Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones are becoming widely used in multifaceted environments, agricultural, societal, defense, military, marine and many real world applications. They have been deployed with various payloads, sensors and even transportation of medical kits are feasible using UAVs. With an advent of drone technology, UAVs are integrated with machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms with on-board processing capabilities which are capable of precisely mapping natural features, performing reconnaissance and border surveillance as well. This course provides insight on basic design aspects of UAV including flapping and rotary wing UAVs, performance characteristics and diverse engineering applications of UAVs with case studies are enlightened. Experiences gained during the real deployment of UAVs for inspection of bridges, heritage structures, remote water bodies, environmental monitoring, 3D mapping with SWARM of UAVs and other novel application of UAVs are being shared. The DGCA rules and regulations, novel pay loads and future engineering applications of UAVs are being dealt in this course.
Overview
Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction, Classifications, Applications and Payloads of UAV
Motivation - Types of UAV – Characteristics – Fixed Wing – Rotary Wing – Flapping Wing – Basic Parts of UAV – Specifications – Applications – Pay loads of UAV.
Week 2: Aerodynamics and Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis of UAV
Basics of Aerodynamics - Lift and Drag – Bernoulli Theories and Equations – Angle of Attack - Peculiarities of Multicopters – Wing Tip Vortices and Wake Turbulence - Stability – Turning Flight – Stall - Introduction to CFD – Fluid Governing Equations - Turbulence Models - External and Internal Flow - Modeling and Aerodynamic Analysis - Computational and Numerical Tools.
Week 3: Design, Assembly, Integration and Testing of Quadcopter
Design of Quadcopter – Selection of Sub Systems - Airframe Assembly – Integration of Electronic Systems – Firmware Loading and Parameter Set up - Calibration of Sensors – Tuning - Introduction to Ground Control Station – Flight Simulation – Autonomous Flight Path Planning – Testing of Quadcopter – Demonstration Videos.
Week 4: Industrial and Engineering Applications of UAVs
Need of UAVs for Industrial Applications - Development of UAVs for Powerline Inspection - Telecom Structure Inspection and Radiation Measurement – Bridge and Heritage Structure Inspection – Collection of Sea Weeds using UAV.
Week 5: Case Study 1 : Development of Amphibious UAV for water quality monitoring
Conceptual Designs of Amphibious UAV - Design Parameters – CFD and FEA Analysis – Subsystems of Amphibious UAV - Selection of Components – Fabrication - Testing of Sub Systems – Integration of Sub Systems – Real Time Testing of Developed Amphibious UAV.
Week 6: Case Study 2: SWARM of UAVs for 3D Mapping using Stereo vision system
Stereo Vision Camera – Working Principle – Capturing of Point Cloud Data: Indoor and Outdoor Environment – Image Stitching – 3D Mapping. Path Planning Algorithms – Simulation Studies – Implementation of Developed Algorithm in UAV – Testing – Obstacle Avoidance. SWARM of UAVs : Simulation Studies – Line and Triangle Formation of UAVs : Demonstration Videos with UAV – Theoretical an Experimental Comparison – Discussion. Water Quality Sensors – Collection of Water Quality Data using IoT Platform.
Week 7: Case study 3: Development of Flapping Wing Vehicle (FWV) and Image Based Control of Flocking of Birds
Flapping Wing Vehicle – Introduction – Lift and Drag Forces – Birds Motion – Angle of Attack – Measurement of Lift and Thrust Forces – Mechanism Design of FWV – Manufacturing of Micro Mechanism Components: Injection Moulding, Wire Cut EDM, 3D Printing – Selection and Assembly of FWV Components – Testing – Image Based Control of Group of FWVs – Demonstration Videos with FWV.
Week 8: DGCA Rules, Regulation and Future Engineering Application of UAVs
Drone Categories Based on All-up weight – Type Certification of UAVs - DGCA Rules for UAV Registration, Certification and Pilot Licensing - Remote Pilot Training Organization (RPTO) – Flying Zones – Future Engineering Applications of UAVs.
Taught by
Dr. E. Balasubramanian
