Final Report: Disaster Relief project

To Sparky Aid Designs

By Ivan Nosov
Abstract

The goal of the project is to design an aircraft that will be a crucial asset in the current disaster
relief arsenal. Originally the project was about creating a fixed wing aircraft that will focus
mainly on hurricane relief. Due to the design this aircraft can be used for operations as well. We
wanted to take the already existing aircraft, HC-130, and improve it from every angle. Initially,
this aircraft was supposed to be a swiss army knife of aircraft, carry large loads, capable of
landing vertically, hovering, and performing reconnaissance missions. Over the course of the
design process that lasted several weeks the design changed.
Due to financial and technical obstacles, the design was changed to be far more specific. The
final design became simply a direct update to a 60 year old design, without hovering capability
and vertical landing. Even without these features, the new aircraft produced fairly impressive
capability, especially in its ability to stay airborne for almost an entire 24 hour period fully
loaded! Without cargo, acting as a reconnaissance aircraft, it can stay up in the air for almost 40
hours. This aircraft can be useful for any mission.

Introduction

This document is to be submitted to Sparky Aid designs, owner of the aircraft. The customer is
the companies/ organisations that specialise in disaster relief. The purpose of this project is to
design a better aircraft solution for tackling disasters. The key issue is that the response isn’t
efficient enough, thus help doesn’t arrive as fast as it should.
Out of 5 areas of focus, we selected Beijing, with our aircrafts capabilities, it should excel at
assisting with 2 most common problems, hurricanes and earthquakes. With the aircraft speed,
weight capacity, and thermal imaging it can easily become one of the most in demand aircraft to
date.

The following list of requirements and criteria was based on information found in Customer
investigation and Project documents and resources

Requirements
1. Must have an automated light control.
2. Must have red interior light for night and white the day.
3. If transporting medical supplies, must have a refrigeration systems.
4. Seats for personnel, at least 30, and ability to accommodate stretchers.
5. Must have cruise speed less than 310m/s.
6. Climb rate higher than 2% (ROC).
7. If hovering (ROC) must be higher than cruise speed.
8. Must be a fixed wing.
9. Must incorporate some automate features.
10. Must be able to cover the entire “short range” impact radius.

Criteria

1. Hovering capability-​ this capability will allow pick up in arias that too obstructed to land. This
capability will also allow far more precise and careful drop off capabilities.
2. Thermal imaging- ​this technology will allow locating people and animals under debris,
increasing the likelihood of rescue personnel getting there in time.
3. Climate control-​ controlling the temperature within the cargo area, creating a more
comfortable environment that can assist in relieving stress in animals, assist in heating up
hypothermic or overheated victims. Having a controlled environment also helps the
rescue crew endurance, since they can feel more relaxed while in proper temperature
environment.
4. Endurance- ​the longer the aircraft can perform its duties without the need of refueling, the
more lives can be saved. Every minute counts.
will reduce the amount of trips required to complete the mission, or the amount of planes.
5. Fast unloading and loading- ​There are 2 essential ways of increasing the speed of the
air craft, the actual speed or reduce the amount of time it takes to load the aircraft and
fully prepare it for the trip. The hours saved loading and unloading will add up much
faster than the minutes won by faster and more fuel consuming planes.

Analytic Hierarchy Process

The scale used here is 1-5. 1 being the least important, 5 the top priority.

The result, creating a vessel that can carry a lot more is far more beneficial than any other criteria,
thus has priority over the others.
Background

​ The inspiration for this project came from an old aircraft, HC-130, designed and developed by
Lockheed Martin. The core design of this aircraft existed for over 60 years, with slight
modifications to fit mission needs. Its main purpose is to carry large payloads for the military. It is
capable of performing payload and troop airdrop, carry and utilise large guns for support, and
refueling operations. The variant we chose is the one used by the Coast Guard, HC-130J known
as the “Hercules”.
The new design has a cruise speed that is twice as fast, higher endurance, and is capable of
covering almost 3 times the distance on a single tank of fuel. This could save crucial time that can
make all the difference. There is no aircraft on the market that can deliver supplies and perform
recon at the speeds that this aircraft can.
​While doing my research I have stumbled upon one of NASA’s projects called “The double
bubble” it is the rear wing design. NASA claims that it can improve the aircraft efficiency up to
30%.
The information for the above can be found in the reference section.

Overview

The following is an engineering drawing of the aircraft. This aircraft will be based in Beijing,
its role is to assist with earthquakes and hurricanes. This aircraft is capable of traveling at high
speeds at a very extended periods of time, allowing it to make multiple trips within 18 hour time
frame. One of the automated features of the aircraft is the automated interior lighting system that
reacts to the time of day. This will ensure that the crew won't lose their night vision.
 Finances

Initial cost ​$43,274,062.40

Annual fuel cost ​ $1,725,268.56
Annual upkeep ​$550,000.00
Annual response profit ​$255,400,000.00
Resale value (present value) ​ $​ 231,926.21

Total profit within the first year​ $210,082,595.25

Profit over the lifetime with 7% inflation​ $3,204,558,283.23

With such a large profit margin the loan will be paid off within the first year. Compared to the
annual profit the cost of supplies is insignificant therefore it was not included in the calculation.
The breakdown of the calculation can be found in the Appendices.

Trade offs

Upon gathering data, it was found that this aircraft will have to have 1 engine instead of 2. The
main reasons are cost and range. With 2 engines the aircraft could be designed to hover, thus
giving it the ability to pick up personnel and equipment in most unfavorable conditions.
Unfortunately that would less than half the endurance of the aircraft, this means more refuel time
and less missions that this aircraft can perform. So by going with one engine, this aircraft is a lot
more efficient thus saving a lot of time and money. ​Refer ​ ​back to AHP ​diagram, endurance is
more important than the ability to hover, and more economical.
Aircraft Performance Subsystem

The following is the result of the research and the testing that was conducted over the course
of few weeks. This is a long range remote controlled aircraft that is capable of carrying a large
payload and performing deep scan reconnaissance missions using thermal imaging. With its
cruise speed and the ability to stay in the air for extended periods of time, especially when empty,
this aircraft could prove to be invaluable.

Like stated earlier, unfortunately I had to go for one engine design to maintain high endurance
and saving money on fuel and engine maintenance.
Interior Design Subsystem

​Before starting interior design, I must first and foremost have a basic overall design of the
plane. I decided to use a very successful existing fixed wing and modify it to our needs. C-130,
also known as hercule. The current HC-130 variant, known as long range reconnaissance has an
estimated value of 66 million and a maximum payload of 45,000 pounds. This plane chassis has
proven itself time and again, it has been in production for more than 60 years now. It is time for
an overhaul.
Now for the cargo space. The length is 40 feet, width is 119 inches (approximately 9.92 feet),
and height is 9 feet. This plane will be a drone, it can be remotely controlled, or set on auto pilot.
This will save space and minimise the need for crew swaps, also gives us more room to work
with. That’s not all I want to increase the width and the length of the plane by roughly 10%, That
way we are still relatively close to the original parameters with more room to play with and higher
payload, granted this will require more power, with modern designs such as longer wings and
“double bubble design” ,a concept currently in design stages by NASA, reference below, we can
keep the fuel consumption the same, if not lower.
This gives us the new dimensions of, length 44 feet, width 10.9 feet, and height remains the
same. In order to get rough estimate of new weight capacity, I took the ratio of the original
volume to weight and simply scaled up the weight capacity proportional to new volume. The end
result is, 52,768.94 pounds.

Missions
1. hurricane response
2. Earthquake response

Just like the original design, this plane must be capable of the following.

Objectives

1. Rapid emergency personnel deployment and recovery. With the amount of space, this
plane is capable of carrying 30 equipped personnel.
2. Must be able to carry large payload
3. Perform reconnaissance, combining the thermal imaging with the unlimited stamina of a
drone, when empty this plane is capable of scanning the aria for hours on end. Returning
only for fueling.
 During this design stage we came to the conclusion that our aircraft could have one of the three
design choices.

Option 1
The aircraft will have 4 rows of 18 chairs each, with the remainder of the space utilised for any
equipment deemed necessary. Thinking worst case scenario, we have 72 seats with 72 males. That
equates to 20,160lb, plenty of weight left for rescue gear.

Option 2
The aircraft will have the entire space filled with pallets of MRE’s with parachutes attached.
Thats 22 pallets with 22 parachutes, this equates to 19,800lb. For this iteration the bottom floor
will open up, dropping the load bomber style.

Option 3
The aircraft will have space available for supplies, but the main purpose of this plane is to be the
eyes of the team. Utilising thermal imaging, photography, and live feed this plane is to stay up in
the air and provide as much information as possible to the teams on the ground.

Decision matrix

As seen above, the option 3 wins. The ability to perform surveillance and if needed can carry a
large load. The following is an engineering drawing of the interior design.
Wing Design Subsystem

The following is original concept of the shape and size of the wing. This aircraft has to be
capable of maintaining long hours above ground, the lift to drag ratio has to be as high as
possible.
After multiple tests conducted, some modifications had to be made as seen below. The main
reason for the change was the fact that according to the simulator, the design above would give
me the cruise speed of 1200 m/s, that is way too high. So modifications were made to increase the
lift.
Next came the design of the Spar. Out of all the tests conducted, the “I” shape has proven to
be the most efficient by having the required support with minimal amount of material used.

Volume: 1.755 m^3

Weight: 26,209.17 N
Price: $14,724.45

Material

According to the research and the decision matrix shown below, the spar should be made of
fiberglass and in i beam shape. I did find it odd that Titanium didn’t score any higher since it is
renown for its strength. But in my tests I had to use large amounts of it due to failure in
withstanding the lift force.
 Decision Matrix

Criteria Weight Material

steel Aluminium Titanium fiberglass
rating score rating score rating score rating score
Weight 0.3 1 0.3 6 1.8 3 0.9 10 3
Cost 0.5 10 5 7 3.5 1 0.5 8 4
Volume 0.2 10 2 5 1 7 1.4 4 0.8

Total 1 7.3 6.3 2.8 7.8

RATING:​ scale from 1-10, 1 is unexceptable, 10 is perfect.

Automation Subsystem

One of the automated features I want to bring to my aircraft is interior lighting that will change
based on time of day. During the day the interior of the aircraft should have regular daylight light,
during the night operations it should have dim red lighting. This will ensure that the crew won't
lose their night vision during the night operation. This is very critical, especially during rescue
missions. It takes about 30 minutes for an average person to adjust to the dark, time is a luxury
during emergencies. Essentially there are 3 lighting circuits. Main bright lights, the red night
lights and if all else fails back up lights.
I will be demonstrating the concept of my Automated system by using 3 diagrams. The 3
diagrams are called, Use case Diagram, Sequence Diagram, and Activity Diagram.
 Use Case Diagram

This model stated the general interactions between different users and the system. The
“include” arrow demonstrates a necessary step that has to happen prior to the next. The “Extend”
is unnecessary step for the system to perform. As you can see the 2 arrows that are pointing at
“mode select” say “extend” meaning, that the user could select either one for the system to work.
This lighting system is specifically designed for handling cargo and people during
emergencies, this means that, there might be a decent exposure to the elements and abuse. During
emergency situations the gear will be thrown around and crates will shift, possibly causing
damage to the lighting located floor level. At this point might as well consider that there will be
mud and water, we have to protect the system from all of that.
For efficiency purposes this system must have common electrical components under the
protective cover such as typical T8 48in LED Ballast built in bulbs, used in all commercial
buildings. This has to be easy for any electrician to maintain.
 Sequence Diagram

This diagram demonstrates the interaction between components of the system. So here I have 3
different actions. The first is fairly simple, the user puts the system in manual mode and selects
what lights needed. The second, the user puts the system in automatic, thus turning on the
computer. The first thing the computer will do is complete the circuit with the light sensor. The
information provided by the sensor is then analysed and the light is selected.
The final section is simply a self test. The computer can check to make sure that the lighting
circuit doesn't have any grounds or shorts, minimising a possibility of a breaker tripping. The
resulting information is displayed to the end user.
Activity Diagram

Manual
 Automatic

These 2 diagrams go in much more in depth of what happens from the point the end user
makes a selection to the final result. This is basically a logic chart. In both I have included how
the system can check itself if there is a major issue with the lighting circuit. Since this is an
emergency oriented transportation, It is better to lose night vision than have no light at all. Not all
of the rescue crew will be familiar with the location of the breakers on the plane, so we have to do
everything possible to avoid popping any.

Arduino board

This circuit has to control the lighting in a way that it is bright in the cabin during the day and
red lighting in the night time. This circuit has to have an override function, a manual mode, just in
case the crew needs bright lights at night time. This can happen if medics are administering first
aid during the flight. To accommodate this, the main interface will have 2 switches. The first one
will swap between automatic mode and manual, the second between night and daytime lighting.
The automated feature will have the module utilise the photo sensor that will be attached on
the exterior of the aircraft to determine the brightness. By putting 5 volts through one lead of the
sensor and attaching the other to, both, a 10k ohm resistor that goes to ground, and analog input
on the Arduino board, we get a basic voltmeter. The output values range between 54(dark) and
974(bright). I chose 500 as the point of change from bright white to dim red light, just as it starts
to get dark outside.

The following is the picture of the schematic

Circuit components
Component Quantity
Arduino uno 1
Photoresistor 1
Sideswitch 2
Red LED 1
White LED 1
60 ohm resistor(LED component) 2
10k ohm resistor (Photoresistor component) 1
The circuit code can be found in the appendix. This system was thoroughly tested and is working
as intended. The test is included in the next section.

Testing and evaluation

FAT Procedures
Lighting system test

Scope
This test verifies the full functionality of the interior lighting system in the aircraft. The system in
question has both, an automated mode and a manual mode. Both produce either while light or red
light.

The following requirements are included in this procedure.

1. White light turns on.
2. Red light turns on.
3. In manual mode, automatic controls have no effect.
4. In automatic mode, manual controls have no effect.
5. Automatic controls work as intended.

Prerequisites
-​power must be available to the system.
-location of the controller and the photoresistor is known and accessible to the testor.

Test procedure
-​refer to the ​Figure 1

Flight test

Scope
This test verifies the payload capacity, cruise speed, and minimal endurance required.

The following requirements are included in this procedure.

1. The aircraft must be able to take off at maximum payload weight.
2. The aircraft cruise speed must be below 310 m/s
3. The aircraft must be able to cover the “short range” impact radius.
Prerequisites
- ​Load the aircraft to its maximum load capacity. (245 kn cargo and 267 kn full tank of fuel)
-Make all other necessary preparations to for a flight operations.
Test procedure
-​refer to ​Figure 2

Conclusion

I​ n the end the creation of an aircraft that could do it all proved not feasible. An aircraft that can
cover very large distances, carry a lot of cargo, hover, perform reconnaissance, perform air drops,
and air recovery has proven to be too expensive and inefficient. This is, after all why we have so
many different types of aircraft available for these missions.
We still managed to come up with an improved aircraft that performs a lot better than the
aircraft it should, HC-130J. With its superior speed and range capabilities, help can get to people
that otherwise wouldn't.

Works Cited

Reference hc-130j specifications

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/10/CG-9/Acquisition%20PDFs/Factsheets/HC-130.pdf?ver=2
018-02-08-134304-580

NASA Double bubble

https://www.nasa.gov/content/the-double-bubble-d8-0

REFERENCE - voltage reading set up

https://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Reading-Analog-Voltage/

References:
- Boardroom presentations:
- Hurricane disaster relief Scenario
- Project Documents and Resources: Project Description
Appendices

Figure 1

Figure 2
CODE for the Arduino

int red = 3;
int white = 2;
float sensorRead =0;
int switchState1 =0;
int switchState2 =0;
void setup()
{
pinMode(A0, INPUT);
pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(12, INPUT);
pinMode(13, INPUT);
Serial.begin(96000);
}
void loop()
{
switchState2 = digitalRead(12);
switchState1 = digitalRead(13);
{
if(switchState1 ==LOW){ digitalWrite(8, LOW);
sensorRead = analogRead(A0); //Serial.println(sensorRead);
if(sensorRead <500)
digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
digitalWrite(white, LOW);
if(sensorRead >=500)
digitalWrite(white, HIGH);
digitalWrite(red, LOW);
}
if(switchState1 ==HIGH)
{
digitalWrite(white, LOW);.
digitalWrite(red, LOW);
}
}
if(switchState1 ==HIGH && switchState2 ==HIGH)
{ digitalWrite(white, HIGH);
}
{
if(switchState1 ==HIGH && switchState2 ==LOW)
{ digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
}
}}

Financial