Onboard Instability Correction of a Flying Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

• Alysson Lucena UFRN
• Luiz Gonçalves UFRN

Resumo

The development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has undergone extensive development in recent years, responsible for reducing operational and manufacturing costs and also preserving the pilot in missions that present risks. The pursuit of greater flight autonomy in fixed wing UAVs is aimed at the aircraft development, which can generate the highest possible lift with the lowest weight and drag. In this context the flying wing is considered the ideal aircraft, but it has instability during flight due to the absence of warping. With the use of a computerized system for corrections, a 1.20m wingspan UAV with flexible characteristics is proposed and developed in this work, considering all its stages: aerodynamic analysis, construction and configuration, remotely controlled tests, and autonomous mission with image acquisition. As a result of its operation, we could perform both remote controlled and autonomous flights acquiring images, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the project and used embedded systems.

Palavras-chave: Aircraft, Aerodynamics, Aerospace control, Unmanned aerial vehicles, Gravity, Servomotors, Global Positioning System