Towards a Long Endurance MAV

Abstract

A conceptual design and performance analysis method (Long Endurance Conceptual Design Program) for long-endurance mini-micro UAVs is presented. Recent long endurance oriented results and achievements are looked through for possible usage for mini-micro scale. A real mission is also explained, whose objective is to accomplish a 200 km straight line flight autonomously with the smallest electric platform possible. Design phases of the platform by using the presented method, flight tests and comparison of the results are included. On the following section a design study for long-endurance MAVs using a hybrid energy system combining solar energy and Lithium batteries and the effect of size and cruise speed are investigated. We demonstrate that under a certain size, the use of solar energy becomes not useful at all. We conclude with the study of a candidate design for EMAV09 Endurance Mission in the light of the rules and scoring of the mission.