This is the start of the project, and thus the start of the research phase. The first step here is to do a high level summary of this project.
What are the needs of this project?
- Flight Capable UAV
- Autonomous
- Telemetry link throughout flight
What are the wants of this project?
- Long flight time (30-45 minutes)
- Able to be broken down for easier transport
- Full FPV/camera integration
This gives a good idea of what has to happen. The next big step is deciding the UAV design. A good place to start is where I am familiar. While thinking of this, there are three main ideas that come to mind.
The first idea here is a "Talon" style UAV. This is a widely popular design in the world of small UAVs. It features a motor mounted on the tail, high wings, and a V-tail.
Pros:
- Already well known for being a good UAV design
- Fairly compact
- no long carbon rod based tails
Cons:
- Not as familiar with tail mounted engines
- Seems difficult to balance
The second idea is a "twin-boom" style plane. These are popular with slightly larger UAVs, and are characterized by two "booms" going out to the tail.
Pros:
- Easier to balance, can be done by adjusting tail length.
- Either dual rudder or inverted V-tail
- Easy to scale
Cons:
- Large carbon booms can be expensive
- Almost necessary to have landing gear
- harder to teardown
The final is a "high-wing" style plane. This is possibly the closest to a traditional aircraft. Features a motor facing backwards on a raised mount and a long boom tail. Can be either a T tail, V tail, or a standard tail.
Pros:
- Easy to balance
- Fairly simple
Cons:
- Long carbon boom tail
- Tail can be hard to support well
These are the options so far. I am partial to the Talon style right now, just for its lack of large carbon supports and its compactness. I plan to make a final airframe decision this week, and get the design started. I will update this log once I have an initial model either in Fusion 360 or SimplePlanes (which by the way I recommend for some rapid prototyping for aircraft).
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