Design and Fabrication of Solar Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

DE-30 (DME)
NUSTCOLLEGE OF
ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF

SOLAR POWERED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE
A PROJECT REPORT
DE-30 (DME)
Submitted by
ANAS ELAHI KHAN
MUHAMMAD WAQAS UD DIN ARIF
OBAID KHALID KHAN
SAADAT AZIM
BACHELORS INMECHANICAL ENGINEERING
2012
PROJECT SUPERVISOR
SAIF ULLAH KHALID
COLLEGE OF
YEAR 2012
ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

PESHAWAR ROAD, RAWALPINDI
Development of Solar Powered UAV
DECLARATION
We hereby declare that no portion of the work referred to in this Project Thesis has been
submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this of any
other university or other institute of learning. If any act of plagiarism found, we are fully
responsible for every disciplinary action taken against us depending upon the seriousness
of the proven offence, even the cancellation of our degree.
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
Copyright in text of this thesis rests with the student author. Copies (by any
process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with
instructions given by the author and lodged in the Library of NUST College of
E&ME. Details may be obtained by the Librarian. This page must form part of
any such copies made. Further copies (by any process) of copies made in
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writing) of the author.
The ownership of any intellectual property rights which may be described in this
thesis is vested in NUST College of E&ME, subject to any prior agreement to the
contrary, and may not be made available for use by third parties without the
written permission of the College of E&ME, which will prescribe the terms and
conditions of any such agreement.
Further information on the conditions under which disclosures and exploitation
may take place is available from the Library of NUST College of E&ME,
Rawalpindi.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All praise for Allah who taught man how to read and write.
We owe our acknowledgements to SaifUllah Khalid for his guidance, valuable time and
inspiration. We also acknowledge with due respect, his patience and support that lead us
to accomplish this task.
We are also grateful to all those who directly or indirectly helped us in achieving this
objective specially AWC for their invaluable time and interest.
ABSTRACT
The project designed and developed a solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
that has the capability to recharge its batteries while and flight hence eliminating the need
to land for refuelling. It also boasts an autopilot for fully autonomous flight and a video
feedback system for surveillance solutions. It can be improvised for a wide range of
military applications such as reconnaissance and espionage. Civilian applications include
weather monitoring as well as exploring rough terrains where the risk to human life is
imminent. There are just some of the countless applications made possible by this
relatively new advent of technology in the modern world of today. If successful this
project will be the first of its kind in Pakistan.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT .............................................................................................. 2
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 3
Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 4
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. 5
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. 8
1
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 10
1.1
History ................................................................................................................. 11
Methodology............................................................................................................... 13
2.1
Design Process .................................................................................................... 13
2.1.1
Conceptual design Considerations ............................................................... 13
2.1.2
Power Analysis ............................................................................................ 13
2.1.3
Scaling.......................................................................................................... 13
2.1.4
Flight envelope............................................................................................. 14
2.1.5
Flight Conditions in Islamabad .................................................................... 14
2.1.6
Conceptual design model ............................................................................. 15
2.2
Aerodynamics...................................................................................................... 17
2.2.1
The Four Forces of Flight ............................................................................ 17
2.2.2
Aerodynamic forces ..................................................................................... 17
2.3
Inviscid, Incompressible flow ............................................................................. 19
2.3.1
Governing equations .................................................................................... 19
2.3.2
Boundary conditions .................................................................................... 19
2.3.3
The Kutta-Joukowski theorem ..................................................................... 20
2.4
Incompressible Flow over Airfoil ....................................................................... 20
2.4.1
Kutta condition............................................................................................. 20
2.4.2
The Kelvin theorem ..................................................................................... 21
2.4.3
Classic Thin Airfoil Theory ......................................................................... 22
2.4.4
Symmetric Airfoil ........................................................................................ 22
2.4.5
Cambered Airfoil ......................................................................................... 23
2.4.6
Vortex Panel Method ................................................................................... 23
2.5
Airfoil selection ................................................................................................... 23
2.6
CFD Analysis ...................................................................................................... 27
2.6.1
2.7
3
Airfoil Results .............................................................................................. 28
Computational Fluid Dynamics .......................................................................... 28
Solar powered UAV design ........................................................................................ 32

3.1
Conceptual design Considerations ...................................................................... 32
3.2
Aircraft Design .................................................................................................... 34
3.2.1
3.3
Requirements ............................................................................................... 34
Design Program Results ...................................................................................... 34
3.3.1
Mass Estimates............................................................................................. 34
3.3.2
Performance Estimates................................................................................. 34
3.4
Critical Performance Parameters ......................................................................... 35
3.4.1
Maximum Lift Co-efficient.......................................................................... 35
3.4.2
Wing Loading .............................................................................................. 35
3.4.3
Thrust to weight ratio ................................................................................... 35
3.5
Wing design......................................................................................................... 36
3.6
Wing Configuration............................................................................................. 36
3.6.1
Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC) .............................................................. 36
3.6.2
Wing vertical location .................................................................................. 36
3.6.3
Wing incidence ............................................................................................ 37
3.6.4
Aspect ratio .................................................................................................. 37
3.6.5
Dihedral angle .............................................................................................. 38
3.6.6
Flaperons ...................................................................................................... 38
3.7
Fuselage design ................................................................................................... 39
3.7.1
Fuselage Configuration ................................................................................ 39
3.7.2
Centre of Gravity ......................................................................................... 39
3.8
Tail shape and sizing ........................................................................................... 39
3.8.1
Horizontal tail .............................................................................................. 40
3.8.2
Vertical tail................................................................................................... 41
3.8.3
Converting to V-tail ..................................................................................... 41
3.9
Propulsion Group ................................................................................................ 42
3.9.1
Propeller ....................................................................................................... 42
3.9.2
Propeller Design........................................................................................... 42
3.10 Thrust Calculations ............................................................................................. 44
3.10.1 Graphs are following.................................................................................... 46

3.10.2 Blade Airfoil data......................................................................................... 49
3.11 Electric Motor ..................................................................................................... 50
3.12 Structure of BLDC .............................................................................................. 51
3.12.1 Advantages of BLDC................................................................................... 51
3.12.2 Advantages of Outrunner BLDC ................................................................. 52
3.12.3 The Dynamics of BLDC Motor ................................................................... 52
3.12.4 Proposed Motor............................................................................................ 53
3.12.5 Experimental Motor ..................................................................................... 53
3.13 Solar Cells ........................................................................................................... 54
3.13.1 Requirements ............................................................................................... 54
3.13.2 Selection ....................................................................................................... 54
3.14 Batteries............................................................................................................... 55
3.14.1 Requirements ............................................................................................... 55
3.14.2 Selection ....................................................................................................... 56
3.15 Power Management ............................................................................................. 57
3.16 Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) ............................................................ 57
3.17 Radio Controller .................................................................................................. 60
3.18 Live Video Feed .................................................................................................. 61
4
Results ........................................................................................................................ 62
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 63
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 64
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: First Prototype of Solar Powered UAV........................................................... 10
Figure 1.2- Zephyrs Inaugural Flight ............................................................................... 11
Figure 1.3- SoLong with one of its Designers ................................................................... 11
Figure 1.4- Solar Impulse .................................................................................................. 12
Figure 1.5- Solar Eagle ...................................................................................................... 12
Figure 2.1: Flight conditions in Islamabad Figure 2.2: Day light hours in Islamabad.. 14
Figure 2.3- The Four Forces of Flight ............................................................................... 17
Figure 2.4courtesy Anderson JR ........................................................................................ 19
Figure 2.5 Classic Thin Airfoil Theory (Courtesy Anderson Jr) ....................................... 22
Figure 2.6 CL VS ANGLE OF ATTACK ......................................................................... 25
Figure 2.7 Glide ratio VS ANgle of Attack ....................................................................... 26
Figure 7.8 cl vs Cd ............................................................................................................. 26
Figure 2.9 : surrounding volume........................................................................................ 27
Figure 2.10: Mesh for 2D airfoil analysis .......................................................................... 27
Figure 2.11: Pressure distribution around airfoil .............................................................. 28
Figure 2.12 : Velocity vectors around airfoil ..................................................................... 28
Figure 2.13: 3D wing Mesh ............................................................................................... 29
Figure 2.14 Boundry conditions ........................................................................................ 30
Figure 2.15 Contours of static pressure ............................................................................. 30
Figure 2.16Contours of Velocity ....................................................................................... 31
Figure 2.17 Pressure contours on wing surface ................................................................. 31
Figure 3.1 Vertical Wing location ..................................................................................... 36
Figure 3.2 Angle of incidence............................................................................................ 37
Figure 3.3 Effect of Aspect ratio........................................................................................ 37
Figure 3.4 Dihedral angle .................................................................................................. 38
Figure 3.5 Fuselage configuration ..................................................................................... 39
Figure 8.6- selected propeller specifications ..................................................................... 45
Figure 3.7- MargamHolez 18x8 (Clark-Y)with 2 Blades .................................................. 46
Figure 3.8- MargamHolez 18x8" (clark-Y) with 3 Blades ................................................ 47
Figure 3.9Margam Holez 18x8" (Goe 795) with 2 Blades ................................................ 47
Figure 3.10-Margam Holez 18x8" (Goe 795) with 3Blade ............................................... 48
Figure 3.11- MargamHolez 18x8" (E392) with 2Blade .................................................... 48
Figure 3.12- MargamHolez 18x8" (E392) with 3 Blades .................................................. 49
Figure 3.13- Goe 795 Relative Chord, Relative Pitch, Blade Angle ................................. 49
Figure 3.14- Clark-Y Pitch, chord ................................................................................... 50
Figure 37: Structure of BLDC ........................................................................................... 51
Figure 3.16- LRK Strecker 195.15 .................................................................................... 53
Figure 3.17- EM AX 2215/20 ............................................................................................ 53
Figure 3.18- Photovoltaic efficiencies in chronological order........................................... 54
Figure 3.19- Ragone Plot for different storage mediums .................................................. 56
Figure 3.20- In House developed 262Wh/kg Batteries ...................................................... 57
Figure 3.21- Panasonic NCR-18650 Cells ......................................................................... 57

Figure 8.22- Power output at different current and voltage ratings ................................... 58
Figure 3.23: Current control circuit for MPPT .................................................................. 59
Figure 3.24: Current sensor circuit for MPPT ................................................................... 59
1 INTRODUCTION
The main emphasis of this project is to construct an easy to operate, manoeuvrable,
unmanned Air Vehicle capable of continuous flight for large periods of time and use solar
energy as its source of power. The project has been implemented in a few modern
countries; however it is still not available commercially. Commencing the development of
this project in our country will not only open the gateway to commercialization nationally
but can also provide us a platform to share our research internationally.
Figure 1.1: First Prototype of Solar Powered UAV
It is an indigenous project being taken up by a group of students from College of E&ME,

NUST. The project possesses a strong feasibility and would be the first of its kind in
Pakistan. It would untangle the technological hurdles being faced in overcoming most of
our geostrategic as well as political problems. It can be made significantly low in cost if
commercialized, and would pose no threat environmentally or socially.
The projects objectives and construction plan have been pre-engineered using powerful
software tools and are explained in greater detail in the following report. Our team
believes that persistence and dedication begets nothing but success, and look forward to
making our ambitions come true.
10
1.1 History
The Solar UAV is the marriage of environmental friendliness (when it comes to zero
emissions and practically no noise, not forgetting that it has 100% renewable fuel
consumption) with engineering excellence as regard to its durability and compactness. Its
intricate albeit light weight design as well as its high efficiency is the Key factor in
ensuring good performance. The trend seen in the modern industry focuses at maximum
weight reduction and condensed integration of the different components, making the
UAV as light as possible and at the same time not compromising on its performance.
Although this concept is relatively new, there have been quite a few advents by different
groups of people either jointly or individually in different countries. The very first solar
power aircraft, named Sunrise I, took off in 4th of November 1974. It flew for only 20
minutes at an altitude of around 100m during its inaugural flight but was seriously
damaged when caught flying in a sand storm. After that a series of solar powered aircrafts
flew every year mostly from Germany, United Kingdom and USA but none of the aircraft
flew for a continuous period of 24 hours (comprising night and day) till June 2005 when
SoLong flew for 24 hours and 11 minutes using only solar energy coming from its onboard solar panels and also thermals. The 4.75m wingspan and 11.5kg airplane confirms
its capabilities two months later on the 3rd of June, with a flight lasting 48 hours and 16
minutes taking place in Californias Colorado Desert.
Figure 1.2- Zephyrs Inaugural Flight

Figure 1.3- SoLong with one of its Designers
UK defence ministry is also very active in the field of solar HALE platforms. Recently
Zephyr broke all the world records by performing an uninterrupted flight for 14
consecutive days. It uses the latest Li-Sulphur ion cells technology that boosts the specific
energy of the battery to 350Wh/kg and employed paper thin amorphous solar cells array
to power up the two motors. It has been selected as the base platform for the Flemish
HALE UAV remote sensing system, Mercator in the framework of the Pegasus project.
The targeted platform should be able to carry a payload of 100kg in order to fulfil its
missions which include forest fire monitoring, urban mapping, coastal monitoring, oil
spill detection just to name a few. Recently USA DOD (Department of Defence) took
great interest in the project and has hinted toward further mass production.
11
In 2004, European Space Agency (ESA) sponsored a project to design and build an
autonomous plane to study its feasibility in a Martian environment. It demonstrated a
continuous flight of 27 hours on 21st of June 2008 without using thermal winds or altitude
gains with a wingspan of just 3.2m and 2.6 kg gross take-off weight.
Figure 1.5- Solar Eagle
Figure 1.4- Solar Impulse
Meanwhile the field of solar powered manned flight has also seen recent developments. A
project officially announced in Switzerland in 2003 has recently broken the records and
has shown the potential of continuously flight for more than 24 hours with two people on
board. It runs on conventional Li-Po batteries and has a huge wingspan of 63.4 meters
which is comparable to the wingspan of Airbus A340.
The history is still in the making just as DARPA announced the launch of a new solar
HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) project named Solar Eagle that aims to introduce
the capability of carrying a payload of 453kg with the power supply of 5kW for an
uninterrupted period of at least 5 years.
12
Develoopment of Solaar Powered UA

AV
2 MET
THODOL
LOGY
2.1 Design Process
The design
d
proceess of any airrcraft involvves the follow
wing steps
1. Conceeptual designn
2. Prelim
minary design
3. Final design
Conceptual
C
design
Prelim
minary
deesign
Finaldessign
2.1.1 Conceptu
ual design Consideratio
C
ons
The design
d
of a solar
s
powereed UAV iss highly inteerdisciplinaryy involvingm
modelling noot
only the aerodyn
namics but also
a
environnmental charracteristics, structural deesign and thhe
technnologies of solar cells and batteriees which coomplicates the
t task of choosing thhe
optim
mum parameters for speccific flight mission
m
whichh in our casee is maximum
m endurancee.
Manyy attempts have
h
been made
m
at suchh multidiscipplinary optim
mization thrrough modeels
develloped by varrious authors. For the innitial design we will usee the model developed by
b
Andrre Noth. Thhis model has the advaantage beingg accurate iin our size range and a
protootype using thhe model deemonstratingg continuous flight has been built.
2.1.2 Power An
nalysis
The power
p
calcu
ulations for the
t differentt aspects off flight for thhe UAV havve been donne
usingg powerful computation
c
nal tools succh as MAT
TLAB and E
EES Softwaare. The codde
outlinnes followedd are yet
2.1.3 Scaling
When
n scaling doown, the low
wer Reynoldds numbers are deteriorating the aerodynamic
a
cs,
whichh see reducced lift to drag
d
ratios, and also th
he propellerr that sees its ecienccy
droppping. For thhe other elem
ments of thhe propulsion group thaat are the motor
m
and thhe
gearb
box, this droop of efficieency was allso demonsttrated, especcially below
w 10W. Otheer
13
problems were also identified, such as the bending of the solar cells on a smaller
curvature radius and the diculty to find lightweight avionics systems and sensors.
When scaling up, the eciency of the various elements is no more a problem, even if
their design is not straightforward and needs a careful attention. But what becomes the
nightmare of engineers is the airframe. It was proved in this thesis that, considering the
same construction method, the airframe weight increases with the cube of a reference
length and that ideally it should go with the square to make the feasibility of continuous
flight independent of the dimension. Also the cost of the project increases proportionally
with the size of the UAV.
Therefore a design methodology was used to find the optimum size of the UAV so that it
can endure a perpetual solar flight.
2.1.4 Flight envelope
Flight envelope of an aircraft refers to the capabilities of a design in terms of airspeed,
load factor and altitude. The term is somewhat loosely applied, and can also refer to other
measurements such as manoeuvrability.
Airspeed
Density Altitude (DA)
9 m/s
1500-2000ft
2.1.5 Flight Conditions in Islamabad

Latitude
Longitude
Elevation
Density Air
Avg. Wind Speed
Solar irradiation
Pressure
Figure 2.1: Flight conditions in Islamabad
33 36' 59" N
73 5' 57" E
1666 feet (508 meters)
1.16 Kg/m3 (ground level)
4 m/s(@ 1500 ft. DA)
5.53 KW/m2-day (average yearly)
95.369 kPa (ground level)
Figure 2.2: Day light hours in Islamabad
14
2.1.6 Conceptual design model

The basis of the model is a simple energy balance between the energy required for flight
and the energy generated by the solar cells and the energy stored in the batteries as well
as the mass balance between the weight of the UAV and the lift required to keep it
airborne.
The total power for level flight is

2
The total electric power(Pelectot) consumption is obtained by considering the efficiencies

of the motor, its electronic controller,the gear box and the propeller. In addition to this
there is the power consumption of the avionics as well as the payload and the efficiency
of any step down transformer that may be required.
1
The daily energy consumption (

is
obtained by taking into account the charging and
discharging efficiency of the battery as well the
time of daylight as well as night.
)
For the daily solar energy the irradiance model is
first approximated as sinusoid.
Where the maximum irradiance (

) and the time of the day (
geographical location and the local time.
) depends on the
15
To predict the mass we first consider the fixed mass of the avionics and the payload.
.
The airframe mass is predicted from an empirical model based on created sailplane
database.
The mass of the solar cells is equal to the total area of the solar cells multiplied by the
density of the solar cells and encapsulation.
The mass of the maximum power point tracker is calculated from the maximum power
ratio
(
the maximum power output of the solar modules

).
The mass of the batteries is calculated from the energy required to be stored in the
batteries and the specific energy of the batteries (
).
The mass of the propulsion is calculated from the power required at the propeller and the
obtained from empirical model.
constant
Using the relations the model is made in MATLAB which gives an optimized design for
various parameters for which 24 hour flight is possible.
16
2.2 Aerodynamics
2.2.1 The Four Forces of Flight
During steady horizontal flight four forces are acting on the aircraft. The weight of the
aircraft is balanced by the lift produced by the wings whereas the propulsion system of
the aircraft provides the thrust equal to the drag of the aircraft.
Figure 2.3- The Four Forces of Flight[1]
2.2.2 Aerodynamic forces

The lift and the drag are the aerodynamic forces acting on the aircraft. The aerodynamic
forces and moments on an aircraft are due to:
Pressure distribution over the body surface

Shear stress distribution over the body surface.
The pressure and shear stress distribution integrated over the whole surface area gives the
net aerodynamic force R and the moment acting on the aircraft. The net force R is divided
into components with the lift component L perpendicular to free stream velocity V.And
the drag component parallel to the free stream velocity. R may also be resolved into
components perpendicular and parallel to the chord c which are the Normal (N) and the
Axial force components (A).The angle of attack () is the angle between the c and
17
Vthere for the angle between L and N and between D and A is also . The relation
between the two sets of parameters is:
Asin
Acos
For the two dimensional body which is the cross-section of an infinitely long cylinder of
uniform cross-section. The Normal and Axial force per unit span for an elemental area dS
(dS=ds (1) for upper and lower surfaces is
Where suandslare the distances from the

leading edge for the upper and lower
surface respectively of an arbitrary point and p and are functions of s. is the angle
between the pressure and the normal and the shear stress and horizontal. The angle is
positive when measured clockwise from the vertical to p and from the horizontal to .
The total axial and normal forces are obtained by integrating the above equations from the
leading to the trailing edges.
Consider the moment about the leading edge. By convention the moment that increases
the angle are positive. The moment per unit on an elemental area per unit span is:
The total moment about the leading edge is
18
The pressure p(s) and the shear force (s) distribution have to be obtained for a given
geometry and the free stream conditions to obtain the aerodynamic forces.
2.3 Inviscid, Incompressible flow

The density of the fluid flow is constant and the viscous effects are neglected. The
assumption for constant density is valid for atmospheric flight conditions with the Mach
number less than 0 .3.
2.3.1 Governing equations
For such a flow the equation for conservation of mass is
.
The flow being irrotational the velocity potential is
Combining the two equations we get the Laplace equation

0
Since the Laplace equation is second order linear differential equation then any
irrotational and incompressible flow can be evaluated by adding together a number of
elementary flows which are also irrotational and incompressible.
2.3.2 Boundary conditions
At a sufficient distance away from the body in
all direction the velocity approaches the free
stream velocity. When V is in the direction
of x the infinity boundary conditions are:
0
For the inviscid flow the velocity at the
surface of the body must be tangent to the
surface or in other words the body is surface
is the stream line of the flow.
Figure 2.4 Forces on Airfoil (Courtesy Anderson Jr,)
19
2.3.3 The Kutta-Joukowski theorem

Super imposing the elementary uniform flow and a doublet we synthesize the flow over a
cylinder for which both the lift and the drag are zero. However when such flow is further
superimposed with a vortex of strength the lift per unit span is
This result applies in general to cylindrical bodies with an arbitrary cross-section and is
known as Kutta-Joukowski theorem which states that the lift per unit span is directly
proportional to circulation.
For the two dimensional bodies under the inviscid and incompressible flow the problem
for the analysis of the theoretical lift has been reduced the calculation of the circulation
about the body from which the lift is evaluated from the Kutta-Joukowski theorem.
2.4 Incompressible Flow over Airfoil

To calculate the circulation for the airfoil we replace it by a vortex sheet of variable
strength (s). The vortex sheet is then evaluated as function of s such that the sum of the
induced velocity from the vortex sheet and the free stream velocity will make the vortex
sheet a stream line of the flow. The circulation round the airfoil will be
We need a condition that fixes for a given airfoil at a given since for a potential flow
because there are infinite number of solutions for the above equation for infinite values of
but in reality a given airfoil has only a single value of lift at a given angle of attack.
2.4.1 Kutta condition
The Kutta condition states that at a given angle of attack the value of circulation will be
such that flow leaves the trailing edge smoothly.in terms of the vortex sheet
20
2.4.2 The Kelvin theorem

The kelvin states that the time rate of change of circulation around a closed curve
consisting of the same kind of fluid elements is zero.
The Kelvin theorem explains the origin of the circulation round an airfoil. When at rest
the circulation round the airfoil is zero. When the flow over the airfoil starts the region of
intense vorticity is formed at the sharp trailing edge due to the large velocity gradient
there. This rolls up downstream forming the starting vortex. The circulation of the starting
vortex is counter clockwise and as reaction to it clockwise circulation is generated around
the airfoil. The vorticity from the trailing edge is continuously fed into the starting vortex
making it stronger as a result of which the clockwise circulation round the airfoil becomes
stronger making the trailing edge approach the Kutta condition. This results in the
weakening of the vorticity at the trailing edge until the vorticity builds up to the right
21
value such that the circulation round the airfoil leads to smooth flow from the trailing
edge and the vorticity shed from the trailing edge is zero.
2.4.3 Classic Thin Airfoil Theory
the vortex sheet is placed on the chord line since the airfoil is thin and a far away distance
the vortex placed at the camber line is seen to aproximately fall on the chord line.
x is calculated such that such that the camber line is a streamline of the for the flow
along with satisfying the kutta condition. The fundemental equation of thin airfoil theory
is
1
2
In thin airfoil theory we have to solve the equation for
condition
0.
while satisfying the kutta
Figure 2.5 Classic Thin Airfoil Theory (Courtesy Anderson Jr)
2.4.4 Symmetric Airfoil

0 and we have
The symmetric airfoil has no camber so

1
2
For the symmetric airfoil we have
about leading edge is
and the
=2 and the moment
and about the quarter chord point is zero and hence the
center of pressuer and the aerodynamic center is also at the quarter chord point.
22
2.4.5 Cambered Airfoil

For the cambered airfoils has some finite value making the analysis a bit more complex.
The results of the equation are
2
=2
Coefficients of moments are

.
The quarter chord point is also the aerodynamic centre. The centre of pressure is
1
2.4.6 Vortex Panel Method

The thin airfoil theory despite providing a closed form solution compares favorably with
experimental data for airfoil with a maximum thickness of 12% but many airfoil of
practical interest have thickness greater than that and we are also interested in high angles
of attacks particularly during landing and take-off. The vortex panel method overcomes
these restrictions allowing us to calculate the aerodynamics of bodies which have
arbitrary shape, thickness and orientation.
In the vortex panel method we cover the surface of the body with panels of vortex sheets
which then have to be numerically calculated such that surface is a stream line of the
flow.
2.5 Airfoil selection

The airfoil considered for selection were those selected specifically to operate at low
Reynolds numbers for RC sailplanes. The airfoils are:
WE3.55/9.3
SA 7035
SA 7036
SA 7038
A comparative study of the foils is made in XFLR 5 which uses XFOIL solver for low
Reynolds numbers. A comparison of the airfoils clearly demonstrates than the MH 139F
gives optimum performance in the required Reynolds number range of 13000 to 21000
corresponding to operating values of 8 to 12 m/s.
23
The coloured lines indicate the different reynolds numbers from 80,000 to 200,000 at an
interval of thousand. The lines grouped together are for the the same airfoil. In all the
polars it is clear that WE3.55/9.3 airfoil gives the best performance.
24
Figure 2.6 CL VS Angle of Attack
25
Figure 2.7 Glide ratio VS Angle of Attack
26
2.6 CFD Analysis

The mesh around the airfoil was created in gambit. We defined the far field boundary and
meshed the region between the airfoil and the far field boundary. The far field boundary
was placed at a distance of 12.5 times the airfoil chord length.
Figure 2.9 : surrounding volume
Figure 2.10: Mesh for 2D airfoil analysis
The next step after the creation of the mesh was specifying the boundary conditions. The
boundary conditions are:
VELOCITY INLET: this allows us to input the velocity of the free stream of our
simulations.
PRESSUTE OUTLET: this requires the specification of the static pressure at the outlet
boundary. It is selected at the outlet of the computational wind tunnel.
WALL: these are used to bind the fluid and the solid regions. The wall of the airfoil is
defined as a WALL.
27
Figure 2.11: Pressure distribution around airfoil
The first analysis was performed using Spart-Allmars model in FLUENT. The CL
calculate from this was 0.462 at zero angle of attack. The velocity vectors are shown in
the figure which clearly demonstrates that flow of velocity over the top of the wing is
faster
than
below
the
wing.
Figure 2.12 : Velocity vectors around airfoil
2.6.1 Airfoil Results

Software
XFLR
FLUENT(Spart-Allmars Model)
CL
0.457
0.462
2.7 Computational Fluid Dynamics
28
Figure 2.13: 3D wing Mesh
29
Figure 2.14Boundry conditions
Figure 2.15 Contours of static pressure
30
Figure 2.16Contours of Velocity
Figure 2.17 Pressure contours on wing surface
31
3 SOLAR POWERED UAV DESIGN

The design process of any aircraft involves the following steps
1. Conceptual design
2. Preliminary design
3. Final design
3.1 Conceptual design Considerations

The design of a solar powered UAV is highly interdisciplinary involving modeling not
only the aerodynamics but also environmental characteristics, structural design and the
technologies of solar cells and batteries which complicates the task of choosing the
optimum parameters for specific flight mission which in our case is maximum endurance.
Many attempts have been made at such multidisciplinary optimization through models
developed by various authors. For the initial design we will use the model developed by
Andre Noth. This model has the advantage being accurate in our size range and a
prototype using the model demonstrating continuous flight has been built.
Following are the inputs used in calculating the initial design.
%================ Aerodynamics ==================
C_L
= 0.8;
% Airfoil lift coefficient [-]
C_D_afl
= 0.0126;
% Airfoil drag coefficient [-]
C_D_par
= 0.0065;
% Fuselage drag coefficient [-]
= 0.9;
% Constant depending on wing shape [-]
With the input file configured to our requirements we get the following possibilities for
more than 24 hour flight from the analytical model.
32
3.5
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
16
18
20
Total Mass of Solar Airplane [Kg]
2.5
X: 3
Y: 2.212
1.5
2.4
2.8
3
Wingspan [m]
3.2
3.4
3.6
0.9
X: 3
Y: 9.096
Wing Area [m 2]
Speed [m/s]
2.6
8.5
0.8
0.7
X: 3
Y: 0.5625
0.6
0.5
0.4
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
2.6
2.8
3.2
3.4
3.6
12
Solar Area Ratio [%]
Power at propeller [W]
14
10
8
X: 3
Y: 8.203
90
X: 3
Y: 90.06
85
80
2.7
2.8
2.9
Wingspan [m]
2.5
3
Wingspan [m]
3.5
33
3.2 Aircraft Design

3.2.1 Requirements
Solar powered
Endurance of Eight hours on batteries
Powering of UAV and charging of batteries with solar panels during daytime
3.3 Design Program Results

3.3.1 Mass Estimates
Payload
Avionics
Airframe
Batteries
Solar Panels
MPPT
Propulsion Group
Total Mass
0.050
0.150
0.870
0.900
0.792
0.0372
0.140
2.939
3.3.2 Performance Estimates

Speed
Wing Area
Solar Area Ratio
Power at Propeller
8.86 m/s
0.7877m2
79.77%
11.66 Watt
34
3.4 Critical Performance Parameters

3.4.1 Maximum Lift Co-efficient
For the Airfoil WE 3.55-9.3, CL=1.2. For three dimensional effects
.9
1.08
3.4.2 Wing Loading

3.7311
3.4.3 Thrust to weight ratio

It is the ratio of maximum static thrust to maximum take-off weight. In cruising flight
1
And for propeller driven aircraft
Where p is propeller efficiency, speed V is true airspeed and P is engine power. Power to
weight ratio for level flight is
3.967
35
3.5 Wing design

The primary function of the wing is to generate lift but while doing this it also produces
drag and pitch down momentum. In the design of the wing it is critical that we maximize
the lift while limiting the drag and the pitch down moment.
3.6 Wing Configuration

The factors to be considered for wing design are
Aspect Ratio
Wing Sweep
Taper Ratio
Variation of airfoil in thickness and shape along span
Geometrical twist
Aspect ratio of 13 has already been chosen with structural and design limitations. Wing
sweep is not required due to low operating speed. Taper ratio, Variation of airfoil
thickness and shape along span and geometrical twist although off erring obvious benefits
have not been incorporated because we want plan form area in which to integrate the
solar panels.
3.6.1 Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC)
MAC is the chord length which when multiplied by wing area, dynamic pressure and
moment co-efficient about the aerodynamic centre gives the value of aerodynamic
moment about the aerodynamic centre.
1
In this case with no taper ratio the mean chord is equal to chord length of .25m.
3.6.2 Wing vertical location
There
are
four
possible
configurations for the wing
vertical location relative to the
fuselage centreline.
1. High wing
2. Mid wing
3. Low wing
4. Parasol wing
Figure 3.1 Vertical Wing location
36
A high wing configuration was employed in the initial design since a high wing
configuration because it produces greater lift than mid wing and Low wing configurations
and has a lower stall speed. There is a full view under the wing which makes it ideal from
reconnaissance point of view. With regards go to stability its the most stable
configuration because it increases the dihedral effect making the aircraft laterally stable
and because the wing drag line which produces the pitch down moment is located higher
than the centre of gravity, it is longitudinally stabilizing as well.
3.6.3 Wing incidence
Wing incidence (wi) is the angle between the fuselage centreline and the wing chord line
at the root and is also known as the wing setting angle. The wing setting angle in our case
is chosen to correspond to the lowest drag which is two degrees.
Figure 3.2 Angle of incidence
3.6.4 Aspect ratio

Aspect ratio (AR) is the ratio of the wing span and
the wing chord. With the increasing aspect ratio the
aerodynamic features of three dimensional wing
approach that of the two dimensional airfoil
because the wing tip vortex and the subsequently
the induced drag is reduced. However with the
increasing aspect ratio the wing weight moment
arm increases and due to the increased stresses the
structure of the wing becomes heavier. A trade-off
has to be made between the aerodynamics benefits
and the weight and structural limitations and we
have settled for an aspect ratio of 13.
Figure 3.3 Effect of Aspect ratio
37
3.6.5 Dihedral angle

The wing dihedral angle is the angle between the chord line
plane of a wing with the XY plane. The dihedral improves the
lateral stability of the aircraft. When the dihedral is applied to
the wing the wing effective area is reduced reducing the lift
generated by the wing.
Figure 3.4 Dihedral angle
cos 7
The initial value of the dihedral angle is selected to be seven degrees with the value to be
finalized when the stability analysis of the aircraft is done.
3.6.6 Flaperons
Instead of separate ailerons and flaps, Flaperons are employed whose control surfaces
which in addition to controlling the roll of the aircraft like the conventional ailerons, can
also be raised and lowered simultaneously to act like flaps.
3.6.6.1 Winglets
Since no taper ratio or twist angle is employed we use winglets to reduce the induced
drag.
38
3.7 Fuselage design

The internal arrangement and the volume of the fuselage are governed by the batteries,
the electronics and the payload. The exterior shape and the length of the fuselage have to
be designed within the aerodynamic parameters.
We have to reduce both the viscous and the form drag. The minimum drag coefficient for
a conic fuselage is obtained when the finess ratio (ration of the diameter to the length of
the fuselage) is 0.3.
This fineness ratio has to be closely approximated within the confines of the volume
requirements.
3.7.1 Fuselage Configuration
Once the sizes of the components are known, the layout of the fuselage is prepared.
Figure 3.5 Fuselage configuration
3.7.2 Centre of Gravity

First the centre of gravity of the fuselage was calculated.
.
31.09
Then the centre of gravity with the wing was calculated. The wing was placed such that
aerodynamic centre of the wing is at centre of gravity of the fuselage. The aerodynamic
centre is taken at 25% of the chord and the wing centre of gravity is taken as 40% chord.
Then the new centre of gravity is
.
32.62
3.8 Tail shape and sizing

We have decided upon a v tail because it reduces the number of control surfaces and its
mounting is simpler thus leading to considerable weight saving. The sizing was done by
39
first using a normal T tail and then then using analytical relations to form an equivalent V
tail.
The vertical tail provides yaw stability whereas the horizontal tail provides longitudinal or
pitch stability. Empirical relations based on historical data are used for tail sizing.
[2][3]Where VHT and VVT are the horizontal and the vertical tail volume ratios LHT is the
horizontal distance between centre of gravity of plane and the aerodynamic centre of the
horizontal tail. SHT and SVT are the plan form areas of the horizontal and the vertical tail.
Raymer suggests
0.7
0.04
We know that
139.38
3.8.1 Horizontal tail

Since lower aspect ratios stall at higher angle of attack an aspect ratio less than the wing
was decided upon.
4
0.5
Thus the span of horizontal tail is
0.2812
The tail root chord is

2
1
0.0937
The tail tip chord is

0.4068
40
3.8.2 Vertical tail

Typical aspect ratios for vertical tail range from 1.3 to 2.
1.5
.
0.3295
0.5
2
1
0.03180
0.01590
3.8.3 Converting to V-tail
The T tail can be converted to V tail using following relations. (Drela atMIT.edu)
0.0275
tan
36
41
3.9 Propulsion Group

3.9.1 Propeller
Propeller is basically the assembly of two or more airfoil shaped blades attached to a
central hub at some twisted angle and it provides thrust needed by rotation for a body to
move through fluid. It generates thrust by accelerating the fluid in opposite direction. To
better understand propeller working Blade element theory (BET) gives good reasoning. In
this theory the blade is divided into small stripes with some width and connected to each
other from tip to tip. The lift and drag are estimated at each stripe by 2-D analysis of
airfoil at that section.[4]
Figure 3.6: Forces acting on propeller blades
3.9.2 Propeller Design

Designing a propeller for aircraft is as critical as designing wing. Go for the best airfoil,
cord, blade angle and lifting line. The twisting of blades from hub to posterior end is due
to the changing velocity of air through the radius from hub to tip. The factors associated
with propeller performance and needed to evaluate the efficiency are following
42
The non-dimensional constant for thrust produced and power required is in form of
And
In form of torque the equation can be defined as
The efficiency of propeller can be defined as
Here V is the speed of air passing through

Normally best choice of propeller is having an efficiency of 80-85%[1] but efficiency
does not remain constant it changes with change in air speed and rpm of motor due to
continuously changing resistant torque.
Considering profile losses ( 0) and induced losses
efficiency, then efficiency of propeller is
iwhich
are accounted for propulsive
.
The tip speed iscalculated by this
Advance ratio which is the ratio of true air speed to tip speed is
Propeller efficiency in terms of Advance ratio
Combining above two expressions the thrust is given by
43
In propeller designing sectional camber is defined as Cld at a specific radius i.e.
0.7
The propeller plane-form is defined by activity factor AF which indicates the power
absorption capability of all blade elements.
3.9.2.1 DesigningforCruise
Stepwise method for selecting an appropriate propeller is given by [5]
1. Starting with UAV cruise flight conditions, cruise altitude, Mach number, cruise
velocity and air density
2. Depending on ground clearance and motor rated power specify a propeller
diameter
3. Estimating the max power deliverable from motor and assume the desired
efficiency for propeller (in our case 0.8)
4. Now depending on motor RPM/Volt estimate propeller tip velocity which should
be less than 0.8 Mach
5. Computing the advance ratio J
6. Computing Cp based on equation given before
7. Calculate propeller efficiency from the parameters obtained before Cp and J.
Keeping in calculations number of blades because more blades can produce more
thrust but reduce the efficiency e.g. 2-blade propeller is 3% more efficient than 3blade propeller which in turn is 3% more efficient than 4-blade propeller.
8. Calculating the thrust coefficient Ct
9. Comparing the thrust obtained to the required thrust. There is no problem if it is
more but if it comes out to be less than either go for a better torque motor or
change the initially assumed propeller
3.10 Thrust Calculations

Total mass of UAV = 3.7Kg
Weight= 36.26N
Aspect ratio (AR) = 13
Chord = 250mm
W=
= 3.2/13 = 19.53mm
Area (Planform) = Awings + Atail

Wing Loading (W/S) = 2.5/0.787 = 3.17 N/m2
Take-off velocity = Vs =
44
Power required for Level Flight

2
And Thrust required for level flight

2
Power needed for level flight comes out to be
30
Power needed for take-off from a generic equation is calculated as 2.5 times more than
power needed for cruise all in case of sail plane with aspect ratio more than 10.
2.5
So in our case the power needed for take-off and climb up till the UAV reaches 500m
height is 65 Watts.
Using dedicated software for RC electric planes propellers PropCalc by Helmut Schenk.
Some graphs are produced for propeller giving input variables such that
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Propeller Diameter
Motor RPM at cruise
Blade angle
Chord factor
Blade airfoil
Number of blades
Reynolds number
Based on calculations our model needed these inputs

Figure 3.7- selected propeller specifications
Diameter
Max Blade angle
Chord factor
Number of blades
Re
Motor RPM
18 (457.2mm)
25
1
2
80,000-140,000
2000-3500
A short database of potentially applicable propellers calculated using dedicated software

is given below. Using this data we suggested the most appropriate propeller.
45
Name
Air foil
RPM
2500
Thrust
(N)
3
Power
(W)
36
Velocity
(m/s)
9
Eficiency
(%)
75
MargamHolez
18x8
MargamHolez
18x8
Aeronaut classic
glas
14x7
Aeronaut
Classics glas
12.3x6.5
Carrera
Primus(alt)
15x13
Granpur
Super Nylon
11x7
Granpur
Super Nylon
11x7
Schberl
Moskito CFK
16x19.22
Schberl
Moskito CFK
16x19.22
E193
E392
2500
3.2
49
8.75
74
GOE
795
3500
1.7
23
68
MA409
3500
1.2
15
8.5
71
MA409
2500
26
79
11
Gm15
3500
1.4
18
9.5
72
Clark-Y
5.9%
3500
1.2
12.5
73
Clark-Y
5.9%
1500
11
10
86
GOE
417a
1500
20
9.8
83
3.10.1 Graphs are following
Figure 3.8- MargamHolez 18x8 (Clark-Y)with 2 Blades
46
Figure 3.9- MargamHolez 18x8" (clark-Y) with 3 Blades
Figure 3.10Margam Holez 18x8" (Goe 795) with 2 Blades
47
Figure 3.11-Margam Holez 18x8" (Goe 795) with 3Blade
Figure 3.12- MargamHolez 18x8" (E392) with 2Blade
48
Figure 3.13- MargamHolez 18x8" (E392) with 3 Blades
3.10.2 Blade Airfoil data
Figure 3.14- Goe 795 Relative Chord, Relative Pitch, Blade Angle
49
Figure 3.15- Clark-Y Pitch, chord
3.11 Electric Motor

The device used to convert electrical energy into mechanical work. This definition is
general and in real a large number of different types of motors are available, the
difference is on the basis of source, function, utility and morphology. Motors are selected
for the magnitude of torque required or RPM.[6]
For our case we used DC motor because of the DC supply from the batteries and solar
cells. In DC motors by far the most common types are Brushless DC motors(BLDC) and
Brushed DC motors. Our propulsion system uses one head nose BLDC motor. Because of
high endurance and low wear and tear. The problem with brushed DC is more wear and
tear with time and comparatively higher weight to power ratios.
The type of electric motor selected is a DC brushless out-runner motor. An advantage of
these motors is a higher power to weight ratios as well as high torque output. However an
inherited disadvantage of such motor is its inability to dissipate heat as most of the motor
winding is on the rotor thus preventing the addition of any heat sinks. This requires more
consideration for the required cooling airflow and the associated impacts of that flow on
the overall system design.
Some key characteristics that are possessed by high performance motors are started as
follows:
50
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
High Power to weight ratio

High Efficiency at operational speeds (RPMs)
High endurance
Low wear and tear
Light weight
3.12 Structure of BLDC
Figure 3.16: Structure of BLDC[6]
Generally the inner part of a BLDC motor is called rotor and outer part is stator.
The functioning is such that an electronic controller performs brushsystem/commutatorassembly function as in brushed motors and works for the power
distribution. The electronic drive in this case is more complex because the coils are
activated alternatively in order to synchronize with the rotor. For position sensing either
Hall Effect sensors or BackElectroMagneticForce (BEMF) sensors are used. When
configured with the outside magnets this is called outrunner else it is called in runner.
3.12.1 Advantages of BLDC
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Precise and accurate speed control

Comparatively Higher efficiencies
More reliability
Reduced noise
More life time (no brush tear)
No ionization sparks
Low rate of heating up
Higher max current can be achieved
51
3.12.2 Advantages of Outrunner BLDC

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
An excellent choice for directly driving electric aircraft propellers

No extra weight, more simplicity
Generally require no gearbox as it delivers more torque
Low weight
Higher torque to weight ratios
The only drawback is with extra cooling mechanism if required as the outer body is
rotating so integration with a heat sink cannot be done and one has to rely on other
mechanisms for cooling.
3.12.3 The Dynamics of BLDC Motor
The behaviour of DC motor is such that it follows two general equations one for the
voltage and the other for the electromagnetic moment
Here V is the terminal voltage i is current, k is voltage constant and is rotational speed.
Mem is the moment (electromagnetic), K is torque constant. For DC motors K=k, by
simplifying the above two equations we get relations for rotational speed and torque
52
3.12.4 Proposed Motor

Keeping these requirements in mind the motor most suitable for such applications is the
LRK 195.15. It is a high torque brushless motor with a rotating drum surrounded by
neodymium magnets. Its specifications are as follows:
Total weight: 44 grams

Idle speed: 980 RPM / Volt
Power: 90 W
Number of poles: 14
Motor shaft: 3 or 5 mm
Shaft length: 25mm
Transmission: 7.1: 1
It comes with a JETI ECO-40 Brushless Motor

Controller, a Propeller holder and a small
gearbox.
Figure 3.17- LRK Strecker 195.15
3.12.5 Experimental Motor

The existing motor with which we have done experimental flights is EMAX 2815/09.
This choice of this motor is made due to need of a conservative model.
Description of EMAX 2815/09
KV: 920
Max Watt: 391W
Current Capacity: 31<60s
Stator Dimensions: 30x15
Outside Dimensions: 39x36.5mm (DxL, exc length of shaft)
Shaft Diameter: 5mm
Weight: 112g
Figure 3.18- EM AX 2215/20
53
3.13 Solar Cells

3.13.1 Requirements
9 They should be highly efficient
9 They should be flexible so that they could be easily installed on the wings and
sustain high wing deflections and vibrations
9 The weight of the solar cells should be light as possible to limit the wing loading
3.13.2 Selection
The efficiency of the solar cells depends upon the type of solar cell used. The highest
efficiency achieved today is 40% but is not commercially available. The highest
efficiency commercially available is around 30% but these cells are highly rigid and may
break in case of bending stresses. The laminated solar cells that are so flexible that they
can be folded are amorphous solar cells but their efficiency does not go beyond 15%.
Figure 3.19- Photovoltaic efficiencies in chronological order
By keeping in mind the above requirements, a GaAs solar cell Azurspace S-32 was
chosen that was flexible enough to be installed on the wing and 16.9% efficient. It also
has a very low density of 32mg/cm2. But they are not commercially available and are very
costly.
Therefore an alternative option was sought. After talking to various suppliers it was
decided to use mono-crystalline cells that are widely manufactured in China. Various
types of solar panels are available in the market but they are of no use since they have a
54
very heavy encapsulation of glass and aluminium frame that cannot be separated from
solar cells without breaking them. Therefore Grade A solar cells were directly imported
from China through a special order.
The fixed solar cells have following specifications
Parameters
Efficiency
Power Output
Eff(%)
PMP(W)
16.8
4.08
Maximum Power Current

Short Circuit Current
Maximum Power Voltage
Open Circuit Voltage
IMP(A)
ISC(A)
VMP(V)
VOC(V)
8.5
8.76
0.48
0.615
3.14 Batteries
3.14.1 Requirements
9 Typically a battery in electric powered planes takes up as much as one third of the
total weight of the plane.
9 The Battery required should have highest energy to mass ration called specific
energy.
9 The cyclic efficiency of the battery should be very high so that very low energy is
lost in charging and discharging the battery.
9 The battery should be made up of a number of cells so that those cells may be
placed in series of parallel to obtain the required voltage and current from the
battery.
9 The battery should be small enough to fit in the fuselage of the airplane.
9 The charging of the battery should be fairly simple so that its charging unit is
made easily and should be as light as possible.
9 The battery should be able to provide a burst of power if required and should not
fail in case of power surge.
9 In case of emergency landing/crash, the battery should be safe enough not to
explode thus damaging the aircraft.
55
3.14.2 Selection
Figure 3.20- Ragone Plot for different storage mediums
The technology of batteries has not evolved much in the last decade. Although some new
Li-Ion batteries are available in the market but only the power of the batteries have been
improved. The Li-ion batteries have not crossed the specific energy of 250Wh/kg.
Recently a potentially higher energy to weight ratio has been achieved by using light
weight Sulphur in the Li-Ion batteries due to which the potential specific energy of
350Wh/kg has been achieved but they are not commercially available but have been used
in Zephyr, another solar powered UAV developed under UK ministry of defence.
Specific Energy (Wh/kg)

Energy Density (Wh/l)
Specific Power (W/kg)
Ni-Cd
40
100
300
Ni-Mh
80
300
900
Li-Po
180
300
2800
Li-S
350
350
600
The recent increase in the research in the field of light weight batteries to be used in
electronic devices has allowed the development of high energy density batteries. So far
Panasonic provides the highest specific energy batteries in the market with the name
Panasonic NCR 18650 that boast the maximum specific energy of 240Wh/kg.
56
By using the calculated data we will require at least 24 batteries to store enough energy to
power the aircraft throughout the night.
Figure 3.21- In House developed 262Wh/kg Batteries

Figure 3.22- Panasonic NCR-18650 Cells
The battery bank developed by the project has the following specifications
Parameters
Nominal Voltage
Nominal Capacity
Vnominal(V)
(mAh)
12.0
26400
Discharge Current
Charging efficiency
Discharging efficiency
Cut off voltage
I(A)
(%)
(%)
Vcut off(V)
25
85
85
10.5
3.15 Power Management

The power management in the aircraft will be done by an on-board
computer/microcontroller. This system will be responsible for measuring the current,
voltage provided by the MPPT and the charging state of the battery as well as the power
requirement of the motor drives. With this data as feedback, the computer will decide
which component to power and which one is to be disconnected.
3.16 Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT)

Maximum Power Point Tracking, frequently referred to as MPPT, is an electronic system
that operates the Photovoltaic (PV) modules in a manner that allows the modules to
produce all the power they are capable of at a given interval in time. MPPT is not a
mechanical tracking system that physically moves the modules to make them point
more directly at the sun. MPPT is a fully electronic system that varies the electrical
operating point of the modules so that the modules are able to deliver maximum available
power. The power output of a solar panel varies significantly with varying load conditions
given constant illumination on the panels surface. The Power output by a solar panel not
57
only varies according to the angle of the solar cells with the sun rays, but it also depends
upon time of the day and the geographic location. The MPPT basically works by applying
the optimal load at the terminals of the solar cells, thus extracting the maximum amount
of power at any given particular instant. MPPTs can reach a high level of efficiency, a
maximum of up to 99%.
Figure 3.23- Power output at different current and voltage ratings[1]
We have currently decided to integrate MPPTs custom made by the company EasyMax.
The design shown above is said to have an efficiency of up to 98%. Since there are going
to be three solar films pasted on the top surface of the UAV (one on each wing, and one
on the fuselage surface), hence a separate MPPT has to be integrated to the terminals of
each film. The following diagram describes the methodology in which the different
components of the power train are to be connected.
58
Figure 3.24: Current control circuit for MPPT
Figure 3.25: Current sensor circuit for MPPT
59
3.17 Radio Controller

The remote controller will act as the command centre
of the UAV as it will harbour all the control sticks
and knobs dedicated to the different channels required
for complete control of the UAV. Each channel will
be configured to either a single servo or in some cases
a pair of servos. The servos will cause the physical
actuation of the rudders, ailerons, horizontal
stabilizers and hence will be responsible for
controlling for the Yaw, Pitch and Roll angles of the
UAV. The servos will be connected to the moveable
parts of the UAV with the help of special light weight
mounts.
The mechanism by which the amplitude of the
movement of different servos is controlled is called
the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). The PWM
module is built-in on the on board receiver unit
placed inside the fuselage of the UAV. It is through
this unit that the electronic signals (voltage and
current pulses) are transmitted to the different servos.
Figure 3-6.1 Hitec Optic 6 Remote Controller
In order to achieve our design objectives, a 6-channel Remote Controller was

required, which should be easily programmable as fine tuning the servos responses is an
iterative process that would otherwise become time consuming. It should have a
reasonably long range and should resist any external interference; nonetheless the
presence of failsafe mechanisms is also a necessity.
The Hitec Optic 6 Transmitter/ NiCad fulfilled all our requirements.
60
3.18 Live Video Feed

A camera with 2-axis control will be mounted at the base of fuselage
with the video output at 420 horizontal lines. The video would be fed
into an OSD (On Screen Display) device that will overlay telemetry
data onto the video. This data will then be sent to the ground station
through an A/V transmitter.
Transmitter selected for this purpose has the following specifications
1.2GHz, 23cm ham radio ATV band

High RF power, 1000 mW
Long range, >500 meters typical (unobstructed open view).
Phase Lock Loop (PLL) stability for drift-free operation.
Composite video, supports NTSC and PAL standards.
Mono audio channel, standard line level input, 10K.
FM-FM modulation.
SMA antenna jack, 50.
12VDC operation.
2.1 x 5.5 mm barrel power jack, positive center pin.
460mA typical.
2.0 x 1.0 x 0.53 inches (50 x 26 x 13 mm).
Light weight, 35 grams (70 grams with A/V cable and antenna)
61
Develoopment of Solaar Powered UA

AV
4 R
RESULT
TS
The project has achieved its
i main obbjectives as the aircrafft has beenn successfullly
fabriccated along with the sollar cells inteegration. Mooreover so faar more thann 7 test flighhts
have been succeessfully takeen out that confirms thhe aerodynam
mics perform
mance of thhe
aircraaft as it was designed forr.
The avionics systems desiggned for thee aircraft haave also beeen tested in
n the form of
o
auton
nomous flighht. The solarr cells are aalso giving rated
r
power that is enou
ugh to fly thhe
aircraaft 24 hours.
62
5 CONCLUSION
The project has successfully proved the concept that it is capable of carrying out 24 hour
test flight. Currently with the wing span of 3.2m the payload capacity of aircraft is only
50g which is enough to carry a small camera. However calculations show that if the wing
span is further increased to 10m, the payload capacity can be improved to 50kg which is
enough for most avionics.
If the project is taken further then it can be a good candidate for superseding satellites as a
cheap alternative.
63
6 REFERENCES
[1] A. Noth, PhD Thesis, ETH Zurich, 2007.

[2] J. D. A. Jr., Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, 3. Edition, Ed., McGrawHill.
[3] J. D. A. Jr., Aircraft Performance and Design, McGraw-Hill.
[4] D. P. Raymer, Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach, AIAA Education Series.
[5] P. Yedamale, Brushless DC (BLDC) Motor Fundamentals, Microchip Technology
Inc..
[6] T. C. Corke, Design of Aircraft.
[7] Blade
Element
Theory,
January
2012.
[Online].
Available:
http://home.anadolu.edu.tr/~mcavcar/hyo403/Blade_Element_Theory.pdf. [Accessed
January 2012].
[8] J. A. Duffie and W. A. Beckman, Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, 2nd, Ed.,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
64

Design and Fabrication of Solar Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

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DE-30 (DME)

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF

ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Design Process .................................................................................................... 13

Conceptual design Considerations ............................................................... 13

Power Analysis ............................................................................................ 13

Flight Conditions in Islamabad .................................................................... 14

Conceptual design model ............................................................................. 15

The Four Forces of Flight ............................................................................ 17

Aerodynamic forces ..................................................................................... 17

Inviscid, Incompressible flow ............................................................................. 19

Governing equations .................................................................................... 19

Boundary conditions .................................................................................... 19

The Kutta-Joukowski theorem ..................................................................... 20

Incompressible Flow over Airfoil ....................................................................... 20

The Kelvin theorem ..................................................................................... 21

Classic Thin Airfoil Theory ......................................................................... 22

Symmetric Airfoil ........................................................................................ 22

Cambered Airfoil ......................................................................................... 23

Vortex Panel Method ................................................................................... 23

Airfoil selection ................................................................................................... 23

Development of Solar Powered UAV

CFD Analysis ...................................................................................................... 27

Airfoil Results .............................................................................................. 28

Computational Fluid Dynamics .......................................................................... 28

Solar powered UAV design ........................................................................................ 32

Conceptual design Considerations ...................................................................... 32

Aircraft Design .................................................................................................... 34

Design Program Results ...................................................................................... 34

Critical Performance Parameters ......................................................................... 35

Maximum Lift Co-efficient.......................................................................... 35

Wing Loading .............................................................................................. 35

Thrust to weight ratio ................................................................................... 35

Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC) .............................................................. 36

Wing vertical location .................................................................................. 36

Wing incidence ............................................................................................ 37

Aspect ratio .................................................................................................. 37

Dihedral angle .............................................................................................. 38

Fuselage design ................................................................................................... 39

Fuselage Configuration ................................................................................ 39

Centre of Gravity ......................................................................................... 39

Tail shape and sizing ........................................................................................... 39

Horizontal tail .............................................................................................. 40

Converting to V-tail ..................................................................................... 41

Propulsion Group ................................................................................................ 42

3.10 Thrust Calculations ............................................................................................. 44

Development of Solar Powered UAV

3.10.1 Graphs are following.................................................................................... 46

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Figure 3.21- Panasonic NCR-18650 Cells ......................................................................... 57

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Figure 1.1: First Prototype of Solar Powered UAV

It is an indigenous project being taken up by a group of students from College of E&ME,

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Figure 1.2- Zephyrs Inaugural Flight

Development of Solar Powered UAV

Figure 1.5- Solar Eagle

Figure 1.4- Solar Impulse