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Chapter Two 2.1 Literature Review 2.2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
Chapter Two 2.1 Literature Review 2.2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, as an unmanned aircraft system
(UAS), or by several other names, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. The flight of UAVs
may operate with various degrees of autonomy: either under remote control by a human operator,
or fully or intermittently autonomously, by onboard computers.
Compared to manned aircraft, UAVs are often preferred for missions that are too "dull, dirty or
dangerous “for humans. They originated mostly in military applications, although their use is
expanding in commercial, scientific, recreational, agricultural, and other applications, such as
policing and surveillance, aerial photography, agriculture and drone racing. Civilian drones now
vastly outnumber military drones, with estimates of over a million sold by 2015.
Multiple terms are used for unmanned aerial vehicles, which generally refer to the same concept.
The term drone, more widely used by the public, was coined in reference to the resemblance of
navigation and loud-and-regular motor sounds of old military unmanned aircraft to the male bee.
The term has encountered strong opposition from aviation professionals and government
regulators.
Accessibility
Ease of use
VTOL and hover flight
Good camera control
Can operate in a confined area
Disadvantage of Multi rotor
Short flight times
Small payload capacity
Long endurance
Large area coverage
Fast flight speed
More dangerous
Harder to fly, more training needed
Expensive
Figure 2.3.4 Single Rotor
Let us consider the quadrotor moving in counter clockwise from the front propeller and Fi be the
force of each rotor’s, where i= 1,2,3 and 4 respectively as shown in Figure 2.14, such that the
rotors F1 and F3 rotate in counter-clockwise and F2 and F4 rotate in clockwise. As mentioned
earlier to perform the stationary hover, all the four rotors rotate at the same rate and the total
thrust of the craft is equal to its mass, m (21). The total thrust can be represented by u=
F1+F2+F3+F4 and Fi is the force of rotor i. Yawing, moving left and right, pitching and rolling is
shown in Table 2.1,
S. No Movement Description Result
Every quadcopter or other multirotor aircraft needs a frame to house all the other components.
Things to consider here are weight, size, and materials. We recommend the DJI Flame Wheel F450
or one of the many clones. These are great quadcopter frames. Check out our review of the Flame
Wheel F450 here. They’re strong, light, and have a sensible configuration including a built-in
power distribution board (PDB) that allows for a clean and easy build. There are also a ton of spare
parts and accessories available from many different websites. There are also a ton of clones out
there, most of which include the same built-in PDB and durable construction as the original. Parts
and accessories are 100% compatible and interchangeable.
The motors have an obvious purpose: to spin the propellers. There are tons of motors on the market
suitable for quadcopters, and usually you don’t want to get the absolute cheapest motors available,
but you also don’t want to break the bank when some reasonably priced motors will suffice. Motors
are rated by kilovolts, and the higher the kV rating, the faster the motor spins at a constant voltage.
When purchasing motors, most websites will indicate how many amps the ESC you pair it with
should be and the size of propeller you should use.
The flight control board is the ‘brain’ of the quadcopter. It houses the sensors such as gyroscopes
and accelerometers that determine how fast each of the quadcopter’s motors spin. Flight control
boards range from simple to highly complex. A great flight control board for first time quadcopter
builders is the Hobby King KK2.0. It is affordable, easy to set up, and has strong functionality. It
can handle just about any type of multirotor aircraft so if you later want to upgrade to a hexacopter
or experiment with a tricopter, you won’t need to purchase another board. Update: There is a newer
version of the KK flight control board – the KK2.1.5
Figure 3.3.4 Flight Controller
2.3.5 Radio Transmitter and Receiver
The radio transmitter and receiver allow you to control the quadcopter. There are many suitable
models available, but you will need at least four channels for a basic quadcopter with the KK2.0
control board. We recommend using a radio with 8 channels, so there is more flexibility for later
projects that may require more channels. The Turnigy 9x is a great choice for a first radio. It’s
inexpensive yet still has some advanced functionality. There is also a large community of 9x users
out there, so troubleshooting is easier. Chances are any problem you have has been experienced
and solved before, or someone on a forum like rcgroups will be able to help you out. Update: there
is a newer model of this radio out – the Turnigy 9xR Pro
A quadcopter has four propellers, two “normal” propellers that spin counter-clockwise, and two
“pusher” propellers that spin clockwise. The pusher propellers will usually be labeled with an ‘R’
after the size. For the quadcopter configuration in this post, we’re using 9×4.7 props. This is a
good size for the motors and ESCs we’re using. Propellers are available at a lot of websites.
2.3.6 Battery
Quadcopters typically use LiPo batteries which come in a variety of sizes and configurations. We
typically use 3S1P batteries, which indicates 3 cells in parallel. Each cell is 3.7 volts, so this battery
is rated at 11.1 volts. LiPo batteries also have a C rating and a power rating in mAh (which stands
for milliamps per hour). The C rating describes the rate at which power can be drawn from the
battery, and the power rating describes how much power the battery can supply. Larger batteries
weigh more so there is always a tradeoff between flight duration and total weight. A general rule
of thumb is that doubling the battery power will get you 50% more flight time, assuming your
quadcopter can lift the additional weight. For this quadcopter.
Figure 2.3.6 Battery
Charging LiPos is a complex process, because there are usually multiple cells within the battery
that must be charged and discharged at the same rate. Therefore, you must have a balance charger.
There are many chargers on the market that will do the job, but be careful of cheap or off-brand
chargers as many of them have faulty components and can cause explosions or fires. In general,
you should absolutely never leave LiPo batteries charging unattended. Many people charge
batteries outside on a cement area or in a fireproof LiPo bag (although the effectiveness of these
is up for debate). We recommend the IMAX B6 AC Balance Charger. It is affordable but reliable.
Be wary of knock-offs.
Figure 2.3.7 Battery Charger
2.3.8 Video system
The first limitation of is in their flying time. You can expect between eight and 15 minutes in the
air before the battery needs changing.
Operators usually carry plenty of batteries and will probably look for ways of charging them on
location too. Drone batteries use lithium polymer technology which allows considerable energy
to be stored in a small package. But they are associated with fire risk and have been known to
spontaneously catch fire while charging or if punctured. Most airlines restrict the numbers of
batteries on board. Check with your airline for their policy on transporting batteries. It is
recommended never to leave them unattended while charging, and to transport and store them in
a fireproof box.
Most Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have a maximum speed of 30mph, which restricts
their use to weather with wind speeds of less than 20mph. It is not recommended to fly drones
in rain, snow, or even in drizzle. Apart from any physical effects on the aircraft, there is a danger
the electronics will be damaged, and communication between the controller and the drone can be
affected when there is any kind of precipitation in the air.
Manufacturers may claim the controller can communicate with the aircraft up to 1km distance, but
your effective operating distance will be less than that - because of the requirement for line of sight
to the drone, because legal maximum distances are lower (see legal section) and, on occasion,
because communication with the drone may be compromised by the presence of signals from
mobile phone masts or towers.
Cold temperatures reduce battery life and give shorter flying times.
Altitude can be a factor: the thin air in the mountains means that special rotors are needed and
battery life is reduced.
Finally, The conditions that may be unusually hot or cold for a certain amount of time; and their
eyes will often need protection if the work consists of close watching of a UVA in the distance in
very sunny conditions.
REFFERENCE
Luis Rodolfo García Carrillo, Alejandro Enrique Dzul López, Rogelio Lozano, Claude Pégard
Springer Science & Business Media, 12 Aug 2012 - Technology & Engineering