Design and development of an air-data system for medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles

空中数据系统(ADS)测量飞机的空速、攻角和侧滑角。大型客机通常使用定制的ADS，该ADS由几个皮托管和安装在机身不同位置的静态端口组成。开发这些集成系统的成本很高，因为它们需要通过风洞和飞行测试进行仔细的设计和校准。对于安装在中小型无人机(UAV)上来说，更简单、更商业化的空中数据围栏也是笨重、大型和昂贵的。因此，许多较小的无人机确实有ADS，这限制了它们的飞行控制系统的性能。无人驾驶车辆应用动力学公司(UVAD)和艾伯塔大学拟议的研究合作伙伴关系打算为中型无人机设计和开发一种紧凑、低成本的ADS。UVAD设计和制造了这款无人机，适用于具有多种有效载荷能力的各种应用。我们将使用两个模型进行风洞测试，以设计和校准鼻锥和机翼安装的空气数据探头。我们将研究传统的多项式方程和非传统的机器学习来校准开发的ADS配置。实验研究将利用粒子图像测速技术来表征流动模式，并改进空气数据探测器的气动设计。该项目的成果是为中小型无人机提供一个低成本、紧凑的空气数据系统，以及稳健校准指南。其结果可以帮助各种无人机应用，包括采矿、野火监测和执法。在该项目中获得的知识和开发的技术将有助于加拿大航空航天工业的发展。

An air-data system (ADS) measures airspeed, angle-of-attack, and the angle-of-sideslip of aircraft. Large passenger aircraft typically use a custom-built ADS consisting of several pitot tubes and static ports installed at various locations on the aircraft body. Developing these integrated systems is expensive as they require careful design and calibration through wind-tunnel and flight tests. The simpler and commercially available air-data booms are also heavy, large, and expensive for installation on small- and medium-size unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). As a result, many smaller UAVs do have an ADS, which limits the performance of their flight control system.The proposed research partnership between Unmanned Vehicle Applied Dynamics Inc. (UVAD) and the University of Alberta intends to design and develop a compact, low-cost ADS for a medium-sized UAV. UVAD has designed and manufactured this UAV for various applications with multiple payload capabilities. We will carry out wind tunnel testing using two models for designing and calibrating nosecone- and wing-mounted air-data probes. We will investigate traditional polynomial equations and unconventional machine learning to calibrate the developed ADS configurations. The experimental investigations will utilize particle image velocimetry to characterize the flow patterns and improve the aerodynamic design of the air-data probes.The outcome of this project is a low-cost, compact air-data system for small- and medium-sized UAVs, and guidelines for robust calibrations. The outcome can help various UAV applications, including mining, wildfire monitoring, and law enforcement. The knowledge gained and the technology developed in this project will contribute to the growth of the Canadian aerospace industry.