Development of an Aerial Air Quality Monitoring Platform Based on Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
A Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has the hybrid characteristics of a multi-rotor and a fixed-wing UAV which allow it to obtain distinctive performance in both duration, speed, and maneuverability among the other types. Therefore, it is suggested to be used for air quality monitoring in the Greater Bay Area. To achieve the specific needs of the task, this project would develop a new design of the VTOL UAV with the concern of capacity, strength, and aerodynamics.
First of all, an existing airframe would be selected and built with a designed VTOL part to test its characteristics. Then, after comparison between the choices in strength and density from the laboratory sources, alternative material, carbon fiber would replace the original material of the wings. The relative manufacturing process was also discussed and implemented. Furthermore, the wing was optimized by replacing the airfoil which can possess better drag and lift performance. The advanced aerodynamic performance would be also quantized by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation.
In this project, carbon fiber was selected as the new material for the wing due to its high strength and low density. Meanwhile, Clark Y airfoil was selected to replace the one in the original UAV frame. It was discovered that this type of airfoil can obtain a better performance and was more suitable for all stages of flying motion when the frame was customized from fixed-wing UAV to VTOL UAV.
Keywords: VTOL UAV; CFD; Carbon fiber wings