Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Committee Chair
Patrick Browning
Committee Co-Chair
Christopher Griffin
Committee Member
Christopher Griffin
Committee Member
Wade Huebsch
Abstract
While small scale multi-rotor aircraft are becoming an increasingly large market with applications emerging every day, their ability to have both a high endurance/long range and a high speed/performance flight is severely limited. This leads to uncertainty in mission planning and aircraft design, specifically when deciding mission length and available on-board energy. Uncertainty like this leads to an increased chance of failure to complete the mission, and a failure to recover the aircraft. Considering that these aircraft are used by everyone from hobbyists to commercial companies to military personnel, the applications and missions being flown carry importance and a serious financial commitment. Such a commitment is difficult to look past for any party utilizing these versatile systems.
The main objective of the research contained within this thesis is to create a tool, a simulation, that can be utilized in reducing the chance of a failed mission occurring. This is achieved by testing the lithium-based battery for discharge rates and the motor/propeller combination for performance characteristics. Then taking the performance information from the tests in combination with basic flight equations to create a virtual representation of a small-scale multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This simulated aircraft can be used to design a mission for a small electric multi-rotor platform to complete. These missions ultimately determine if a mission is capable of being completed and if the aircraft can return home safely. Verification and accuracy of simulated missions were performed by comparing the flight data to a series of real-world flights using a multi-rotor UAV. Real-world flights were recreated within the simulation and the resulting flight profile, flight time, and energy consumption were compared and needed to be within an acceptable range of 5% error.
This simulation proved itself capable of taking performance data and accurately estimating the performance of a multi-rotor UAV with an average percent error less than 5%. If developed further, this simulation could be the foundation of a more accurate and vital estimation tool in the future.
Recommended Citation
Borelle, Nicholas Scott, "Development and Verification of Flight Data Informed Performance Estimation and Prediction Simulation Tool for Small Electrical Multi-rotor UAV" (2022). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 11378.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11378