Development of a Cross-Flow Fan Powered Quad-Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Abstract
The research presented is dedicated to the advancement of construction techniques in order to implement new designs of a vehicle suited for cross-flow fan propulsion. This is accomplished by designing a quad-rotor cross-flow fan that incorporates lessons learned from previous generation models as well introducing novel new construction concepts tailored to cross-flow fan propulsion vehicles. The current vehicle design was built using both custom and standard sections. Commercially available drivetrain and control components are used. The new design focused on three key areas of improvement: airframe simplification, gross takeoff weight reduction and structural rigidity improvement. At all phases the construction and emphasis on using readily available technologies or minor modifications to these was maintained. Novel techniques in construction are presented that allow these technologies to be leveraged. Finally, a new vehicle was built and tested and shown to be able to take-off vertically and be fully controllable in pitch, yaw, and roll.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA632493
Entities
People
- Erc D. Smitley
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School