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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Formation Control With Collision Avoidance For Fixed-Wing Unmanned Air Vehicles With Speed Constraints, Christopher Heintz
Formation Control With Collision Avoidance For Fixed-Wing Unmanned Air Vehicles With Speed Constraints, Christopher Heintz
Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering
Advances in the miniaturization of powerful electronic components and motors, the democratization of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), and improvements in the performance, safety, and cost in lithium batteries has led to the proliferation of small and relatively inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Many of these UAVs are of the multi-rotor design, however, fixed-wing designs are often more efficient than rotary-wing aircraft, leading to a reduction in the power required for a UAV of a given mass to stay airborne. Autonomous cooperation between multiple UAVs would enable them to complete objectives that would be difficult or impossible for a single …
Precise Landing Of Vtol Uavs Using A Tether, Jeremy W. Rathjen
Precise Landing Of Vtol Uavs Using A Tether, Jeremy W. Rathjen
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, are often considered the solution to complex robotics problems. The significant freedom to explore an environment is a major reason why UAVs are a popular choice for automated solutions. UAVs, however, have a very limited flight time due to the low capacity and weight ratio of current batteries. One way to extend the vehicles' flight time is to use a tether to provide power from external batteries, generators on the ground, or another vehicle. Attaching a tether to a vehicle may constrain its navigation but it may also create some opportunities for …
Uav For Medical Equipment Distribution, Richard Barakat, Logan Christensen, Brandon Halebsky, Justin Slavick
Uav For Medical Equipment Distribution, Richard Barakat, Logan Christensen, Brandon Halebsky, Justin Slavick
Mechanical Engineering
This Final Design Review report documents the senior project participating in the Vertical Flight Society’s 38th Annual Student Design Competition sponsored by The Boeing Company. The goal of this project and competition is to develop an unmanned vertical lift for medical equipment distribution capable of safely delivering a 50 kg payload over distances up to 200 km. This system must be autonomous and have a backup plan to land if any part of the system malfunctions. We discuss the research and justification that drove the selection of the aircraft configuration, a winged quadcopter with a rear propeller. Furthermore, we document …
Urban Cargo Transport Uav Final Design Review, Niko Giannakakos, Rafael Barreto Gutierrez, Tejas Bhavsar
Urban Cargo Transport Uav Final Design Review, Niko Giannakakos, Rafael Barreto Gutierrez, Tejas Bhavsar
Senior Design Project For Engineers
Delivery of goods to homes and offices over the last decades has seen a significant increase as more people and businesses need or want items sent directly to them. With the increase in demand, technology has also experienced a rapid growth, specifically in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Many major companies are currently researching UAVs as the future of their delivery operations. With this ever-growing demand, NASA has issued a design competition of a UAV developed for urban deliveries. This unmanned aircraft system (UAS) would need to be able to deliver small packages, in a timely manner, within …
Unmanned Aerial Power Line Surveillance Drone, Brock Arp, Wade Vine, Cameron Whigham, Lorenzo Stewart
Unmanned Aerial Power Line Surveillance Drone, Brock Arp, Wade Vine, Cameron Whigham, Lorenzo Stewart
Senior Design Project For Engineers
The purpose of our project is to provide power line workers and linemen with a safe way to inspect the power lines. Our Aircraft is an UAV that is capable of surveying 200 linear miles in a normal working shift. The aircraft will be launched/landed and operated from an F-150 pickup truck with a facilitated launch mechanism attached. The aircraft must maintain an altitude of 150-400 ft. It will be recovered via net that will extend from the truck as the plane comes in for a landing, This will eliminate the need for landing gear. The goal for this project …
Space Dynamics Laboratory Payload Challenge: Autonomous Water Sampling Uav, Thomas Wheeler, Zachary Williams, Joseph Stack
Space Dynamics Laboratory Payload Challenge: Autonomous Water Sampling Uav, Thomas Wheeler, Zachary Williams, Joseph Stack
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
The following report has been completed over the course of the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters at The University of Akron by Joseph P. Stack (Aerospace Systems Engineering), Thomas J. Wheeler (Mechanical Engineering) and Zachary M. Williams (Mechanical Engineering). The purpose of this project was to create a payload system for the Akronauts Rocket Design Team to use at the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) Spaceport America Cup. The Competition as a challenge that is sponsored by Space Dynamics Laboratory specifically regarding payload systems. The challenge in very open-ended and allows student to identify their own scientific experiment and …
Path Following By A Quadrotor Using Virtual Target Pursuit Guidance, Abhishek Manjunath
Path Following By A Quadrotor Using Virtual Target Pursuit Guidance, Abhishek Manjunath
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
Missile guidance laws have been solely developed to follow and intercept a target thereby destroying or damaging it. In this research, the primary objective is to modify and adopt a missile guidance law to be used on a quadrotor to follow a virtual target. The target is termed 'virtual' as it only exists mathematically in the form of equations. The goal is to have the quadrotor successfully following the predefined path (described by the target) while maintaining a fixed distance from the virtual target. To ensure viability and assess performance, a detailed comparison with another path following law is made.
Feedback Speed Control Of A Small Two-Stroke Internal Combustion Engine That Propels An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Paul D. Fjare
Feedback Speed Control Of A Small Two-Stroke Internal Combustion Engine That Propels An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Paul D. Fjare
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) require intelligent control of their power source. Small UAV are typically powered by electric motors or small two-stroke internal combustion (IC) engines. Small IC engines allow for longer flight times but are more difficult to control and cause significant ground noise. A hybrid operation that uses the engine at high altitudes and the electric motors at low altitudes is desired. This would allow for extended flight with acceptable ground noise levels. Since the engine can not be restarted in the air it must be able to remain at idle for an extended time without stalling. A …
Lightweight Uav Launcher, Ben Miller, Christian Valoria, Corinne Warnock, Jake Coutlee
Lightweight Uav Launcher, Ben Miller, Christian Valoria, Corinne Warnock, Jake Coutlee
Mechanical Engineering
This report discusses the design, construction, and testing of a lightweight, portable UAV launcher. There is a current need for a small team of soldiers to launch a US Marine Tier II UAV in a remote location without transport. Research was conducted into existing UAV launcher designs and the pros and cons of each were recorded. This research served as a basis for concept generation during the initial design development stage. It was required that the design weigh less than 110 lbs, occupy a smaller volume than 48" x 24" 18" in its collapsed state, be portable by a single …
Design And Flight Testing Of A Warping Wing For Autonomous Flight Control, Edward Brady Doepke
Design And Flight Testing Of A Warping Wing For Autonomous Flight Control, Edward Brady Doepke
Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering
Inflatable-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have the ability to be packed in a fraction of their deployed volume. This makes them ideal for many deployable UAV designs, but inflatable wings can be flexible and don’t have conventional control surfaces. This thesis will investigate the use of wing warping as a means of autonomous control for inflatable wings. Due to complexities associated with manufacturing inflatable structures a new method of rapid prototyping deformable wings is used in place of inflatables to decrease cost and design-cycle time. A UAV testbed was developed and integrated with the warping wings and flown in a …