Aeromechanics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles / Drones

ABOUT THE COURSE:This course covers key topics related to aeromechanics of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), it gives quick introduction to aeromechanics of miniature flying machines of various kinds required for design and development of autonomous UAS. The goal of the course is to enable students to get comprehensive overview of aeromechanics relevant for carrying out design and research related to autonomous UAS of all types: fixed wing, rotary wing and VTOL. The course covers basics of aerodynamic and flight mechanics of fixed wing and rotary wing systems.INTENDED AUDIENCE:This is an ideal course for a student from Aerospace or non-Aerospace Background to get complete working knowledge of basic aeromechanics of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. The course covers basics of aerodynamic and flight mechanics of fixed wing and rotary wing systems. It can be taken by UG students who are interested in UAV / drones as well as PG students who wish to get introductory knowledge of drones / UAVsPREREQUISITES:This course is an introductory course that can be taken by students with any Engineering background who are interested in creating working knowledge to delve deeper in to UAV technologyINDUSTRY SUPPORT: UAV / Drone industry would value this significantly, some relevant companies are: 1.Ideaforge Technology Ltd. 2.New Space Research 3.Aarav Unmanned System / Aerio 4.Asteria Aerospace 5.EndureAir System Pvt. Ltd. 6.Raphe Mphibr

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Types of UAVs, applications, design process and design goals
Week 2:UAS as a System of Systems, description of each sub-system and its role, fixed wing primary control, introduction to aerodynamics
Week 3:Aerodynamic performance – lift, drag, L/D, effect of pitching moment, wing loading for UAVs, stalling speed,
Week 4:Concept of load factor, range, endurance, rate of climb etc. for fixed wing UAVs with fuel as well as battery power
Week 5:Low Reynolds number aerodynamics, Propeller Theory
Week 6:Introduction to rotary wing aerodynamics, momentum theory in hover, definition of nomenclature for rotary wing systems
Week 7:Momentum theory in climb, descent and forward flight
Week 8:Blade element theory, rotors in axial and edgewise flight
Week 9:Blade Element Momentum Theory, Prandtl tip loss function.
Week 10:Performance of rotary wing UAVs, range, endurance, rate of climb, maximum speed
Week 11:Introduction to flapping wing UAVs and unsteady aerodynamics
Week 12:Flight dynamics of UAVs with focus on Quadrotor Flight dynamics