PROJECT OVERVIEW

12-22-2024

The goal of this project is to create a flying testbed that can be easily and cheaply produced with minimal experience. The testbed should be easy to fly, must be autonomous, and must be capable of transmitting imagery back to a ground station. Additionally, it must be able to communicate with a second UAV to distribute tasking and allow for more reliable relaying of imagery to a ground station.

Just Started

Working on it

Complete

FIRST AIRFRAME

8-10-2024

As a first attempt to create a 3D printed flying wing, I fabricated of the publicly available model provided by Oliver FPV. The model was printed in ABS and assembled with a carbon fiber wing spar to provide rigidity. A Matek f405 FC and recommended powertrain were also used.

Electronics used on the first flight

Post-first flight teardown

CUSTOM DESIGN

9-12-2024

With the need for a more bespoke solution to the durability problem evident, I designed a larger flying wing from scratch using Fusion360. I 3D printed the wing in Bambu Labs' ASA Aero, then coated with fiberglass and epoxy to vastly increase it's strength.

Analysis was done using Fusion360 FEA, FluidX3D, and Xflr5

The custom vehicle with fiberglass coating and electronics installed

Due to an improperly secured battery which fell back during launch, the UAV became unstable and crashed shortly after takeoff.

SECOND ATTEMPT

11-27-2024

The second design has been reconfigured greatly, it is now a more traditional inverted v-tail drone constructed from carbon fiber (construction process outlined in Invincible Aerostructures). Much more design work was put into this drone, especially flight analysis. It is current awaiting flight trials.

Xflr5 analysis