Design and build of a search and rescue UAV

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Design and build of a search and rescue UAV

Maziar Arjomandi

Mark David Eldridge, James Robert R. Harvey, Todd Sandercock and Ashleigh Eileen Smith

(Commenced: 01-Jan-2009, Concluded: 30-Nov-2009)

Maziar Arjomandi

Mark David Eldridge

James Robert R. Harvey

Todd Sandercock

Ashleigh Eileen Smith

The design and manufacture of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) intended for civil and commercial surveillance applications are the main activities of this project. Particular emphasis is placed on the search and rescue capabilities of the aircraft, for potential entrance into the 2009 ARCAA Outback Challenge. The Outback Challenge requires that the aircraft be capable of autonomously searching a remote area for a missing bushwalker, and then dropping emergency supplies.

In 2007, the iSOAR UAV was developed at the University of Adelaide for a similar purpose. The knowledge and components accumulated throughout the development of the iSOAR aircraft provided an extensive resource for the 2009 project. The fuselage, propulsion system, modems and video downlink were retained from the 2007 project, allowing the 2009 project team to focus on additional systems such as the integration of the aircraft autopilot, an emergency recovery system and image processing for autonomous detection of ground targets.

The 2007 iSOAR aircraft demonstrated high takeoff and landing speeds, resulting in a number of crashes. In order to solve this problem, a new pair of wings were designed and manufactured with an increased wing area, aspect ratio, and the addition of flaps. The new wings dramatically reduced takeoff and landing speeds while maintaining good cruise performance. The aircraft autopilot was not successfully implemented in the 2007 iSOAR UAV, as it resulted in a loss of remote control (RC) communication. This issue was solved in 2009, with fully autonomous flight demonstrated in a test aircraft. The use of a parachute for emergency recovery was deemed infeasible as it would compose too high a proportion of the overall aircraft weight. It was therefore decided that in the event of component or communications failure, the aircraft would be deliberately crashed in order to prevent the aircraft drifting into populated areas. The imaging system was redesigned for autonomous detection of the ARCAA Outback Challenge target, and consisted of an infrared camera and image processing software. The completed system was demonstrated to be capable of automatically detecting and tracking a 3W infrared light source from an altitude of 50m.

Future work for the project includes the integration of an improved camera with the ability to encompass both visual and infrared imagery, a modified video communications link to reduce interference with the autopilot modem, construction of a new landing gear to allow for a modular payload system, and re-manufacture of the aircraft fuselage in order to reduce weight through more efficient layup techniques. The project team intends to finish these tasks and complete full system integration in order to successfully compete in the 2010 ARCAA Outback Challenge.

Project Sponsors

· Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund

· Codan

Project Deliverables

Presentation

Final Report

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