The Design, Development and Manufacture of a Fuel Cell Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Surveillance Applications

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The Design, Development and Manufacture of a Fuel Cell

Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Surveillance Applications

Maziar Arjomandi

Rebecca Jayne J. Baylis, Craig Collins, Christopher James J. French, Elizabeth Pham and Aliya Valiyff

(Commenced: 01-Jan-2008,Concluded: 30-Nov-2008 )

Maziar Arjomandi

Rebecca Jayne J. Baylis

Craig Collins

Christopher James J. French

Elizabeth Pham

Aliya Valiyff

In 2008, a tailless fuel cell powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was designed and developed by a group of five undergraduate engineering students from the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide during 2008. Sharing a background in Aerospace Engineering, the students aimed to develop a remotely piloted tailless aircraft capable of operating on a fuel cell and hence demonstrate the potential for alternative energy solutions in the aviation industry.

Powered by a compressed hydrogen fuel cell, the UAV will produce only water and heat as by products, making it significantly more environmentally friendly than petrol powered UAVs. Motivated by the weight limitations imposed by the fuel cell and the desire for high aerodynamic efficiency, a tailless configuration was developed. The aircraft planform features highly swept wings with morphing wing tips which act as elevons for stability and controllability. While this design presented numerous challenges, particularly in terms of stability, the overall airframe demonstrates innovation and a creative approach to the design problems faced. The UAV was designed to achieve a cruise speed of 70km/hr and an endurance of 60 minutes, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the fuel cell.

From the outset, the project objectives were deemed ambitious due to the sequential order in which each of the objectives needed to be accomplished. Several setbacks were experienced during the manufacturing stage. The components received from the external manufacturer were of low quality such that these components could not be utilised. Thus, the project group reconstructed these components (i.e. the fuselage and wings) under the supervision of the workshop technicians. This introduced a degree of complexity which was not foreseen in the establishment of the project goals. However, with the exclusion of the fuel cell powered flight, a stable and sustained battery powered flight was achieved. The hybrid fuel cell system was tested and proven to provide the required takeoff power and one hour of cruise as established in the project objectives.

The fuel cell powered flight could not be undertaken due to safety restrictions imposed by the onboard hydrogen, as an appropriate airfield could not be located within the project time. The work undertaken by the project group, however, provides a solid foundation for future work and in addition to this, future fuel cell powered flight tests have been scheduled.

Project Sponsors

· Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund

· Aeronautical Engineers Australia

Project Deliverables

Presentation

Final Report

Image Galleries:

Article in the Adelaidean

Article in the Advertiser