Design and experiments for a transformable solar-UAV
Ruben D'Sa, Travis Henderson, Devon Jenson, Michael Calvert, Thaine Heller, Bobby Schulz, Jack Kilian, Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos
Abstract
Aerial robotic platforms are an increasingly sought-after solution for a variety of sensing, monitoring, and transportation challenges. However, as invaluable as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been for these applications, fixed-wing and multi-rotor systems each have individual limitations. Fixed-wing UAVs are generally capable of high-altitude surveillance and long flight times, while quad-rotors are most effective when used for their maneuverability and close-quarters surveying. This paper improves upon the prototypes discussed in [1] by creating a series of three next-generation prototypes to isolate the aspects of solar powered fixed-wing flight, quad-rotor flight, and transformation modes of the SUAV:Q platform. Improvements to the transformation mechanism, airframe design, variable pitch propulsion system, and custom-designed power electronics are presented along with validation of the designs through empirical testing.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{icra2017_designandexperim,
title = {Design and experiments for a transformable solar-UAV},
author = {Ruben D'Sa and Travis Henderson and Devon Jenson and Michael Calvert and Thaine Heller and Bobby Schulz and Jack Kilian and Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos},
booktitle = {ICRA 2017},
year = {2017}
}