I-Corps: Novel morphing drones with variable spanning and sweeping transition modes

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is based on a multifunctional morphing drone that is capable of optimizing performance through combining the capabilities of several single traditional drones. Compared to the existing drones in the market, the introduction of a multifunctional morphing drone will potentially reduce purchasing cost and storage space, carry large payloads, maintain flight stability, and improve the endurance. This technology will potentially be useful in applications such as agriculture, wildlife, or forestry monitoring where there are large areas that need to be covered with high performance, large payload capacity and multi-mission capabilities.This I-Corps project further develops a multifunctional morphing drone with spanning and sweeping capabilities. The novelty of this design originates from spanning and sweeping capability of the drone with boom stabilization during transitions. The main purpose of the offered concept is to design an optimal drone that can change its dimensions according to the defined mission. The stability in transition mode of morphing drones is one of the challenging steps for design and flight assessments. Consequently, a new concept that changes the dimensions of the wings and fuselage is proposed. This methodology can result in an improvement in the drones' performance, expansion in its flight range, enhancement of its stealth capability, reduction in drag, increase in its endurance and payload, and reduction in vibrational instability. The advantages of this design do not only come from the final expanded form, but also from the transitional phase. During the expansion of the wing, the center of gravity is independent of the increased spanning, especially in the case of an almost rectangular wing shape, which is not significantly altering the center of gravity position along the longitudinal axis.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.