Design, performance evaluation and optimization of a UAV

Following current trends towards UAV innovative designs, a small size light UAV was designed, constructed and tested in flight. The purpose of this light UAV aircraft is to serve as a reconnaissance plane capable of carrying state-of-the-art photography and video equipment. The UAV is also equipped with first person view (FPV) systems for easier and more accurate control by a remote user. For the initial configuration, apart from classical conceptual design procedures, some new relations were developed and used. For the preliminary design, linear aerodynamic performance and stability analysis was carried out first. Next, the aerodynamic characteristics and efficiency of the airfoil section, the wing, and the full configuration were evaluated using CFD. Finally, further improvements of the aerodynamic efficiency of the full configuration were carried out through computational optimization.