Design and Development of Fully Composite Mini Unmanned Aerial

Vehicle (Mini-UAV)

A Project Report Submitted

in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for B.Tech. Degree
in
Aerospace Engineering

By
Kailash Kotwani

Project Supervis or
Dr. Sudhir Kamle
Capt. Umesh Chandra

Department of Aerospace Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology IIT Kanpur
April 2003

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 Acknow led geme nt

While presenting the technical report on my B. Tech Project Fabrication and Design
of Mini-UAV, I wish to express heartfelt gratitude to my project Supervisor Dr Sudhir
Kamle, for his able guidance and support which tremendously helped me all through this
ambitious endeavor. Without his help this project could never have been a success. I am
thankful to him for being constant source of inspiration throughout this project.
I would also like to thank my friends Jaideep Karnawat and Dilshad Ahmed (2nd year
Aerospace Engg.) for assisting me throughout this project. I am grateful to Mr. Lavendra
Singh (Technician Structure Lab) for his immense technical assistance in Fabrication
Processes.
I feel that this project is gave me invaluable practical lessons in Designing and
Fabrication. Here pragmatic learning added in knowledge of theoretical lessons, which I
have gained in past years. I am grateful to them for always helping me in all possible ways.

-Kailash

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Abstract
The interest in Mini-UAVs, in the
fields of defense and recreation, has recently
increased. The Development of Mini-UAV,
requires new ideas and the development of
many new concepts such as the traditional
fields of surveillance/recognition missions.
Due to lack of available literature in this field,
one has to approach the process of aircraft
design in a different manner.
The objective of this project is to
design and construct a cost effective, remotely
controlled, fuel powered mini UAV with
certain payload capacity and configuration.
With this payload capacity it will be able to
carry a camera for the purpose of
reconnaissance, surveillance and aerial
photography. The deployed camera (color, or
IR day/night vision) will relay live video
images to a video recorder or to the mission
navigator or even to other remote ground
receivers. In addition, the whole airframe of
vehicle is fabricated using composite materials
to reduce its weight and enhance strength. The
use of composite material provides additional
advantage of stealth capability. This vehicle
with an onboard long-range camera will be of
primary use near border regions where the
main concerns are the remote identification of
enemy movements and surveillance of
particular domain. The project has sought to
bring about innovativeness in materials and
designing aspects to produce a vehicle with
several unique features.
Report outline
1.Introduction
2.Design Requirements and Specification
3. Design Process
3.1 Weight Estimation
3.2 Initial L/D estimation
3.3 Airfoil and Geometry selection
3.4 Tail Geometry
4. Fabrication Process
4.1 Fabricating Glass fiber/epoxy resin
composites (Hand Lay-up technique
4.2 Components Making
4.3 Assembly and Drawings
4.4 Design and Fabrication of Fuselage
4.5 Engine and Engine Assembly
4.6 Control Mechanisms
4.7 Fabricating Undercarriage
4.8 devising replaceable wing installation
4.9 covering skin and overcoming associated
problems
4.10 Final Finishing
5. Strength and Performance Analysis
5.1 Uniaxial tensile testing
5.2 Locating Shear center
5.3 Bending analysis
5.4 Engine Thrust Measurement
5.5 Experimentally Determining Value of G
for skin covering
6. Cost Analysis
7. Project Time line with milestones
8. Conclusion
References
Appendix
1. Introduction
Various parameters were chosen to
start preliminary design work after studying
different existing mini-UAVs, deciding
requirements and considering other feasibility
factors.
With these parameters, design
calculations have been done up to stage of
initial sizing. Approximate values were taken
wherever data was not available. Side by side
we were fabricating a scaled down model or
similar structures of different parts in Lab.
Design parameters were selected and changed
so that we should be able to manufacture those
parts in lab. Hence modifications could not be
avoided at various stages of design work.
The idea of using balsa wood was
discarded in the beginning because it is very
difficult to estimate mechanical properties of To achieve vehicle takes off from
balsa (these properties are highly dependent ground, a proper landing gear mechanism with
upon environmental effects like temperature, wheels of size estimated during design was
season, moisture etc.) Properties of balsa employed. To reduce the drag and obtain good
wood vary from sample to sample in addition surface finish a smooth outer covering of thin
to it being very fragile. film is applied. In the last stage, various
In place of wood, it was decided to use alignments and synchronization of wheels and
glass fiber/epoxy resin composites, as it is other parts were done.
possible to manufacture them in the lab. Sheets Finally theoretical estimation was
of composites (Glass fiber/epoxy resin) of conducted to obtain the location of shear
different thickness is fabricated using hand lay center. Using load cell and strain indicator
up technique. The basic materials required engine thrust is measured at different throttle
here are fiber woven cloth, hardner, epoxy settings under different conditions. Tensile
resin, mylor sheet and ambience of required testing is performed on sample of skin to
curing pressure and temperature. Out of these obtain the value of shear modulus.
composite sheets, structures like wing, tail and
fuselage are fabricated. Skin covering for parts 2. Design requirements and
of wing, fuselage and tail was prepared using
doping technique. A cotton cloth was used Specifications
along with cellulose nitrate and thinner of
aircraft specification for doping purposes. Design parameters were selected after
Various structural and material tests (tensile detailed literature survey studying the
testing, bending analysis etc) were conducted characteristics of existing mini UAVs (see
on composite sheets and skin to ensure appendix A), engines available in the market
required strength and feasibility of making (appendix B) and our requirements. While
components out of these materials. designing, it is assumed that the designed
The Fabrication Process involves the mini-UAV will be flying with speed not
Fabrication of composite sheets, Making parts exceeding 40 knots.
and components and Final Assembly. Wing Table 1: Specifications
Structure is made of basic ribs, spar and Maximum launch 5 lb
stringers whereas fuselage is made of weight
bulkheads and longerons. Minimum Payload 1 lb.
This vehicle was provided with three Minimum Range 1.2 NM
controls for aileron, elevator, rudder, steering Max level speed 40 knots
tail wheel and throttle settings. An onboard Service ceiling 800 ft.
battery set supplied power to servos and a Minimum 15 minute
receiver mounted on fuselage. endurance
A Fuel tank of requisite capacity, Engine One glow plug
carrying a mixture of Methanol, Nitromethane piston engine
and castor oil in standard proportion was used. Propeller Two blade
Appropriate strengthening methods are composite prop
employed to reduce structural vibrations. By Remote device 4 channel R/C set
minimizing use of metal parts and properly
covering engine (made of metal alloys) one
can achieve good stealth characteristics.

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 3. Design Process 3.1 Launch Weight estimation
Launch weight is the total weight of
the aircraft as it begins the mission for which it
With these parameters, design
was designed. Maximum launch weight can be
calculations is done up to stage of detail
estimated as
structural design. The whole Design process is
Launch weight = Wempty + Wpayload + W fuel
respectively completed in three phases
We have assumed Wpayload = 1 lb. Now
Ø Conceptual design: To estimate
remaining unknowns are W empty and W fuel
configuration, size, weight performance etc
1. Weight estimation of structures and
Ø Preliminary Design: Analyzing from
calculating W empty
perspective of structures, propulsion,
4 Composite samples
stability and control etc.
Here three different samples out of
Ø Detail Design: Final production design just
many different composite sheets fabricated in
before phase of fabrication
lab(Next chapter) have been considered for
At the end of design process it was
theoretically estimating weights of different
possible to estimate the shapes, sizes,
structures:
dimensions and locations of all parts and
Sample 1: (3 layered): Average thickness =
components. An approximate estimate of
1.21 mm, Size = 12.7 cm * 101.2 cm
weight was of help in selection of material.
Finally part drawings and full scaled layouts
Weight = 203 gm, Hence Density = 1.3162
were prepared before fabrication.
gm/cm3
Conceptual Design Sample 2: (3 layered): Thickness = 1.16 mm,
The objective of this section is to arrive Size = 28.7 cm* 32.15 cm, Weight=144 gm,
at nearest possible values of Weights, Density = 1.345 gm/cm3
Geometry and power system. Conceptual
Design process goes as shown in Figure 1. Sample 3: (6 layered): Thickness = 2.14 mm,
Size = 100.5 cm* 11.9 cm,
Weight = 381 gm, Density = 1.49 gm/cm3
Figure 1: Conceptual design process.

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B. Approximate method to estimate weight of
Wing:
Wing was designed out of basic
structures like ribs, spars, and stringers. Since
spar takes the maximum load so the spar was
made out of a 6-layered composite whereas the
others were made using 3 layered sheets.
Based on a wing Aspect Ratio of 6
(calculated later) and designs of vehicles given
in appendix, a wing span of 3 ft and chord of 6
inch was assumed.
Taking any airfoil initially say (NACA
6712) one can calculate its area after knowing
chord length and shape. Multiplying this area
with density of a 3 layered composite (A 3
layered composite was used for making ribs as
it is giving sufficient strength with minimum
weight), the theoretically calculation of weight
of each rib is as follows:
Weight of rib = 2.67 gm (say 3 gm)
In 3-ft wing assume each rib is placed at the
distance of 0.25 ft that means
Total 13 ribs will be required = 39 gm
In Similar way for 3 ft wing,
W of spar = 28 gm
W of leading edge =15 gm
W of T. E = 24 gm
2 stingers = 26 gm
Weight of adhesive material used = 10 gm
Dimensions of these structures are given in
next chapter.
So approximate weight of 3 ft wing =
142 gm
C. Weight of other parts:
Following same procedure for estimating
weight of different parts
Weight of horizontal tail = 81 gm
Weight of Vertical tail = 46 gm
Weight of fuselage = 250 gm
D. Weights of engine and R/C accessories are
measured using weight balance
Battery set = 93 gm
4 servos = 148.3 gm
Receiver = 35 gm
Empty fuel tank = 75 gm
Engine and servo mount = 150 gm
Wheels with undercarriage = 200 gm
Pushrod hinges clevis = 80 gm
Adhesive = 100 gm
Engine = 550 gm (Appendix B)
Weight of skin = 120 gm (Appendix E)
So empty structural weight comes to be 2.07
kg
Fuel weight estimation:
As of this stage, the focus is not on the
amount of fuel carried by vehicle. The
available fuel tank had a capacity to carry 120
ml fuel weighing around 100 gm. From engine
tests it was found that this fuel would be
sufficient to keep the vehicle in flight for 10
minutes approximately.
W fuel = 100 gm
Hence launch weight = 100 gms. + 2.07 kg =
2.17 kg (Without payload)
3.2 Initial L/D estimation
It depends upon wing span and wetted
area.
At level flight lift = weight
So L/D solely depends upon drag. Drag is sum
of Induced drag and zero lift drag.
Induced drag is function of lift (function of
wing span). Zero lift drag (skin friction drag)
is directly proportional to the total surface area
of the aircraft exposed to air.
For initial design purpose, aspect ratio can be
selected from historical data. For final
determination of aspect ratio a trade study is
required.
For powered sailplane S wet/Sref = 5
Wetted aspect ratio = b2/ S wet = A/( S wet /Sref)
Choosing A = 6, Wetted aspect ratio = 1.2
Hence (L/D)max = 9.5 (for fixed gear prop
aircraft, Figure 2)
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Fig.2 Wetted aspect ratio vs L/Dmax
3.3 Airfoil and Geometry selection
Airfoil Lift and Drag :
Pressure distribution for the upper and
lower surfaces of a lifting airfoil at subsonic
speeds is given in Figure 3. Note that the upper
surface of the wing contributes about two
thirds of the total lift.
In non-dimensional form the airfoil lift,
drag, and pitching moment are defined as
Fig3: Pressure distribution
Fig 4: Lift, pitching moment vs alpha and drag
polar
Cl = section lift/q c
Cd = section drag/q c
Cm = section moment/q c 2
Lift, drag and pitching moment
characteristics for a typical airfoil are shown in
figure 4.
Design lift coefficient:
For early conceptual design work, the
designer must frequently rely upon existing
airfoils. From existing airfoils, the selected one
should be one that comes closest to having the
desired characteristics.
The first consideration in initial airfoil
selection is the “design lift coefficient”. This
is the lift coefficient at which airfoil has the
best L/D (Fig 5)
Fig. 5 Design Lift Coefficient.
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 As a first approximation, it can be
assumed that the wing lift coefficient CL,
equals the airfoil lift coefficient, Cl. In level
flight lift must equal the weight, so the
required design coefficient can be found as
follows
W = L = q S CL = q S Cl
Cl=(1/q)(W/S)
Airfoil thickness ratio:
Airfoil thickness ratio has direct effect
on drag, maximum lift, stall characteristics,
and structural weight. Figure 6 below shows
the effect of thickness ratio on subsonic drag.
The drag increases with increasing thickness
due to increased sepa ration.
Max velocity = 40 knots = 21 m/s,
Mach no. = 0.06. Hence using reference 1, a
thickness ratio = 12 was chosen.
Wing Geometry:
The reference (trapezoidal) wing is the
basic wing geometry used to begin the layout.
Figures 7, 8, 9 below show the key geometric
parameters of the reference wing.
The values for parameters using given
formulae will be calculated later.
The required reference wing area (S) can be
determined only after the selection of W/S.

Fig. 7: Wing Sweep

Figure 6: Effect of t/c on drag

The thickness ratio affects the

maximum lift and stall characteristics
primarily by its effect on the nose shape. For a
wing of fairly high aspect ratio and moderate
sweep, a larger nose radius provides a higher
stall angle and a greater maximum lift
coefficient.
For initial selection of thickness ratio,
the historical trend can be used1.

Fig 8: Wing Geometry

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Fig. 9: Mean Aerodynamic chord
Aspect ratio:
As most early wings were rectangular
in shape, the aspect ratio was initially defined
as simply the span divided by the chord. For a
tapered wing, the aspect ratio is defined as the
span squared divided by the area.
When a wing is generating lift, it has a
reduced pressure on the upper surface and an
increased pressure on lower surface. The air
would like to escape from the bottom of the
wing, moving to the top. This is not possible in
2-D flow unless the airfoil is leaky.
Figure 10 : Effect of aspect ratio on lift
Air escaping around the wing tip
lowers the pressure difference between the
upper and the lower surfaces. This reduces lift
near the tip. Also, the air flowing around the
tip flows in circular path when seen from the
front, and in effect pushes down on the wing.
Strongest near the tip, this reduces the
effective angle of attack of wing airfoils. This
circular or vortex flow pattern continues
downstream behind the wing.
A wing with high aspect ratio has tips
farther apart than an equal with a low aspect
ratio. Therefore, the amount of the wing
affected by the tip vortex is less for a high
aspect ratio than for a low aspect ratio wing
and the strength of tip vortex is reduced.
From historical trends, aspect ratio for
propeller aircraft varies from 6 to 10 and that
for sailplane varies from 15 to sometime 25.
So for a vehicle having propeller engine and
slow velocity characteristics a mid order
aspect ratio can be chosen.
So for initial design purpose an aspect ratio of
12 will be best.
As we are making wing in two parts first we
will design half of the wing that is aspect ratio
will come down to 6. This will be a small wing
as at this moment we are not sure of feasibility
of composite wing.
So for first wing aspect ratio = 6.
Accordingly we will do all design calculations.
Modifications can be made in future
depending upon data from wind tunnel
experiments.
Wing sweep:
Max velocity = 40 knots
Mach no. = 0.06
Figure 11 shows the historical trend.
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Fig 11: Mach no. vs Leading edge sweep
So it was decided to select leading edge sweep
angle = 0 degrees.
Taper Ratio:
Wing taper ratio is the ratio between
the tip chord and the centerline root chord.
Most wings of low sweep have a taper ratio.
Most wings of low sweep have a taper ratio of
about 0.4 to 0.5. Taper affects the distribution
of lift along the span of the wing. As proven
by Prandtl wing theory, minimum drag due to
lift or induced drag occurs when the lift is
distributed in an elliptical fashion. For an
untwisted and unswept wing, this occurs when
the wing planform is shaped as an ellipse.
An elliptical wing planform is difficult
and expensive to build. The easiest wing to
build is the untapered (taper ratio = 1.0)
rectangular wing. However, the untapered
wing has constant chord along the span, and so
has excessive chords towards the tip, causing
the wing to generate more of its lift toward the
tip than is ideal. The end result is that an
untwisted rectangular wing has about 7% more
drag due to lift than an elliptical wing of the
same aspect ratio.
When a rectangular wing is tapered,
the chords become shorter, alleviating the
undesired effects of the constant-chord
rectangular wing. In fact, a taper ratio of 0.45
almost completely eliminates those effects for
an unswept wing, and produces a lift
distribution very close to elliptical ideal.
Figure 12 confirms taper ratio of 0.45.
Fig 12: Effect of taper on lift
distribution.
Wing Twist:
Wing twist is used to prevent the tip
stall and to revise the lift distribution to
approximate an ellipse. Typically, wings are
twisted between zero and five degrees. It is
very difficult to optimize twist for an arbitrary
wing planform. For initial design purpose
historical data should be used. Typically 3
degrees of twist provides adequate stall
characteristics. But its very difficult to achieve
twist of exactly 3 degrees in lab due to
fabrication limitation.
So initially it was assumed to be zero because
it was easy to fabricate a uniform wing.
Wing incidence:
Wing incidence angle is chosen to
minimize drag at some operating conditions,
usually cruise. The incidence angle is chosen
such that when the wing is at the correct angle
of attack for the selected design conditions, the
fuselage is at the angle of attack for minimum
drag.
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Wing incidence angle is ultimately set using
wing tunnel data. For most initial design work
it can be assumed to be 2 degrees.
Dihedral and wing vertical location:
A high wing vehicle will have
sufficient ground clearance without excessive
landing gear length. Also, the wing tips of a
swept high wing are not as likely to strike the
ground when in a nose high rolled altitude. A
high wing provides several advantages. The
height of wing above the ground tends to
prevent floating, where the ground effect
increase lift as the aircraft approaches ground.
Choosing high wing for this UAV and
Dihedral for high-unswept wing is taken
between 0 to 2 degrees. For ease of fabrication
zero degree dihedral was selected.
Wing tips:
Wing tip shape has two effects upon
subsonic aerodynamic performance. The tip
shape affects the aircraft wetted area, but only
to a small extent. A far more important effect
is the influence the tip shape has upon the
lateral spacing of tip vortices. This is largely
determined by the ease with which the higher
pressure air on the bottom of the wing can
‘escape’ around the tip to the top of the wing.
A smoothly rounded tip easily permits the air
to flow around the tip. A tip with a sharp edge
(when seen nose down) makes it more
difficult, thus reducing the induced drag.
The most widely used low drag wing tip is the
hoerner wingtip. This is a sharp-edged wing
tip with the upper surface continuing the upper
surface of the wing. The lower surface is
undercut and canted approximately 30 degree
to horizontal. The lower surface may also be
undercambered.
So in above discussion almost all parameters
have been discussed. With these parameters
and concepts, one can calculate exhaustively
various left out parameters like wing loading,
exact geometry of wing etc.
3.4 Tail Geometry
Tail functions:
Tails provide for trim, stability and
control. Trim refers to the generation of a lift
force that, by acting through some tail moment
arm about the center of gravity, balances some
other moment produced by the aircraft.
For horizontal tail, trim primarily refers to the
balancing of the moment created by the wing.
An aft horizontal tail typically has a negative
incidence angle of about 2 to 3 degree to
balance the wing pitching moment.
For the vertical tail, the generation of a trim
force is normally not required because the
aircraft is usually left-right symmetric and
does not create any unbalanced yawing
moment.
A single- propeller airplane will
experience a yawing moment caused by the
tail itself. The propeller tends to ‘drag’ the air
into a rotational motion in the same direction
that the propeller spins. Since the vertical tail
is above the fuselage, it will be pushed on by
the rotating prop wash, causing a nose left
motion for normal direction of engine rotation.
Geometry
Leading edge sweep for horizontal tail
is usually set to about 5 degrees more than the
wing sweep. This makes the tail stall after the
wing. So for this vehicle it will be 5 degrees as
zero degrees has be chosen for wing, aspect
ratio ranges between 6 to 10 and taper ratio 0.3
to 0.5.
For a low speed vehicle, vertical tail
sweep is selected around 20 degrees, aspect
ratio can be taken between 1.5 to 2.0 and taper
ratio between 0.4 to 0.6
Tail thickness ratio is similar to wing thickness
ratio. Hence a thickness ratio of 12 was
selected for tail.
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 4. Fabrication Process
4.1 Fabricating Glass fiber/epoxy resin
composites (Hand Lay-up technique)
1. Materials:
1. Glass fiber plain woven cloth,
2. Epoxy resin,
3. Hardner,
4. Mylor sheets
5. Releasing agent
2. Tools:
1. Paint brush,
2. Vessels,
3. Heater,
4. Weights,
5. Gloves,
6. Working table with smooth surface,
7. Hand Roller,
8. Weighing Machine
3. Theory:
Thermosetting resin systems, by
chemical reaction become hard when cured,
and further heating does not soften them-the
hardening is irreversible During curing they
undergo a chemical change or reaction called
polymerization, the linking of “monomers or
prepolymers” to form “network polymers”.
This reaction is accomplished in the presence
of catalysts or curing agent usually selected to
give a desired combination of time and
temperature to complete the reaction suitable
for a particular product.
Fabrication processes for thermosetting
resin matrix composites can be broadly
classified as wet forming processes and
processes using premixes or prepregs. In the
wet forming processes, the final product is
formed while the resin is quite fluid and the
curing process is usually completed in one
step. Compounding is done during forming.
The wet processes include hand lay-up,
filament winding, pultrusion, and bag molding.
Hand lay-up technique: The hand lay-up
technique is one of the oldest, simplest and
most commonly used methods for manufacture
of composite, or fiber-reinforced, products.
This technique is best used where production
volume is low and other forms of production
would prove too expensive.
4. Steps:
1) Mold Preparation - A mold of the part to be
made is created and a release film is applied to
the mold’s surface.
2) Gel Coating - This consists of a specially
formulated resin layer, which will become the
outer surface of the laminate when it is
complete. This layer is only necessary when a
good surface appearance is required.
3) Hand lay-up - Fiberglass is applied in the
form of chopped strand mat, cloth or woven
roving. Premeasured resin and catalyst
(hardener) are then thoroughly mixed together.
To ensure complete air removal and
consolidation of the excess resin, serrated
rollers are used to press the material evenly
against the mold.
4) Finishing - The composite is allowed to
completely harden and any machining or
assembly can be performed.
5. Procedure:
Many sheets of composites were fabricated
in the lab starting from single layered to six
layered for different purposes. Given below is
the detailed procedure of making a three-
layered composite sheet of size 1ft by 3ft.
Ø Three layers of fiber cloth of size more
than 1 ft by 3ft to provide it margin was
cut out of main roll of glass fiber
Ø Two layers of mylor sheet ( releasing film)
of size 1.3 ft by 3.3 ft was cut
Ø 250 gm of epoxy resin was weighed in a
metal vessel. This resin was heated to
remove air bubbles inside and later was
allowed to cooling
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Ø 10 % hardner that is 25 gm was weighed
in another vessel
Ø Before mixing resin and hardner
everything was set up to start the process
of compounding. Once we mix, they have
little time (approx. 20 min) in flowing fluid
form
Ø Resin mixture was spread on mylor sheet
using paint brush. This coating was
prepared carefully as it provide outer
surface finish to composite sheet
Ø Mixture was spread on fiber cloth on one
side.
Ø Wet side of cloth on mylor sheet and it was
pressed hardly to air gapes between them.
Roller was moved over this first layer for
final finish
Ø Again resin mixture was spread on upper
layer of glass fiber layer and on second
piece of cloth and they were pressed
together in similar way. Continuing this
procedure until we reach end-releasing
film over glass fiber.
Ø This set up of layers were given required
curing temperature and pressure
Ø Releasing films were removed after 18
hours.
In the similar manner composite sheets of
different sizes and thickness were fabricated in
lab.
6. Process Advantages:
1) Large and complex items can be produced.
2) Relatively little equipment investment is
needed.
3) The start-up lead-time and cost are minimal.
4) Tooling costs are low.
5) Semiskilled workers are easily trained.
6) Design flexibility.
7) Molded-in inserts and structural changes are
possible.
7. Process Disadvantages:
1) A labor-intensive process.
2) A low volume process.
3) Longer curing times, since room
temperature catalysts are usually used.
4) Part quality is very dependent upon operator
skill.
5) Product uniformity is difficult among parts.
6) Only one good (molded) surface is
obtained.
7) Waste produced is high.
4.2 Components Making
Till now wing, all structural
components like wing fuselage and tail have
been successfully fabricated in lab using
composite sheets. Detailed procedure is given
below
1 Fabricating parts of Wing:
A wing of 3ft span and 6-inch chord
length has been fabricated using ribs, spar and
stringers. Silver polythene is used as skin
covering.
Steps involved are given below
1. Exact full scale drawing of NACA 6712
airfoil was prepared on AutoCAD using its
database of 100 co-ordinates points.
2. Using print out this scaled drawing, the
exact shape of airfoil was traced on composite
sheet using carbon paper
3. 13 similar airfoil shapes were cut out out of
composite sheet carefully using heck saw
machine
4. Due to manual error, there were slight
variations in sizes of airfoils. All these airfoils
were placed over one another and the exact
airfoil made on chart paper was pasted over
the top airfoil.
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5. These sets of 13 airfoils and chart paper
were clamped at two points using long screws
to avoid relative motion between them.
6. This clamped set was filed using straight
and rounded file to give all of airfoils exact
same shape and size.
7. Hole for spar and slots for stringers were
made using drill machine through clamped set
at calculated locations.
8. Filing was done to give final finishing
9. Following straight piece of 3f t in length
were cut out of composite sheets using heck
saw machine.
In similar manner the following wing
structural components were fabricated:
1 spar of 1.3 cm thickness and 6 layer
composite
2 stringers of 0.8 cm thickness and 3 layer
composite
1 leading edge of 1.0 cm thickness and 3 layer
composite
2 trailing edge of 1.2 cm thickness and 3 layer
composite.
2 Fabricating parts of Tail:
Horizontal Tail: span 1.5 ft, taper ratio
.5 and Leading edge sweep of 5 degrees.
Vertical tail: span .5 ft, taper ratio .5 and
leading edge sweep of 30 degrees.
The process of fabrication becomes
very complicated when there is sweep and
tapering in structure.
The same airfoil NACA 0012 was
chosen for horizontal tail and vertical tail. To
provide taper ratio of .5, root chord length of
airfoil length is 4.5 inch where as tip chord
length is 2.25 inch. The airfoils, stringers and
spars of sizes given in drawings were cut and
processed in similar manner.
4.3 Assembly and Drawings
Materials required: Quick, slow and medium
setting adhesives, butter paper, marker
1. Wing:
1. Full-scaled layout of wing structure was
prepared on butter paper. (As shown in
drawing)
2. Using this layout as reference, the whole
wing structure was assembled
3. Spar was passed through airfoils kept at
equal distance. All airfoils, spar were arranged
and aligned on layout. Airfoils at the ends
were hold by a person and quick setting
adhesive was applied one by one. It takes
around 5 minutes to set and 20 minutes to ga in
strength. In this way joints were made between
13 airfoils and spar.
4. Slow setting adhesive was filled in gaps,
which take around 24 hours to gain strength
5. Next day procedure was repeated for
leading edge and upper stringer
6. On the third day for trailing edge and lower
stringer
After assembling, wing was weighed and its
weight came to be 145 gm. This weight is
approximately equal to weight calculated in
chapter 1 that’s 142 gm.
2. Wrapping silver covering on wing
Sheets of thermocol in the shape of
upper and lower surface of wing are carved
using hot electric wire. Adhesive is applied on
ribs and stringers of wing, covering is tightly
wrapped on wing. The wing is pressed
between thermocol surfaces and weights are
placed over surfaces.
3. Horizontal tail and Vertical tail:
In similar manner lay out was prepared
and procedure was repeated for tails.
4.4 Design and Fabrication of Fuselage
Shape and size of fuselage is decided
by various factors like
1. Shape and size of components
accommodating in fuselage
2. Minimizing weight
3. Minimizing drag
15
4. Easy to fabricate
In fuselage Location of different
components like servos, fuel tank, receiver,
control rods, engine, batteries etc is identified.
Accordingly location of C.G. is estimated
roughly. Conside ring static margin
requirement location of wing is decided.
Space inside the fuselage should be in such
a way that there must be scope of changing
locations of components so that C.G. can
be moved to desired position.
After considering all these factors,
we arrive to fuselage of required shape and
size fuselage.
Length = 2ft 2 inch
No. of bulkheads used = 8
Bulkheads are in trapezium shape.
All these bulkheads are joined using
longerons on all four sides.
4.5) Engine and Engine Assembly
1. Fixing Engine Accessories
a) Fuel Tank: Different parts of Fuel tank are
assembled as per the instructions given on
Fuel tank manual. Fuel tank is installed
and tied to fuselage using piece of cycle
tube. All three outlets of fuel tank are
connected to 3/32” silicon fue l tube.
b) Fuel filter: Silicon tube for fuel supply is
cut in two pieces and fuel filter is inserted
between these two pieces.
c) Engine Mount: First we determine the
center of bulkhead. Four holes of diameter
1/8” are drilled using hand drill on the
front bulkhead for engine mount after
aligning center of engine mount and center
located on bulkhead. Assembling two
halves of engine mount and fixing them on
front bulk head.
2. Before installing engine
a) Installing glow plug: Carefully plug was
inserted in the hole given on engine head
with washer, first it was finger tightened
before final tightening with the correct size
plug wrench.
b) Connecting fuel tubing: The short length
fuel tube (supplied) was connected
between the needle-valve outlet and
carburetor inlet as per instructions given in
manual. Similarly two tubes for connecting
pressure valve and supply valve of fuel
tank were obtained.
3. Mounting engine
First four holes are drilled on engine
mount, two on each arm. Engine is placed on
engine mount and engine plate is tightened to
mount using screws. One has to ensure that
mounting arms are parallel and their top
surfaces are in the same plane.
a) Throttle linkage: Before connecting the
throttle -lever/ servo linkage, it was ensured
that no part of linkage interferes wit h the
internal structure of vehicle or wiring etc.,
when the throttle is fully opened or fully
closed. Throttle lever linkage is set in such
a way that 1) throttle lever is fully open
when the transmitter throttle stick is fully
advanced and 2) fully closed when the
throttle stick fully retarded. Adjustment of
the throttle rotor opening at the idling
position is made with the throttle trim lever
on the transmitter.
b) Silencer: Silencer is connected to engine
through provided two screws. The exhaust
pipe of silencer is rotated to desired
position by loosening nut and screw.
c) Fuel tank location: Fuel tank was placed so
that top of the tank is 1 cm above the level
of needle valve. It is ensured that fuel
system is pressurized by connecting
pressure nipple to the vent-pipe of the fuel
tank.
d) Fuel: By practical tests, fuel composition
best for engine is selected. After
conducting various tests it was decided to
use fuel with following composition
Methanol = 73% by volume
Castor oil = 20% by volume
16
Nitromethane = 7% by volume.
Once a particular composition has been
selected and used for a while, it is needless to
change the composition or brand or type of
fuel. In any engine a change of fuel may cause
carbon deposits in the combustion chamber,
with the risk of causing unreliable operation
for a while.
e) Propellor: Propellor suitable for 0.46
engine is selected from the chart given in
Appendix C. Propellor was tightened securely
on shaft after reaming its hole using a reamer
of correct size.
f) Initial starting and Breaking In: These
detailed processes are completed as per
instructions given in engine manual. It is must
as all internal-combustion engine benefit when
they are run first few times known as breaking
in or running in.
For maintenance and assembling a detailed list
of 0.46 engine parts are given in Appendix D.
4.6 Control Mechanisms
As we were not sure about the success
of control mechanisms. So for trial purpose
these mechanisms were first tried on wooden
model wing and tails. Hence first we
fabricated a three feet wooden wing and tested
functionality of aileron mechanism on it.
Similarly we tried elevator and rudder
mechanisms on model tails.
These control mechanisms work
successfully using Radio set remotely (a futaba
transmitter). The basic function of Radio set
can be explained as- A transmitter from
remote station transmits signals to receiver
then receiver decodes signal and accordingly
particular servo performs rotational motion.
For transferring motion from servos to
particular surface, the components required are
control rods, horns and clevis
First detailed theoretical estimation for
getting Center of gravity was performed and
accordingly after satisfying static margin
requirements. Locations for various other
components like servos, battery, receiver, fuel
tank etc. were obtained. On the basis this C.G.
calculation option of designing a tail wheel
vehicle was selected.
So on calculated locations components
like battery servo were mounted. Using clevis,
horn and cycle spoke rods, control
mechanisms for rudder, elevator and throttle
were implement on vehicle.
All the jobs required for making
steering tail wheel mechanisms were
fabricated on lathe machine in lab after
designing them. They were aluminum steering
arm and S.S. shaft. Steering tail whe el and
rudder are controlled by same single servo.
Steering tail wheel was mounted on last rib of
fuselage
Sizes of Control rods were selected
such a way that control surfaces are precisely
controlled by transmitter. This was achieved
after many trial and error tests.
4.7 Fabricating Undercarriage
First of all wheel sizes were calculated as
per gross weight requirement (Using reference
1). We Made a groove in ply for fixing
undercarriage steel rod of V shape. Then Fixed
undercarriage in a long groove and filled rest
area with epoxy resin. Finally undercarriage
was sandwiched between two plies. Wheels of
required sizes were mounted using wheel
collars, which were fabricated on lathe using
SS rod of 8-mm diameter. Later on this
method fixing undercarriage rod between two
plies failed because of high loading
requirements. So we replaced lower ply by
aluminum jobs which were fabricated in lab.
After various tests, wheel and undercarriage
were aligned properly.
17
4.8 devising replaceable wing
installation 4.10 Final Finishing
Using this installation wing of any span or
chord length can be installed on vehicle. It
1) The whole vehicle was covered using Sign
uses combination of four-cycle spoke rods,
Board film for better surface finish
two composite strips and four nuts for
2) Engine was covered using Engine cowl
tightening wing. Wing is symmetrically placed
and Empty area of cowl was filled up by
between four spokes and it is tightened
packing and insulating material for
between two composite strips. Finally nuts are
minimizing heat conduction and protecting
tightened on spokes.
engine from damages.
3) Propellor was connected to shaft through a
4.9 covering skin and overcoming Spinner.
associated problems 4) Various alignment and vibrational
problems were sorted out by employing
First used method of applying several different methods.
polythene skin was not so successful so we 5) This vehicle has made its first successful
learnt doping method in flight lab from a flight test but there was some problem with
expert there. It is done in following manner. during crash landing. There was some
damage to engine but nothing happened to
a) Leading edge curvatures obtained by structure and other parts.
inserting balsa (for wing) and foam (for tail
and fuselage
b) Extensive filing done to obtain precise
curvatures
c) Cotton cloth wrapped tightly around
fuselage and stitched at selected places. Dope
(Cellulose nitrate) was applied on cloth for
tautening purposes.
d) Three additional coats of dope applied after
an interval of 4 to 5 hours
e) After the last coat sanding was done (with
zero number sandpaper) for smoothening.
f) Similar process repeated for wing and tail
structures.
This method was successful for wing
and fuselage structure but not for tails as size
of tail are too small hence tail structures were
not able to resist tautening forces. So for tail
structures we used PVC sheets. It has several
advantages over doping method.
1) These sheets can be molded into any
required shape.
2) It provides better surface finish and
aerodynamic curvature.
3) It is very easy to apply on structure.
4) Extremely good for small structures.

18
 5. Strength and Performance Plots of displacement vs load are
obtained directly from the plotter, which are
Analysis converted to stress vs strain to give E-
modulus.
5.1 Uniaxial tensile testing:
The uniaxial tensile testing is probably Dimensions:
the simplest and most widely used mechanical Straight-sided:
test. This test is conducted to determine elastic Crossectional area = 1.2 mm * 24 mm = 28.8
modulus and tensile strength. In the case of mm2
composite materials the tension test is Length of reduced section = 61 mm
generally performed on flat specimens. The
most common used specimen geometries are Dog bone:
the dog-bone specimen and straight – sided Crossectional area = 1.2 * 13 = 15.6 mm2
specimen with end tabs as shown in diagrams. Length of reduced section = 92 mm
A Uniaxial load is applied through the ends by
providing a pin-type or serrated-jaw-type end For a particular graph of load vs
connection. displacement of straight-sided specimen (stress
The dog-bone specimens may fail at vs strain is obtained)
the neck radius, particularly when testing
uniaxial specimens, because of stress Table 2: Calculating stress and strain
concentrations and poor axial shear properties Load
of specimens. kN Displ. mm stress strain
The ASTM standard test method for 100 0.05 3.47 0.00082
tensile properties of fiber-resin composites has 200 0.075 6.94 0.001229
the designation D3039-76 (Reapproved 1982.) 300 0.125 10.41 0.002049
The drawings of specimen are shown 400 0.15 13.88 0.002459
in figure. Three specimens of each with 500 0.2 17.35 0.003278
required dimensions are fabricated. End tabs 600 0.25 20.82 0.004098
are attached to straight-sided specimen using 700 0.3 24.29 0.004917
araldyte. 800 0.35 27.76 0.005737
Experiment was conducted in ACMS 900 0.45 31.23 0.007376
lab with machine of following specifications: 1000 0.5 34.7 0.008195
Instron Limited High Wycombe,
Model no. 1195,Volts 240, Frequency 50 Hz
Amps 10, Maximum range 100 kN. From the plot we calculate:
Range selected for testing was 10 kN Ultimate tensile strength = 135.5 MPa

40

35

30

25

Plot 1: Experimental Stress (1000 20

kPa) vs Strain (m/m) 15

10

0
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01

19
Young’s modulus = 5.68 GPa
5.2 Locating Shear center
For measuring the shear center of the
fabricated wing, the center of the wing was
clamped. Tip load was applied on the
cantilevered beam and the location of the load
was varied. The shear center of the wing was
then determined experimentally.
When a beam bends without twisting,
shearing stresses are set up in the beam. The
resultant external load must pass through the
shear center of the section if the twist of the
section is to be prevented.
The horizontal position of the shear
center was experimentally determined. It was
found that a weight combination W1= 25 gm
identical deflections in the two dial gages d1
and d2.
The vertical position of the shear center
is harder to determine due to experimental
constraints
5.3 Bending analysis
For measuring the flexural stiffness of
the fabricated wing the center of the wing was
clamped. A tip load passing through the shear
center was applied on the wing. Strain
measurements from two strain gages located
on the spar and on the stringer were made for
different values of tip loads.
A set up identical to the shear center
set up was arranged. Two strain gages: one
located 10 mm below the spar center line and
the other on the top of the middle stringer were
monitored. Both the strain gages were located
axially one rib station away from the wing
fuselage joint section.
The strain output was measured using a
20 channel UPM40 strain indicator. The load
combination was chosen such that the resultant
load passed thr ough the shear center.
The test was conducted to verify the
stress and strain distributions as obtained from
strength of materials solution.

Table 3: Bending Analysis

W1,W2 Total Spar Stringer
Weight strain(mi Strain
cro m/m
25,20 45 -55 -95
50,40 90 -121 -195
75,60 135 -206 -294
100,80 180 -267 -385
125,100 225 -361 -466
150,120 270 -455 -532

Figure 13: Locating shear center

and W2=20 grams at distances of 60 mm and
180mm from the leading edge produced

20
 5.4 Engine Thrust Measurement
For performance analysis, it is
necessary to have values of thrust produced
by engine at different throttle settings and
with different propellers. For measuring
thrust, a strain gage based cantilever type
load cell was used. This load cell when
connected to strain indicator gives strain
values which can then be calibrated to
convert strain values to thrust. Using a
transmitter, a servo was controlled. The
rotational motion of this servo was used to
control the throttle setting.
This experiment is conducted with
different propellers under different
conditions like with or without spinner and
exhaust pipe.
Experimental set up
The complete idea and experimental set up
for conducting this experiment was devised
in the lab. Engine is mounted on a engine
mount. The mount is rigidly joined to one
side of cantilever type load cell through a
aluminum plate (firewall). The other side of
load cell was clamped to a fixed rigid
structure. Load cell is connected to
UMP40A strain indicator through a
connector board. It was found that by
pressing the engine backward or pushing it
forward indicated strain values accordingly
on the strain indicator.
Fuel tank supply line and pressure
line was connected to engine needle valve
and muffler respectively. This fuel tank was
fixed on stand designed on engine test
bench. An exhaust pipe was connected to
engine muffler for throwing gases out of lab
as several set of tests had to be conducted
and gases released are toxic and harmful in
nature.
A control mechanism was devised to
serve the purpose of controlling throttle
from remote station. Keeping location of
throttle in mind, a L-shaped thick aluminum
plate of required dimension was fabricated.
Over this plate a servo was rigidly fixed
using four screws. A circular plate was
mounted on servo shaft below its rotating
arm for purpose of measuring servo angle.
This set up was rigidly clamped to test
 bench. A control rod bent at four locations Plotting weight vs average strain values.
was connected between servo arm and
throttle arm. Servo is connected to receiver The plot is giving almost linear curve.
and a D.C supply of 4.8 volt is given to run Using Matlab polyfit function a linear
the servo. relationship is obtained between Weight (W)
At the back of load cell, a high and strain values (S) (Appendix F1)
strength thread was connected. This thread
passed over a pulley and was connected to a
pan. This set up was devised for purpose of W=0.0094*S-0.1522
calibration.
Dynamical problem
Calibration (For fig. see appendix diagrams.)
As load cell gives values in terms of strain,
one has to calibrate it to get values in thrust.
Gradually weights are added in pan and for
particular weights, corresponding strain
values were noted. Similar procedure was
repeated for unloading and average values
are calculated

Weight(kg) Loading unloadin Average

(µm/m) g (µm/m) (µm/m)

0 1 26 13.5
0.5 57 82 69.5
1 108 142 125
1.5 158 196 177
2 208 247 227.5 The throttle was changed using the
2.5 261 301 281
transmitter-servo combination. There are
3 314 354 334 total 15 steps on transmitter between throttle
3.5 368 406 387
fully closed and fully opened. Motion of
4 422 457 439.5 transmitter and servo has a linear
4.5 480 506 493 relationship. The servo was connected to
5 540 556 548
throttle arm through a control linkage so
5.5 599 599 599 transmitter and throttle did not have a linear
relationship. The objective of this section is
to find a relationship between servo angle
(θ) and throttle angle (φ).
Solving this dynamical problem and
we obtain relationship as

(8.035+Sin (θ)-0.6023*Cos(φ))^2 + (1.54-

Cos(θ))^2 +( Sin(φ)-1.727)^2-64.1064 = 0

Initial (θ) = 13.7 degrees

 Final (θ) = -27.62 degrees 9 -8.3376 96.1024 57.1006
10 -11.0923 100.5055 63.38576
Basically there are 15 steps between initial 11 -13.847 104.8579 69.59855
and final value of (θ). 12 -16.6017 109.1701 75.75396
So in each step change in angle = 2.7547 13 -19.3564 113.4502 81.86354
degrees. 14 -22.1111 117.7047 87.93658
For each value of (θ) we will obtain value 15 -24.8658 121.9386 93.98022
(φ) then will find out the position of throttle. 16 -27.6205 126.1557 100

For this purpose a routine has been written Experiments

in MatLAB (Appendix F2) and plot has Experiments were conducted with a
been obtained between theta and phi. 10 by 9 propeller in three different

Transmitte Theta Phi (deg) Throttle
r position (deg) position
(%)
1 13.7 56.1003 0
2 10.9453 62.0397 8.478137
3 8.1906 67.5295 16.3145
4 5.4359 72.7077 23.70607
5 2.6812 77.6588 30.77347
6 -0.0735 82.4392 37.5972
7 -2.8282 87.0885 44.2338
8 -5.5829 91.6357 50.72465
situations.
A: With spinner with exhaust pipe, ‘o’
B: Without spinner with exhaust pipe, ‘+’
C: Without spinner without exhaust pipe
Readings on strain indicator were
noted. As engine starts at 6th step so readings
were taken from 6th to 16th step. Table
shows observations for three different cases.
Due to unavailability of another
propeller suitable for this engine we couldn’t
 conduct experiments to determine the effects
of variation in diameter and pitch of
propeller on thrust values.

Throttle A B C
position
37.5972 170 195 193
44.2338 190 235 230
50.72465 220 265 275 Results and discussion
57.1006 245 320 320
63.38576 284 360 350 1. During calibration of load it was found
69.59855 350 375 370 that load has linear relationship with strain
75.75396 360 385 390 values
81.86354 380 400 405 2. Relationship between motion of servo
87.93658 388 410 410 arm and throttle is non-linear whereas servo
93.98022 395 420 425 rotates linearly with transmitter.
100 400 440 442 3. The thrust values in absence of spinner
are lower in comparison with the values of
thrust with spinner.
4. There is no effect of connecting exhaust
pipe on thrust values.

4.5

3.5
Thrust in kg

2.5

1.5

1
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
throttle position
5.5 Experimentally Determining
Value of G for skin covering
Three samples of skin were prepared using
Theory dope technique. There dimensions were
Using two strain gauges one in vertical chosen as per ASTM standards.
direction and other in horizontal direction it Length = 16.8 cm
is possible to calculate value of G Width = 2.54 cm
End tabs of aluminium were provided at the
two ends of each sample.
G = E/(2*(1+ν)) Average thickness of skin = 0.26 mm
Area of crossection = 0.66*10-5 sq. m
Calculating values of E and ν will give the
One end of sample was clamped to
value of G.
rigid structure and on the other hanging end
Lets say ε x and ε y are strain values in axial
U shaped plate was riveted for distribution
and transverse strain gauges
P is the value of load applied.
A is the area of cross section.
We know that for uni-axial loading,
εy = - ν * εx

Therefore, (ε y /P) = - ν * (ε x/P)

E = P/A*ε x
So we will obtain plots of strain vs load and
after getting value of slope we will get value
of Poisson’s ratio.

of load uniformly over the width of sample.

A groove was made at the center of U-plate
Samples and Experimental set up
for passing thread. A pan was connected at
the other end of thread. Hanging end of
sample was passed through a guide path to
allow it to move along straight vertical path.
Two strain gauges one in vertical
direction and other in horizontal were pasted
to skin samples. Wires were soldered to
strain gauges and strain gauges were
covered by wax to save them from
atmospheric moisture. Strain gauges were
connected to strain indicator through full
bridge set up.
 0.5 17 25 21
1 60 55 57.5
1.5 89 86 87.5
2 133 137 135
Experiments 2.5 178 175 176.5
Weights were added in pan gradually 3 210 215 212.5
and strain readings were noted for both the 3.5 245 245 245
strain gauges. Readings were taken for
loading and unloading case.

For strain gauge along axial or x-axis

direction Plots of weight vs strain readings are
Weight(kg) Loading unloading Average obtained.
0 0 2 1
0.5 88 68 78
1 182 162 172
1.5 287 260 273.5
2 388 367 377.5
2.5 498 481 489.5
3 613 602 607.5
3.5 734 734 734

For strain gauge along y-axis

direction
Weight(k Loading unloading Average
g)
0 0 5 2.5
 A MatLAB routine has been written to obtain polyfit linear relationship. (Appendix F-
4)
εx = 210.3571*P -26.5000
εy = 72.8452*P -10.2917

These equation gives the values of slopes

Hence calculating ν = 0.346

E = 7.066*109 Pa
G = 2.6248s.89* 109 Pa
 6. Cost Analysis
Here the cost involved to develop single unit of Mini-UAV has been estimated.
Basically Funds were used to purchase several components, parts, chemicals, an engine and a
Radio set from Market for which estimated cost has been given in table.

ITEM cost/unit(Rs.) Quantity Total

Chemicals
Hardner HY-951 (1kg) 318 0.25 79.50
Araldyte CY-230 (1kg) 955 2.00 1,910.00
Methanol LR (2.5 Litre) 255 1.00 255.00
Nitromethane (500 ml) 815 0.20 163.00
Castor oil (500 ml) 310 0.50 155.00
Cellulose Nitrate (1litre) 255 0.50 127.50
N.C.Honda thinner a/c specifications (1litre) 210 0.50 105.00
Common thinner (1 litre) 110 0.50 55.00

Adhesives
Epoxy resin Fast and clear (13g) 30 8.00 240.00
Epoxy resin Rapid (13g) 22 8.00 176.00
Epoxy resin 24 hours (100g) 140 1.00 140.00

Materials
Mylor sheet (1 metre) 90 3.00 270.00
Glass fiber woven cloth (1 metre) 125 2.00 250.00
Cotton cloth (1 metre) 60 3.00 180.00
PVC Sheet (1 metre) 85 1.00 85.00
Sign Board film (1 ft) 20 1.00 20.00
Exhaust Pipe (1 metre) 15 5.00 75.00

Non consumables
Engine 2stroke .46 (7.5cc) OSMAX 9500 1 9,500.00
RC set Futaba 6 Channel 12100 1 12,100.00

Propellers
10x9 sport prop 190 1 190.00
11x9 G/F prop 395 1 395.00

Fuel Fittings
Fuel Tank 12oz. 356.00 1 356.00
Precision Fuel Filter 60.00 2 120.00
617 Fuel Line Plugs SN/LRG (4) 58.00 1 58.00
Hand Crank Fuel Pump 180.00 1 180.00

Wheels
Tail Wheel 1-1/4" (32mm) 158.00 1 158.00
2 ¾ " Treaded Wheels (2) 397.00 1 397.00
Accessories
Adjustable Engine Mount .25-.46 290.00 1 290.00
109 Kwik Link Clevis (4) 70.56 1 70.56
Nylon Swivel Clevis (4) 103.04 1 103.04
117 Nylon Hinges (10) 331.52 1 331.52
119 Small Hinges (15) 178.08 1 178.08
598 Wheel Collar 5/32" 12pkg. 257.60 1 257.60
Spinner 2 3/4" Nylon White 426.00 1 426.00
Rechargeable batteries (Eveready) (4 pc.) 175 3 525.00
Miscellaneous
Screws, washers, nails, rivets and other trivials 200 1 200.00
Stationary materials 300 1 300.00
ply wood and wooden pieces of different sizes 250 1 250.00
Aluminum sheets of different thickness 250 1 250.00
Aluminum rods D 8mm, 4mm etc 400 1 400.00
Control rods (cycle spokes) 50 1 50.00
Brushes of all numbers 150 1 150.00
Plastic and Glass Vessel 200 1 200.00
Commercial Paint 150 1 150.00
Sand papers of all numbers 100 1 100.00

Total 31,971.80/-

Basic Infrastructure and Human resources

All experiments and fabrication processes were conducted in Structures Lab
Aerospace Department where we have all necessary facilities and infrastructure required for
Designing and Manufacturing of Mini-UAV including basic needs like electricity, computers,
space etc. For designing, software tools like MatLab-5.3 and AutoCAD-2002 etc were used.
For manufacturing machines Lathe, Drill, Cutter etc. and vast range of tools and equipment
were used. All of the Project experiments involving stress/strain analysis, load measurements
etc. except tensile testing (ACMS Lab) were performed in structures lab only.
For developing this project, no cost for basic infrastructure, human work force and
experts has been included. This is because of the fact that when same vehicle will be
produced on industrial scale cost for infrastructure and human resources will be compensated
by production scale and proficiency.

So the cost required to develop single unit is approximately equal to 32000/-

**There is clear difference between the cost involved to develop this Mini-UAV and cost of
single unit. Developing cost was more than three times the cost of single unit.
 7. Project Time line with milestones
The work on this project was started on 15th August-2002 and till now most of the
targets have been achieved.
Ø 20 september-02: Literature surveys, Collected data of various existing Mini-UAVs,
Devised methods and select tools for future work.
Ø 7th October -02: Till this time we completed conceptual design part.
Ø 30th October: completion of Casting of composite sheets and strength analysis
Ø 20th November: Completed wing section structure
Ø 30th December-02: Completed Fuselage and Tail sections structures
Ø 15th January-03: engine tests and Mounting engine
Ø 31st January-03: Landing gear assembly
Ø 5th February: Successful Ground testing
Ø 15th February-03: Devising and designing control mechanisms
Ø 20th February-03: Skin covering for all str uctures
Ø 23rd February-03: First successful flight
Ø 20th March-03: final finish: Resolving vibrational and alignment problems
Ø 20th April-03: Conducted various experiments
Ø 26th April-03: Final report

8. Conclusion
a) In this project, a prototype of mini-UAV with following unique features was
developed:
1) Survivability: Structural design was devised in a manner to achieve a vehicle which could
resist strong crashes and smashes and on the other hand weight of vehicle was low.
2) Modular Construction: The basic design philosophy of the vehicle was geared towards
fabricating modular components so that any part can be easily replaced with another one.
This made full assembling and dissembling of complete vehicle possible.
3) Capability to lift different payloads: It was possible to fix wing of different sizes and
shape depending upon payload and weight requirements. The space inside the fuselage was
made in such a way that one can change the locations of components to change the location
of C.G and obtain required stability
4) Innovation in materials: A vast range of new materials was used as per requirements to
reduce weight, enhance strength, surface finish, precision and quality.
5) Stealth capability: The use of composite structures provided the vehicle with good stealth
capabilities.

b) Structural tests were carried out on different components to determine their response to
different mechanical loadings.

c)Engine test set up was developed and used to experimentally determine the engine thrust
for different throttle settings.

References:
1) Raymer Daniel P., Aircraft Design: A conceptual approach, AIAA Education series
2) Taylor J., Jane’s all the world Aircraft, Jane’s London England UK, 1976.
3) Agarwal B.D., Broutman L.J.,Analysis and Performance of Fiber Composite, second
edition John wiley and sons Inc., 1980
4) ASTM standards 1976 edition volume-5 composite material
 Appendix

A) Some of the existing Mini-UAVs with parameters

Mini- Javelin Pointer RCS4020 DSI RPA-9
UAV/parameter Scout
Launch weight 7.71 kg 10 lbs. 10.5 lbs. 25 kg
Height 0.48 m N/a N/a .20 m
Length 1.83 m 6 ft 4 ft .91 m
Wing span 2.44 m 9 ft 4.75 ft 2.715 m
Max-payload 1.45 kg 2 lbs 3 lb 2 kg
Max level 56 knots 50 mph 78 knots 60 knots
speed (103.2 km/hr)
Service ceiling 1,000 ft 3,000 ft 3,000 ft Not given
Range 1.66 to 7.93 km 3 miles 3 km Not given
Endurance 2 hours 1 hr 30 min Not given
Power system One 10 cc Electric, 300 10 cc piston One K & B 60
piston engine watts engine piston engine

B) Some available light weight OXMAX piston glow plug engine

Name Weight Bhp cc
.25 FX 250 gm .84 4.04625
.40 FX 390.8 gm 1.36 6.418
.46 FX 380 gm 1.59 7.39
.61 FX 550 gm 1.9 9.91
.91 FX 550 gm 2.8 14.82

C) Propellor Chart-2 stroke engines:

In this table for different engines sizes of suitable propellors are given.
Alternate Propellors Starting Prop Engine Size
5.25x4, 5.5x4, 6x3.5, 6x4, 7x3 6x3 .049
7x3,7x4.5,7x5 7x4 .09
8x5,8x6,9x4 8x4 .15
8x5,8x6,9x5 9x4 .19 - .25
9x7,9.5x6,10x5 9x6 .20 - .30
9x7,10x5,11x4 10x6 .35 - .36
9x8, 11x5 10x6 .40
10x6,11x5,11x6,12x4 10x7 .45
10x8,11x7,12x4,12x5 11x6 .50
11x7.5, 11x7.75, 11x8,12x6 11x7 .60 - .61
11x8,12x8,13x6,14x4 12x6 .70
12x8,14x4,14x5 13x6 .78 - .80
13x8,15x6,16x5 14x6 .90 - .91
15x8,18x5 16x6 1.08
 16x10,18x5,18x6 16x8 1.20
18x8,20x6 18x6 1.50
18x10,20x6,20x8,22x6 18x8 1.80
18x10,20x6,20x10,22x6 20x8 2.00

D) .46 FX Parts Listing

OS MAX 0.46 FX engine has been used in vehicle: The detailed part listings of engine are
given below
Description
Fuel Inlet Nipple L 12-240
Needle Valve 25FX 32SX
Propeller Washer 40 61
Propeller Nut 1/4 20-61
Piston Pin P 40-46
Piston Pin Retainer P 40-46
O-Ring Needle #4 7 FS
Connecting Rod 40-46
Muffler #873 40-46SF
Crankcase 46FX
Crankshaft 40-46FX
Cylinder & Piston 46FX
Cylinder Head 46FX
Cover Plate Assembly 40-46FX
Cover Plate 40-46FX
Drive Washer 40-46FX
Screw Set 40-46FX
Gasket Set 46FX
Carburetor #40B 40-46FX
Set Screw 2D,4BK-5B
Ratchet Spring #7H7D2K
Bearing - Rear 40-50
Bearing - Front 40-240
Needle Holder #7H 7M7L
Thrust Washer FT120-160
Glow Plug #8 Standard Long

E) Covering Material Weights

MATERIAL GRAMS/5 SQ.IN.
Airspan .0740
Litespan .0930
Light Colored Japanese Tissue;3 thin coats of nitrate dope .0955
Colored Micafilm .1128
**Light White Silk;5 coats thin nitrate dope .1240
Fibafilm .1345
Colored Skysail;4 coats 50/50 butyrate dope .1767
 Black Silkspan;5 coats thin nitrate dope .1811
Colored Transparent Monokote .1843
White Japanese Tissue;4 coats 50/50 butyrate dope .2389
Colored Nylon;6 c oats 50/50 butyrate dope .2395
Opaques Colored Monokote .2432
Coverite 21st Century Film .2526
White Super Coverite .2625
Colored Super Coverite .2953
Programs
1. To obtain polyfit relationship between weight and strain values
W=[0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5];
S=[13.5 69.5 125 177 227.5 281 334 387 439.5 493 548 599];
a= polyfit(S,W,1);
plot(S,W);
xlabel('strain (10^-6 m/m)');
ylabel('weight (kg)');

2.Obtaining phi for different theta

theta=13.7;
pi=3.14159265;
phi1=55.0;
phi2=58.0;
guess(1)=1.0
for i=1:16,
th(i)=theta*pi/180.0
y(i)=fzero('my_f',guess(i),[],th(i));
theta=theta-2.7547;
guess(i+1)=y(i)
end
theta1=th*180/pi;
phi=y*180/pi;
plot(theta1,phi);
xlabel('theta');
ylabel('phi');
u = zeros(16,3);
j=1:16;
u(:,1)= j';
u(:,2)= theta1';
u(:,3)= phi';

%my_f.m
function [fun_value] = f(y,th)
fun_value = (8.035+sin(th)-0.6023*cos(y))^2+(1.54-
cos(th))^2+(-1.727+sin(y))^2-64.1064;

3. Plotting thrust vs throttle

throttle=[37.59719942 44.23379621 50.72465138 57.10059762
63.38575869 69.59854854 75.75395531 81.86354126 87.93658474
93.98022295 100];
S1=[170 190 220 245 284 350 360 380 388 395 400];
S2=[195 235 265 320 360 375 385 400 410 420 440];
S3=[193 230 275 320 350 370 390 405 410 425 442];
W1=0.0094*S1-0.1522;
W2=0.0094*S2-0.1522;
W3=0.0094*S3-0.1522;
plot(throttle,W1,'o');
hold on
plot(throttle,W2,'+');
plot(throttle,W3);
ylabel('Thrust in kg');
xlabel('throttle position');

4) Load vs Strain-x and load vs strain-y

P1=[0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5];
S1=[1 78 172 273.5 377.5 489.5 607.5 734];
a1=polyfit(P1,S1,1);
plot(P1,S1);
ylabel('strain-x (10^-6 m/m)');
xlabel('load P(kg)');

P2=[0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5];

S2=[2.5 21 57.5 87.5 135 176.5 212.5 245];
a2=polyfit(P2,S2,1);
plot(P2,S2);
ylabel('strain-y (10^-6 m/m)');
xlabel('load P(kg)');

Explanatory Notes
Schnuerle Porting
A standard 2-cycle engine usually has one fuel inlet port on the side of the cylinder
opposite the exhaust outlet. On a Schnuerle ported engine there are several fuel inlet
ports on three sides of the cylinder allowing more fuel to flow to the combustion
chamber. This gives somewhat more power than with standard porting. A Schnuerle
ported engine is usually slightly more expensive due to higher manufacturing costs
involved.
Engine Break -In
All internal combustion engines benefit from extra care when they are run for the first
few times known as breaking in or running in.

Glow Plug
Device which provides heat for ignition of the air/fuel mixture. Glow plugs or spark
plug where battery leads (hot shot charger) are connected to start the engine.
Long or Short Glow Plugs
 There are two lengths of glow plugs available. The short ones are generally used on
engines of .15 cu in displacement and smaller. The long plugs are used on all engines
larger than .15. Please follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Idle Bar Glow Plugs
An Idle Bar Glow Plug has a metal bar across the bottom of the plug which prevents
raw fuel from dousing heat from the element during idle.
Long Stroke
The stroke of an engine refers to the distance the piston travels from top to bottom. In
a Long Stroke engine this distance is a bit longer than on the standard engine making
the engine a bit stronger in torque and operation lower RPM. Quite often an engine is
"Long Stroke" if the stroke distance is greater than the diameter of the piston.
Propellers
The size of an aircraft propeller is described by two numbers; the diameter times the
pitch in inches. For example, a 10 x 6 propeller is a prop of 10" in diameter and
having 6" of pitch. The diameter is simply the length of the prop. The pitch is
described as the distance the propeller will move ahead in a perfect or solid medium
at 100% efficiency in one revolution. That is to say, if you were to rotate your 10 x 6
propeller exactly once, your plane would move ahead 6", assuming this could be done
with 100% efficiency and no slippage in the air.
Different sizes of motors require different size propellers to keep their operating
RPMs in an optimum range. Please note that even the same size prop by two different
manufacturers may perform differently. Experimentation is perhaps the best way to
come up with the best performing propeller in your particular plane.
Engine Thread Shaft Sizes
It is important in knowing the shaft size of your engine when ordering certain
spinners, spinner adapter nuts, safety spinners and prop hubs.
ABC / Non-Ringed
These letters stand for aluminum, brass and chrome or a composite such as nickel.
These engines have aluminum piston and a chrome or composite coated brass cylinder
sleeve which allows them to be more efficient for higher performance. They have no
piston ring and rely on a very tight piston/cylinder fit to obtain a piston/cylinder seal.
New ABC engines are normally hard to turn over by hand. Because of the tight fit, it
is very important that the engine is broken in properly.
Ball Bearings
These letters usually designate a ball-bearing supported crankshaft. This makes the
engine run smoother and last longer.
Four-Stroke or 4-Cycle Engines
Although a 4-stroke engine (see diagram) has less power than a 2-stroke engine of
comparable size, there are advantages to 4-stroke engines. They do not require a
muffler and are often quieter than most 2-strokes are with a muffler. They can swing a
bigger prop than the same size 2-stroke engine. This is an asset in the large, slow-
flying scale models where 4-stroke engines are usually mounted. Lastly, the fuel
economy is better.
Lapped
Lapping is a method of manufacturing the piston so that it maintains compression
without a ring. ABC/Non-ringed are not lapped.

Tail Dragger
 This refers to the landing gear configuration where the main landing gear with two
wheels is placed forward of the center of gravity and one small wheel, called a "tail
wheel", is mounted under the tail of the aircraft.
Covering
The covering of an aircraft is the skin which is applied to the airframe, closing it in.
On R/C aircraft it is commonly a fabric or plastic film which is heat applied with an
iron. Plastic covering, once applied, gives a durable, shiny finish and requires no
further treatment. Fabric covering usually requires a layer of paint to finish it and
make it resistant to the exhaust of the engine. Covering materials come on a roll and
in many different colors and may be cut to ruff shape before being ironed onto the
airframe.
Pushrods
The pushrods are part of the control linkage, which connects the servo part of the
radio system to the control surfaces of the aircraft. Pushrods may consist of a firm
piece of balsa or fiberglass rod with threaded wire and clevises fastened to both ends,
or they may be the flexible type and take the form of a wire or one plastic tube
running inside another with the ability to turn around corners.
Flex Cable
A flex cable is a special type of pushrod, which is very flexible and can bend around
corners even more easily than a flexible pushrod. These are generally made with a
metal cable running inside a plastic tube and are popular in controlling the engine
throttle.
Control Horn
The control horn is small bracket mounted on a control surface to transfer the
movement of the pushrod to the control surface.
Clevis
The clevis is a small fastener at the end of a pushrod, usually made from nylon or
metal, which connects the pushrod to the control horn. Clevises may frequently be
referred to as links.
Hinges
The hinges are used to connect the moveable control surfaces of the aircraft to the
fixed surfaces and allow smooth easy movement. They may take several forms
including hinge points, pinned hinges, "living" hinges, etc
Pushrod Connectors
The pushrod connector is another means by which a pushrod may be connected to a
servo. The connector is mounted onto a servo arm and the pushrod wire is secured by
means of a set screw.
Foam Rubber
Foam rubber is used to wrap the radio receiver and receiver battery pack in the plane
so that they will be isolated from the vibration of the running engine.
Wing Seating Tape
Wing seating tape is mounted on the fuselage wing saddle where the removable wing
fits and isolates the wing from vibration as well as to form a seal to keep exhaust
gases from entering the structure.
Wheel Collars
Wheel Collars are small metal collars fastened with a setscrew to the axle of an
aircraft on either side of the wheel. This prevents the wheel from coming off the axle
or rubbing against the landing gear.
Wheels
 The wheels for aircraft come in several styles including treaded, non-treaded, scale
tread, air-filled, and super lightweight. Most brands of wheels are available in sizes
from 1.75" to 6" in 1/4" increments.
Spinner
The spinner is the cone shaped object mounted to the engine prop shaft on the nose of
the aircraft. The spinner may be made from plastic or aluminum and functions
primarily to improve looks and aerodynamics.
Engine Mount
Some aircraft use wooden rails to which the engine is mounted while others require a
shaped nylon or aluminum mount. The wooden rail type would usually be included in
a kit while the molded type may or may not be, depending upon the kit. It is possile to
get mounts specifically for a particular engine although or many generic type mounts
are available to fit certain engine size ranges. See our Introduction to Engines for
more information on engine mounts.
Fuel Tank, Tubing & Filters
Most kits will not inc lude a fuel tank and related tubing. These are available in
various sizes and should be selected according to the size of the aircraft and engine.
Engine Accessories
When purchasing an engine for your plane, there will be a few items required that
usually don't come with the engine or the plane. These include the propeller and glow
plug. A muffler is usually included with the engine when you buy it, however, there
might be the odd engine that does not include the muffler or some aircraft that are
better suited to special shape mufflers, particularly in scale planes.
Air bleed screw
Screw for adjusting the amount of air allowed to bleed into the carburetor during idle
Backplate
Cover over the rear of the crankcase
Carburetor
Device, which mixes, fuel and air and controls the amount of mixture entering the
engine. The carburetor provides the engine with the proper mixture of fuel and air.
Crankcase
Main body of the engine
Cylinder
The section of the crankcase where combustion takes place
Glow plug

Head
The component which forms the end of the compression chamber of the engine
Mounting lug
The section of the crankcase used to mount the engine to the airplane
Muffler
The device which reduces the noise level of the engine
Needle valve
The device used to adjust the air/fuel mixture. Usually opposite the throttle arm is the
high-speed needle valve. This adjusts the high-speed mixture of the engine and allows
you to get peak power from the engine while preventing an over -lean condition. Some
newer engines use an angled needle adjustment to keep your fingers at a safe distance
from the spinning propeller.
Prop shaft
The main crankshaft which transfers the power of the engine to the propeller
Throttle Stop screw
Screw for setting the lower limit of the throttle movement
Throttle Arm
You will notice various controls and adjustments, the most prominent is the throttle
arm which controls the speed of the engine. It will rotate about 45 to 90 degrees, with
the barrel in the carb moving with it.
Iddle Screw
The idle mixture screw allows you to adjust the mixture of the engine when it is
idling. With high-speed and idle mixtures adjusted, your engine should operate
smoothly throughout the entire speed range. The idle speed screw adjusts the amount
the throttle barrel is closed when the throttle is fully retarded, and is important in
getting proper idle speed.

Crusifix Tail
Crusifix refers to a stabilizer that is mounted part way up the fin. This is a
compromise between the conventional tail and the T-tail combining some of the
advantages of both.
Flying Stab
A flying stab is where the stabilizer/elevator is one complete unit which all moves to
control the aircraft in pitch.
Ballast
Ballast is extra weight added to a glider to help it penetrate better in windy weather or
to increase its speed. Ballast is usually added in tubes in the inner portion of the wings
or in the fuselage at the center of gravity.
Tow-hook
The tow-hook is a small metal hook mounted on the bottom of the glider fuselage at
approximately the center of gravity and to which the hi-start or winch is connected.
Servo Reversing
This feature allows the practitioner to reverse a servo's rotation direction at the flip of
a switch. Servos can be mounted in the most convenient way without concern for their
rotation direction. The proper movement can then be selected when the installation is
completed.
Dual Rates (D/R)
Dual Rate allows the practitioner to choose between two different control sensitivities.
With the dual rate switch in the "OFF" position, 100% servo throw is available for
maximum control response. In some more sophisticated systems this "OFF" position
may be adjusted to provide anywhere from 30% to 120% of normal full throw. In the
"ON" position, servo throw is reduced and the control response is effectively
desensitized. The amount of throw in the Dual Rate "ON" position is usually
adjustable from 30% to 100% of total servo movement. The practitioner can tailor the
sensitivity of his model to his own preferences.
Exponential Rate
Exponential Rate is where the servo movement is not directly proportional to the
amount of control stick movement. Over the first half of the stick travel, the servo
moves less than the stick. this makes control response milder and smoothes out level
flight and normal flight maneuvers. Over the extreme half of the stick travel, the servo
gradually catches up with the stick throw, achieving 100% servo travel at full stick
throw for aerobatics or trouble situations.
Variable Trace Rate (VTR)
This radio function is similar to exponential except it uses two linear responses to
determine the servo sensitivity on the first and second half of the control stick
movements.
Fail Safe (FS)
An Electronically programmed mechanism in most PCM radios which automatically
returns a servo or servos to neutral or a preset position in case of radio malfunction or
interference.
Adjustable Travel Volume (ATV)
Frequently referred to as End Point Adjustment, ATV lets you independently preset
the maximum travel of a servo either side of neutral.
Adjustable Function Rate (AFR)
Similar to ATV, AFR allows end point adjustment independent of Dual Rate or
Exponential settings.
Sub Trim
A radio function which allows very precise electronic centering of servos.
Direct Servo Controller (DSC)
Allows full function of an aircraft's servos via an umbilical cord. This permits
adjustment of radio functions without switching on the RF portion of a transmitter.
Programmable Mixing
Electronic coupling of one channel to another. This one control input will yield output
to two different servos.

Aileron/Rudder Mixing
Adds rudder control when aileron is input from the transmitter aileron stick.

V-Tail Mixing
Used when there is a V-Tail on the aircraft rather than the conventional elevator and
rudder. Each control surface of the V is connected to a separate servo. Operating the
elevator control stick will move both surfaces up for back stick or both surfaces down
for forward stick. Moving the rudder control stick left will move the left surface of the
V down and the right surface up. Moving the rudder control stick to the right will
move the left surface of the V up and the right surface down.

Flaperon Mixing
Mixes the Flap and Aileron functions so that when each aileron is connected to a
separate servo (one servo plugged into the aileron channel and the other plugged into
the flap channel), the surfaces will act as both ailerons and flaps, depending on the
position of the controls.

Elevon Mixing
Mixes the Elevator and Aileron functions, especially useful for delta-wing models
where the elevator and ailerons are the same control surfaces. Each surface is
connected to a separate servo (one servo plugged into the aileron channel and the
other plugged into the elevator channel), the surfaces will act as both ailerons and
elevator, depending on the position of the controls.

Flap/Elevator Mixing
Couples the Flaps and Elevators such that when the flaps are lowered, the elevator
will be automatically adjusted to prevent pitching of the model.
Elevator/Flap Mixing
Couples the Elevators and Flaps such that when control is input to the elevators, the
flaps will move in the opposite direction. This permits the model to perform tighter
maneuvers in the pitch attitude.

Crow Mixing
Primarily used in gliders for spoiler action by mixing the flaps and ailerons. It is
necessary for the ailerons to be using separate servos, plugged into separate channels
and the flap servo to be independent of both aileron channels. Upon applying Crow
Mixing, the flaps go down while both ailerons go up.

Differential Ailerons
This type of mixing is accomplished by having separate servos on each aileron,
plugging one into the aileron channel and the other into another unused channel. The
two channels can be programmed to both operate from the aileron control stick,
however the travel volume for each aileron may be adjusted separately giving more
deflection in one direction (usually up) than in the other.
Dual Conversion
Dual Conversion refers to the method in which the receiver processes the incoming
signal. Generally a Dual Conversion receiver is less prone to outside interference and
is the preferred type of receiver.
Trainer System
The trainer system feature allows two transmitters of similar design to be connected
together via a cord (trainer cord) so that one transmitter may be used by an instructor
and the second one by a student when teaching to fly. The instructor simply has to
hold a switch on his transmitter to give the student's transmitter full control. If the
student gets into trouble, the instructor can release the switch and he has full control
of the model.
Snap Roll Button
This feature is found on more complex radios and is used to perform a snap roll
maneuver by simply pressing one button. The function is usually programmable to
give a combination of rudder, elevator and aileron control.
Diagram
Dynamical problem 5.4

Lab Pictures
1) Lab-Room
2) Mini-UAV
3) Tool Store