Design and Fabrication of Emergency Air support

Vehicle

By,
AYAPPA REDDY. G (14103015)
IMMANUEL LOUIS (14103018) INTERNAL GUIDE: Mr. Rajesh
RONEY RAJAN GEORGE (14103019) Assistant Professor
SIDHARTH SATHEESH KUMAR (14103042)
 ABSTRACT
The genesis of this project was to explore various fields of innovation
where unmanned aerial vehicles can play a crucial role in helping the
world. Knowledge on the ability of drones gave rise to new way of
thinking where these systems can be deployed for life saving - time
bound emergency medical missions, delivering blood bags and snake
anti-venom on a quick notice.
Henceforth the project bore the name Emergency Medical Air Support
Vehicle.
Learning that the VTOL tilt rotor configuration in unmanned aerial
vehicles helps in swiftly operating in tight spaces, EMAV can undertake
time bound missions for medical industry. Flight trials have proven the
air worthiness of our equipment and we take pride in introducing
aeronautical systems in the field of medicine for saving human lives.
 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project’s primary objective is to develop a fixed-wing tilt rotor
vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle, capable of
delivering medical payloads. In order to achieve this primary objective,
the secondary objectives which must also be fulfilled include:
• Developing a tilting mechanism for safely transitioning between the
different flight modes.
• Designing and fabricating a lightweight airframe.
• Testing of different flight modes such as vertical take-off and landing,
hovering and transitioning.
• Undertaking a medical mission.
 CONTENT BREAKDOWN
1)Literature Review
2)Design
 Fixed Wing Design
 VTOL System Design
 Fixed Wing and VTOL Integration via Tilt Mechanism
3)Modelling and Fabrication
 Modelling & Fabrication of Airframe
 Modelling & Fabrication of Tilt mechanism
4)Avionics Integration
 Electronics
 Pixhawk Wiring & Setup
 Control parameters
5)Testing
 Preflight testing
 Initial flight testing
6) Conclusions
 LITERATURE REVIEW
Some of the publications our literature review is based on are: // very briefly explain all this to the guy
1) Onochie, C.O. 2017. Development and Stabilization of Unmanned Vertical Takeoff and Landing Technology Demonstrator
Platform, Master’s thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa.[2]
2) Saeed AS, Younes AB, Islam S. 2015. A review on the platform design, dynamic modeling and control of hybrid UAVs.
International conference on unmanned aircraft systems (ICUAS) (ed Valavanis K), Denver, CO, USA, 9–12 June 2015, pp. 806–
815. IEEE.[3]
3) Judy E, Scott Carlon H. 2017. Drone Delivery Models for Healthcare. Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International
Conference on System Sciences.[5]
4) Taylor, A. J. P. Jane’s Book of Remotely Piloted Vehicles: Robot aircraft today. Collier Books, London, 1977.[8]
5) Sergey Khantis. 2006. Control System Design Using Evolutionary Algorithms for Autonomous Shipboard Recovery of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. PhD thesis, RMIT University, Australia.[10]
6) Chen C, Zhang J, Zhang D, Shen L. 2017. Control and flight test of a tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle. International Journal
of Advanced Robotic System.[11]
7) Yuksek B, Vuruskan A, Ozdemir U, Yukselen M.A, Inalhan G. 2016. Transition Flight Modeling of a Fixed-Wing VTOL UAV.
Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems.[13]
8) Hackney C, Clayton A. 2015. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and their application in geomorphic mapping. Geography
and Environment, University of Southampton, UK.[16]
9) Choi-Fitzpatrick A,Chavarria D, Cychosz E, Dingens J.P, Duffey M, Koebel K, Siriphanh S, Yurika Tulen M, Watanabe H,
Juskauskas T, Holland J and Almquist L. 2016. Up in the Air: A Global Estimate of Non-Violent Drone Use 2009-2015, Joan B.
Kroc School of Peace Studies at Digital@USanDiego, University of San Diego.[17]
10) Smith A. (2016). UPS Foundation, Zipline, Gavi Partner to Drone-Drop Medical Supplies in Rwanda. Available at:
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/brand_innovation/alexandra_smith/ups_foundation_zipline_gavi_partner_d
rone-drop_medic (Accessed April 2018).[18]
 Comparison of Various VTOL Configurations
Quad plane TILT WING

• Good payload capacity

• Minimal payload
• Least mechanical complexity
• Mechanical complexity
• VTOL motors dead weight during fixed wing • VTOL motors fully aid in fixed wing flight
mode
• CG placement must be precise
• CG placement flexibility
 TAIL SITTER TILT ROTOR

• Minimal payload
• High Payload ( < quad plane )
• Unstable during take-off
• Stable Take-off
• VTOL motors aid in forward flight
• Two motors aid in forward flight (one redundant
• Minimal mechanical complexity
motor)
• CG placement critical
• CG placement flexibility
• Software implementation complex
• Moderate mechanical complexity
 Comparison of Various Medical UAV DELIVERY
Platforms
Drone company Healthcare items Launching method Delivery method Range Speed
(km) (m/s)

Matternet Blood/ Medications Automated ground Automated ground 10 11

station station

DHL Parcel Blood/ Medications Automated Skyport Automated Skyport 12 17

Zipline Vaccines, blood Catapult Paper parachute 72.5 40

Flirtey Medications Airport Dropped by rope 32.2 30

Delft University Defibrillators Hospital, clinic Ground landing 10 26

EMAV Prototype Blood/ Medications & VTOL from any 5m × Ground Landing 5 17
Anti Venom 5m patch of land
 DESIGN
The EMAV being a hybrid aircraft will incorporate both fixed wing
aircraft design, and VTOL design into one versatile platform. The tilt
mechanism will aid in the transition from vertical take-off / hover mode
to horizontal flight mode and vice versa. In order for this platform to be
successful the tilt mechanism must work in unison with the two flight
modes.
This chapter will talk about the design of the two major components of
the EMAV, the fixed wing component and the VTOL component and
how they are both integrated into one airframe, with the help of a tilt
mechanism.
Fixed Wing Design
Fixed wing design involved the following steps: Part Span (m) Chord(m) Surface Area Aspect Ratio
(𝒎𝟐 )
• Weight estimation of Airplane
Wing 1.086 0.18 0.19548 6.03
• Aero foil Selection
• Wing Aerodynamic Calculations (Cl, Cd, Lift A tail 0.520 0.11 0.06 4.5
required for steady flight, Wing loading)
Fuselage 0.43
• Propeller Calculations (Propeller pitch speed,
Reaction force, and slipstream)
Name Length (m)
• Horizontal Tail Sizing and Placement (Moment
evaluation, Moment Balance) TMA 0.450

• Conversion of Standard Tail to an A-tail Mean Aerodynamic Centre Wing 0.045m from LE
• Control Surface Sizing Mean Aerodynamic Centre Tail 0.025m from tail LE
• Fuselage Sizing Total Airframe Length 0.805
• Total Drag Approximation
CG ¼ Mac (Aerodynamic center)
• Aircraft Performance Calculation
Neutral Point 35% Mac
FIXED WING AIRFRAME DESIGN
VTOL SYSTEM DESIGN
VTOL design involved the following steps: Standard Tri-copter Design
• VTOL Geometry Design
• Reaction Force Balance
• Vectored Yaw
• Thrust Required For VTOL
Modified VTOL Design
Fixed Wing and VTOL integration Via Tilt Mechanism
This section will deal with the integration of the two systems into one versatile
airframe with the help of a tilting mechanism.
The Design of the tilt mechanism is the most critical part of EMAV, as it is
responsible for transition and controlling all the flight modes. It also provides the
vectored yaw capability during VTOL mode.
Fixed Wing and VTOL integration involves the following steps:
• Motor Management & Tilt (Various motor orientations for various flight modes)
• Vertical Take off Mode, Transition Mode and Fixed Wing Mode
• CG Alignment Of VTOL and Fixed Wing Systems ( Crucial step)

Tilt mechanism is designed taking all this in consideration

EMAV 2D DESIGN
 TILT MECHANISM DESIGN
Tilt mechanism design involves the following steps:
• Tilt Mechanism Geometry (Servo Throw and Resolution)
• Tilt Mechanism Torque Calculation
• Two Bluebird BMS-630MG servos that produce 13.0kg-cm of torque at 4.8Volt are used.
2D TILT Mechanism
 MODELLING AND FABRICATION
MODELLING OF AIRFRAME
MODELLING OF TILT MECHANISM

FRAME SIDES

MOTOR TILT MECHANISM FRAME REINFOREMNT

VARIOUS TILT ANGLES
0 degree 45 degree

90 degree 15 degree
FABRICATION OF AIRFRAME
The material used for fabrication of the airframe is laminated foam board, the material is
selected on account of its good strength to weight ratio. Apart from this, laminated foam
board is very easy to work with, and can be folded and cut as necessary to make all the
airframe parts. The parts are drawn in AutoCAD and then cut in laminated foam.
Fabrication of Airfoil
The fabrication of the Clark - Y airfoil is performed by cutting out a rectangular piece of
foam and folding it over itself. With an inner spacer to provide the required camber. The
foam should be cut in such a way that the dimensions after folding will match the
geometrical dimensions of the airfoil. The process can be seen in reference [30].
Fabrication of A-tail
The A-tail is cut, on a flat piece of foam to the required dimensions. The 45𝑜 bevel is made
with a blade. This same technique can be used for making the conventional rudder and
horizontal stabilizer, provided they resemble a flat plate.
Fabrication of Booms & Fuselage
The booms and fuselage can be fabricated by performing folds on the foam.
FABRICATION OF TILT MECHANISM
Fabrication of Tilt Mechanism
The tilt mechanism is a dynamic part of the frame, it will be in constant motion
and will also have to support the thrust force produced by the motor, and therefore
3 mm aeroply is chosen to fabricate the tilt mechanism. Aeroply is aircraft grade
light plywood. The tilt mechanism made of aeroply weighed a total of only 100
grams. Aeroply is also easy to laser cut, which is the fabrication method used for
the tilt components, as it provides precise cuts. In order for the parts to be laser
cut the 3D CATIA parts must be converted into 2d line art format.
All parts of the tilt mechanism are designed in such a way that they interlock into
each other, for additional strength and durability.
The tilt rotor parts after laser cutting are then assembled and reinforced with
Cyanoacrylate, that bonds especially well with aeroply.
TILT MECHANISM PARTS FOR LASER CUTTING
 AVIONICS INTEGRATION
ELECTRONICS
The electronics include the motors, ESCs, power system, tilt servos, standard servos. The
motor/ prop combination is first selected, after which a compatible ESC is chosen to
provide sufficient voltage and current to power up the motors, after which a battery is
chosen which will provide the required voltage, and satisfy the current draw of all 3 motors.

Thrust Required

Motor Selection

ESC Selection

Battery Selection
PIXHAWK WIRING AND SETUP
Now in order for Pixhawk to recognize to which port the various electronics are
plugged into, it must be programmed via Ardupilot, this step can be skipped for
conventional fixed wing and rotors as Ardupilot comes pre-programed for these
setups, but for exotic setups like EMAV the Pixhawk ports need to be programed
and configured to support the various electronics. This is done by modifying the
ServoN_Parameter for individual ports.

PIXHAWK SIDE PORTS

Port Connections To Electronics Port Programming & Mapping
Port Number Electronics Port Number SERVO Function

Main 1 (SERVO1_FUNCTION) 4(Aileron)

Main 1 Aileron Servos
Main 2 (SERVO2_FUNCTION) 79(Right A-tail)
Main 2 Right A-tail Servo
Main 3 (SERVO3_FUNCTION) 0(idle)
Main 4 Left A-tail Servo
Main 4 (SERVO4_FUNCTION) 80(Left A-tail)

Main 5 Esc attached to M1 Main 5 (SERVO5_FUNCTION) 33(Motor 1)

Main 6 Esc attached to M2 Main 6 (SERVO6_FUNCTION) 34(Motor 2)

Main 7 (SERVO7_FUNCTION) 0(idle)

Main 8 Esc attached to M3
Main 8 (SERVO8_FUNCTION) 36(Motor 4)
Auxiliary 3 Left tilt servo
Aux 3 (SERVO11_FUNCTION) 75(Left tilt servo)
Auxiliary 4 Right tilt servo Aux 4 (SERVO12_FUNCTION) 76(Right tilt servo)
 Control Parameters
Some of the important parameters are:
Q_TILT_MASK 3 (Only Motor 1 and Motor 2 are tiltable. So the bitmask = binary 11 , decimal 3)
Q_TILT_TYPE 2 (continuous tilt servo with vectored yaw)
Q_TRANSITION_MS = 0 (Transition time in milliseconds after FBWA_MIN is reached)
Q_ASSIST_SPEED = 0

Q_WVANE_GAIN = 0.1 (Tendency of EMAV to weathercock into the wind)

Q_TILT_YAW_ANGLE = 15 degree

Q_TILT_MAX = 70 degree (Max. tilt angel while waiting , that FBWA_MIN will be reached)
Q_TILT_RATE_DN = 20 degrees/second hover->forward flight
Q_TILT_RATE_UP = 35 degrees/second forward flight>hover
FBWA_MIN = 15 (m/s) (Airplane will have to reach this airspeed with Q_TILT_MAX !)
 TESTING
PRE FLIGHT TESTING
• Verification of CG location
• Control Surface throws and deflection direction testing
• Tilt Mechanism Testing ( To check whether the tilt mechanism moves to correct
orientation at different flight modes)
• Esc Calibration ( To ensure all motors respond at the same rpm for a given
throttle)

INITAIL FLIGHT TESTING

Consists of 3 stages:
VTOL Testing, Fixed Wing Mode testing and Transition test
EMAV VTOL MODE EMAV HOVERING

EMAV FORWARD FLIGHT

TRANSITION CAPTURED BY
ONBOARD CAMERA

EMAV DURING TRANSITION

 CONCLUSIONS
• The EMERGENCY MEDICAL AIR SUPPORT VEHICLE has been fabricated
and test flown. The UAV takes off vertically and transitions to forward
flight successfully. Due to the VTOL configuration, the EMAV is
extremely mobile and can take-off and land in confined spaces, this
feature enables it to be quickly deployed and operate under
emergency missions. The EMAV is able to carry blood bags up to
350ml and also carry items such as snake anti-venom and vaccines.
• EMAV does not depend on assisted take-off systems, which need
additional infrastructure, an air strip, and cover large areas. Also the
startup procedure which takes a long time in other configurations is
considerably shortened and it was observed that deployment during
emergency medical missions could be done in seconds.
 LIMITATIONS OF EMAV
• The motors chosen required a lot of amp draw for maintaining a
sufficient propeller pitch speed to achieve a forward velocity of 20m/s
in fixed-wing mode which greatly reduces the flight time.
• The VTOL configuration described in section 3.5.1 loads the rear
motor to a slightly greater extent (i.e. it has to support slightly more
weight) compared to the front tilt motors.
• The EMAV is built out of aeroply and foam and during flight trials, it
was learnt that due to a lack of toughness and usage of adhesives, the
structure of the drone deteriorates on every landing.
• Also it was learnt from the flight tests that an independent cargo bay
would be more suitable for carrying the payloads instead of
accommodating them in the cavity at the front of the aircraft.
 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS
• The above mentioned limitations can be overcome by future enhancements
which include:
• Using a higher RPM motor such as Sunny Sky X2216 KV1250 to provide the same
propeller pitch speed at a lower amp draw.
• Following the conventional tricopter setup for vertical takeoff instead of the
current setup (refer 3.5.1).
• Modifying the design to accommodate an independent cargo bay for carrying
additional payload weight.
• Using lightweight yet strong materials such as carbon fiber and fiber glass
composites for the entire airframe structure to provide greater rigidity, lesser
structural fatigue and to deliver heavier payloads.
• If the success rate of using EMAVs for medical delivery purposes is high, then the
advanced versions of them can be deployed for organ transport within the city, as
organ transportation is very risky due to a limited time frame. An advanced EMAV
can undertake such missions very effectively rather than relying on dedicated
green corridors which might not be possible or viable on congested roadways and
disrupt normal everyday traffic.