is going to be
applied to safety perform take-off and landing operations. The final power to be supplied is
41.865 W.

Engine selection

After a trade-off study in which the autonomy,

the power calculated for the selected
propeller and battery at different ranges of
RPM has been taken into account, the
selected engine for the UAV has been the
Cobra C-2808/16 Brushless motor. In the
following chart some of the relevant data of
the engine is displayed.

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PROPELLER

As it has been said before the engine has been tested numerically with the propeller, which
in terms of shape and size gives the optimum thrust at a medium range of RPM in order to
avoid excessive vibrations and battery consumption. This selected propeller has been the
GWS slow fly 12x6.

The results obtained by analysing numerically the previously described engine with this
propeller are the ones displayed in the following charts.

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As it can be observed in the previous graph the progression in terms of thrust over RPM is
very progressive with the combination of this engine and propeller, we can easily afford the
needed thrust for the vehicle without reaching a high range of RPM and therefore avoiding
unnecessary vibrations and power consumption.

By using the previous equation and knowing the necessary data from the battery (3-cell Li-
Po) that is going to be used, the autonomy in Km can be easily obtained. A distance of 25.11
Km can be travelled without the necessity of recharge the battery.

Finally in terms of the assembly with the fuselage, the following piece is going to be used.

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ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS

The following electronic components will be included in the UAV. Please note that the
chosen autopilot is delivered with a GPS, power module (5V), barometer and telemetry unit.

Having made a decision on which components to use, we allocated space for the
components in the fuselage. We made a model in CATIA v5 in order to get a better idea of
the space we needed to reserve for the components in the fuselage.

After doing the volume allocation, we applied material to the bodies and changed the
density until they were exactly as heavy as the component they are representing. This
enabled us to get an idea about the weight distribution in the aircraft.

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Further, we made a table in Excel to calculate the total weight and price of the UAV. As soon
as a component is changed, it automatically adapts the total. This structured approach helps
us to stay on top of things.

USE

The design is made specifically to ensure full capacity of a UAV to measure the altitude of
the ground compared to the sea level or a reference point. To do this, the design has been
implemented with the primitiveness of an inspired old design that would fulfill a desired
function of measuring distance at the lowest possible budget while of course, maintaining
quality of the data acquired from the installed GPS in the UAV.

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EVALUATION
After countless research on UAVs and meeting with professionals who understand and work
with such technology, it will be convenient to say that the evaluation made was a collection
of different pieces of information and knowledge put together to fit the requirements and to
assure certainty of design and functionality.

Each part of the UAV will be analysed below with full description of why the final evaluation
was made and what proof judges the eligibility of the final decision. The requirements were
defined and hence the evaluations were made accordingly.

OVERVIEW

The approach that was taken started by first brainstorming ideas and discussing them with
group members to see their achievability and suitability for the requirements. The question
was always; does this design really fit the requirement? is it on budget? how about the
weight? Is it difficult to manufacture?

In some cases, the ideas were completely ignored due to their inconsistency with the overall
design. Some ideas were worth going to the next level and that is designing them in CATIA
and showing them to group members. If group members were unsure, the process of
evaluation went further to the professor.

One of the continuous evaluation techniques used was the weekly meetings and discussions
held to examine the work of the earlier weeks and report to the professor that has high
experience with UAVs and the aerospace world. Advice was given and evaluation reports of
risks and mitigation factors were made to analyse the eligibility of the parts, components,
and design. Further evaluations were made by computer simulation with XFLR5 and ANSYS
Fluent and hand calculations.

In the following sections of the evaluation we will determine whether the design
requirement are met by the UAV we designed. The requirements that guided our design
were the following:

Maximum span: 1.5m

Budget ceiling: 350€
Payload and mission: measure ground elevation and altitude
Weight: Minimum empty weight
Cruise speed: Low cruise speed

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TESTING AND RESULTS

STRUCTURAL AND AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF WING

Structural analysis

As seen in the wing description, some analysis were done to be sure that the design was
going in the correct direction. After the structure design, some studies in terms of loads to
support (lift, weight, manoeuvres…) have been performed.

The analysis was done using ANSYS software, at cruise flight conditions (lift=weight),
considering a 3kg vehicle, taking a safety factor of 2 and the characteristics of the materials
(aluminium and wood).

In this case, just a half part of the wing was study, having one extreme attached and the
wingtip free, as in a real flight. Then, it was applied a force in the extreme of the wing to
simulate the most hard test where the force is applied directly in one point, creating the
highest momentum and the highest deformation possible.

The results show that the wing has a maximum deformation of only 0.96mm. This means
that the structure of the wing is strong enough and even it would be lighter, maybe using
aluminum tubes with less thickness. However, bending moment is not the only force that
the wing will support, so at the moment the structure will remain like that.

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The principal stresses that the wing support are also low enough. The critical point are the
theoretical attachments of the wing to the fuselage, but the loads are affordable for the
aluminium spars.

Aerodynamic analysis

In terms of aerodynamics, the configuration of the wing is one more time one of the most
complex and interesting things to study. It has been performed an aerodynamic study in
different software to have as much information as possible.

First of all, several calculations

were done to determine how
much lift it is necessary to fly a 3kg
UAV with different wing areas at
constant cruise velocity of 10m/s.

The wing designed has a surface of around 0.33 square meters, 0.25m of mean chord, so the
minimum Cl required is 1.37 for maintaining cruise flight.

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XFLR5

XFLR5 was the first software used. An airfoil analysis was done with different profiles to
choose the best one which fulfil the requirements of high lift and low reynolds number
conditions.

The result was that the profile S1223 has the best aerodynamics characteristics.

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This profile provides high Cl numbers at low angle of attack. It useful to fly at low speeds.
However, this airfoil can be unstable at high angles of attack because the stall would appear
suddenly.

After that, a 3D model of the whole wing was analysed with the same software.

The result is quite different than the results obtained from the airfoil analysis, so there are
some losses in terms of vortex generated at the tip and the limitation of span and chord.

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ANSYS Fluent

Later, the same analysis were done using ANSYS Fluent at a constant velocity of 10m/s and
for different angles of attack (0º, 5º, 10º and 15º).

2D Fluent

The first one was a 2D analysis where the results in terms of the pressure distribution,
velocity distribution and the lift force generated for these angles:

- Pressure and velocity distribution for 0º. For this angle of attack the lift generated is:

This is the direct data from ANSYS. The resultant force is the force generated in y-direction
(17.8 Newtons). Cl=0.88

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- Pressure and velocity distribution

for 5°:

At 5°, the 2D analysis in ANSYS shows that the lift force generated by the airfoil is 22.01
Newton. Cl=1.08

- Pressure and velocity distribution for 10º:

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At 10º, the 2D airfoil in ANSYS generates a lift force of 26.11 Newtons. Cl=1.29

- Pressure and velocity distribution for 15º:

At 15º, the 2D analysis in ANSYS shows that the lift force generated is 29.55 Newtons.
Cl=1.46

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These results, for 2D analysis provides some graphics that look really nice, comparing them
for different angles to study the general behaviour of the airfoil.

However, the forces obtained are quite different from the obtained when analysing the
airfoil with XFLR5, and the numbers given by ANSYS do not look really because the Cl
obtained are too high. So, in this case, the forces values do not fit the results expected.

3D Fluent

The 3D analysis in fluent was performed taking the half part of the wing. These are the
results for different angles of attack.

- 0° angle of attack:

Pressure distribution around the

wing.

Velocity plot V/position

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For 0°, the lift generated is almost 6 newton for the half wing. Cl=0.6

-5º angle of attack:

Pressure distribution

Velocity plot V/position

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10.17 Newtons generated for 5º. Cl = 1.007

The wing will be attached to the fuselage with some angle of incidence to increase the lift
force at 0º for being able to fly at low speeds. 4 or 5 degrees would be a nice angle of
incidence because if the angle is too high, the aircraft would stall before. However, the Cl
resulting in this analysis for 5º is not enough for a cruise velocity of 10m/s. Later there is a
section where this concerned is explained and some mitigations are presented.

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- 10º angle of attack:

Pressure distribution

Velocity distribution plot

Vortex generated. In the second picture it is possible to see that the boundary layer starts to
separate from the wing surface because the velocity in the trailing edge decrease.
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13.64 Newtons for 10º. Cl=1.35

- 15º angle of attack (not converged):

Pressure distribution

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As in this case, the calculation did not converge, there are some errors in the results as seen
in the pictures. However it is useful to understand how the wing is going to behave at this
points when some circulations appears due to the angle of attack.

Lift force for 15º is 15.1 N, which means Cl=1.49

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CENTER OF GRAVITY

The centre of gravity was calculated with the software CATIA and the results are displayed in
the two images below.

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EVALUATION OF DESIGN AGAINST REQUIREMENTS

REQUIREMENT MAXIMUM SPAN: 1.5M

The wingspan of our UAV is approximately 1490 mm. The design requirement of a maximum
wingspan of 1.5m has therefore been met.

REQUIREMENT BUDGET CEILING: 350€

According to our budget control document, this requirement has been met. The cost of our
UAV is 309€ and therefore within the budget. The image below is an outtake of our budget
control document.

REQUIREMENT PAYLOAD AND MISSION: MEASURE GROUND ELEVATION AND ALTITUDE

The designed UAV includes a GPS, barometer and sonar device to

measure distance. Therefore, theoretically, the ground elevation of
a defined point can be measured by our UAV. However, further
practical analysis is required that the sonar works for different
ground surfaces.

REQUIREMENT WEIGHT: MINIMUM EMPTY WEIGHT

The weight of our UAV including payload is 2300 grams. We are very happy with this result and believe that it
fulfils the requirement.

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REQUIREMENT CRUISE SPEED: LOW CRUISE SPEED

Due to the fact that the purpose of the designed UAV is to do mapping missions where the
vehicles flies around the field to measure the ground elevation, it is very important to
maintain a constant velocity as low as possible to make sure that the systems work properly.
In general, the cruise speed depends on several values that should be taken into account.
One of the most important is the wing performance. In our case the aerodynamic analysis
have been performed in a cruise velocity of 10m/s. The results obtained indicate that the lift
generated is not enough to fly. In this case, there could be different solution. The easiest one
would be to increase the cruise velocity, so the wing would generate enough lift. Another
solution, more according to the requirements, is to modify the wing to increase the lift
generation. This modification can means an increase of the surface.

ASSESSMENT

The design meets the measurable design requirements. The fourth and fifth design
requirement are less specific and therefore hard to assess. However, our personal opinion is
that these requirements can be met as well, in the case of the airspeed with a few simple
adjustments.

Another requirement that is not very specific is the cruise speed. As said in the previous
section, after the wing analysis it was determined that the actual design is not able to
generate enough lift to fly. Considering 10 m/s as the goal speed to fly, the wing design must
be modified. It is possible that increasing the surface of the wing, it will generate more lift
and then achieve this cruise speed.

Further analyses will have to be done once the UAV is manufactured.

Several professors have expressed their concerns about our choice of an elliptical wing, due
to its complexity to manufacture. This indeed is a set back but yet it can be seen as a positive
point. In the aerospace world it has never been easy to fly or even to manufacture parts of
the aircraft. We acknowledge these concerns, however, in this UAV we have decided to take
on the challenge and try to find a way to manufacture the elliptical wing. Surely this will be
demanding, but it will also be very educational.

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

REVIEW OF LAST MONTH’S PROGRESS

✓ complete

⚐ partially complete

✗ incomplete

- Minutes of Meeting 5 ✓

- Minutes of Meeting 6 ✓

- Minutes of Meeting 7 ✓

- Initial analysis: Center of mass and inertial properties. ✓

- Perform aerodynamic analysis ✓

- Further propulsion analysis of selected engine and propeller ✓

- Junctions and detail parts and components in CATIA. Revised layout ✓

- Fuselage structure and surfaces ✓

- Wing structure and surfaces ✓

- Detailed mechanical model in CATIA ✓

- Mechanical design: Assembly of the UAV components in CATIA. ✓

- Graphic design: Dimensioning and tolerancing of the parts. ⚐

- Drawings of main and detail views ✓

- Write project report ✓

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

MITIGATIONS

PAYLOAD & MAPPING DEVICE

✓ It was decided to use the MB1260 to measure the ground elevation. The price is only 47€ and
the accuracy is acceptable.

ELLIPTIC WING DESIGN

✓ Since the elliptic wing is the best in terms of induced drag we have decided to continue and proceed
to looking for best manufacturing techniques.

BOX WITH ATTACHMENTS

✓ Simply create a drawer like entrance and exit for the box. This will make it easy to assemble and
disassemble at any time.

AERODYNAMICS OF THE NOSE

✓ The shape of the nose was modified and this has ensured a great aerodynamic profile that allows for
facility of air flow.

VIBRATIONS AND INSTABILITY IN MOTOR

✓ A motor support has been designed to fully support the motor and not allow any vibrations or
movements.

RISK FACTORS

Last month there were risks that were affecting the overall advancement in the project.
After some research and work the risk have been reduced to the green area.

The Elliptical wing still remains in the severity zone

but after research and brainstorming the risk
could be reduced from previously 5E to 4B. Motor
support has been drastically reduced from 5C to
2B. The box insertion was an issue since the
dimensions were not fitting. After some work and
check ups the risk factor decreased from 4D to 3A.

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

NEXT STEPS

● Wing
During the next trimester probably the structure of the wing will vary through a 3D printed
structure which could be more accurate and easy to manufacture than the actual structure.
Also the design of the wing could have some changes because as shown on the
aerodynamics analysis the wing does not perform lift enough for a 3kg UAV. These changes
can be focus on the increment of wing surface. It can be achieve by changing the elliptic
shape to a different one maintaining the elliptic basis, but not a perfect ellipse.

● Structural analysis
Perform an analysis in order to test the design and its efficiency.

● Dimensioning and tolerance check ups

Make sure that all parts fit perfectly together and test the tolerances. Check also how the
manufacturing could affect the dimensions of the design.

● Manufacturing techniques
Are more parts going to be 3D printed? How much time does it take to manufacture? Should
we simplify the elliptical wing design? All these questions must be answered before going
further with the manufacturing.

● Purchase of all electronic components

In addition, do they all function together or we might need some connections for the cables?

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

● Testing manufactured parts

After manufacturing the parts they must undergo tests in order to test their liability to use in
the final UAV. Several tests will be performed to measure the forces that a material can
undergo.

● Assembly of manufactured parts

Assembling the parts and put them together. Avoiding any errors and making sure
everything fits perfectly.

● Surface of UAV
Research and find ways to make the UAV attractive while maintaining budget and weight.

● Flight tests
Flight tests are necessary to ensure that the UAV can maintain safe flight and is under
control at all times. It also checks how it maneuvers and how it can be controlled from
ground.

● Marketing campaign and selling point

Finding ways to sell it to the public or to specific companies that need its functions. Making
profit is important in order to keep the UAV alive and produce more. The more we sell the
more we can create and increase profits. If the project is successful and we were able to sell
then we can produce more UAVs and compete in the market.

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Final Report Mechanical Design Project UAV Design

APPENDIX

COMPONENTS CONTROL

The components control document will be attached separately as an excel file.

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