Design, Analysis and Fabrication of Multi-purpose Infrared Imagery

Drone
Sunil Kumar L1, Manjunath P Hegde2, Alanna Aloysius 3, Kevin D’Cruz 4, Srikanth HV5

1,2,3,4
Students, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Govindapura, Yelahanka, Bengaluru,
Karnataka 560034
5
Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Govindapura, Yelahanka,
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560034
a)
lsunil44@gmail.com
b)
manjunathhegde22@live.com
c)
ester.alanna@gmail.com
d)
kevindcruz224@gmail.com
e)
srikanth.hv@nmit.ac.in

Abstract. UAV Drones have been implemented around the world due to its robust technology and ease of operation for several day-to-day
application. The goal of our group’s project is to design, analyze and fabricate a multi-purpose quadcopter. In this project we would like to implement
this drone for Infrared videography used for disaster management and wildlife survey. This project uses an innovational quadcopter design which
can be dismounted and portable. The entire frame is designed using CATIA and the new design is validated for its successful implementation
through stress analysis using ANSYS, also suitable material for fabrication is Air Grade Aluminum and Carbon Fiber.

I. INTRODUCTION

UAV Drones are now being implemented for various applications such as agriculture, mining, surveillance, mapping, reconnaissance, etc.
The versatility of drones has been expanding due to the highly advanced electronics available today. Imaging sensors, thermal sensors,
passive Infrared sensors, obstacle detection, m i l i t a r y s u r v e i l l a n c e are some of the most commonly used ones today. Infrastructure
surveillance and maintenance is done with less use of manpower using drones. Critical structures that require a lot of energy and time
for inspection such as cable towers, wind mills, Mega Structures , solar farms, industrial buildings walls and dams, can be easily inspected
with the help of drones. In this paper drones are to be implemented for Disaster Management and Wildlife Surveillance purposes. The
model will be designed based on a X-Frame basic quadcopter. The frame size, position was decided based on the propeller size to prevent
interference between propellers and with the propeller and the frame. The entire frame was modeled using CATIA. Once the frame is
modeled a suitable material that can withstand variable pressures in air was chosen. Using the chosen material’s properties the weight of the
structure was estimated. The structural stability of the drone plays an important role as its application involves exposure to standard air
pressure environments. The stability of the frame will thus be validated using analysis through software. The entire frame of the drone is
subjected to static structural analysis using ANSYS workbench. The main requirements for this drone is to obtain a infrared imagery and
videography which can relay the imagery in real time. The camera must be able to automatically lock the UAV onto the hottest object in
view for heat tracking at times of disasters and wildfire. Also to instantly notify when object temperatures exceed pre-set parameters. Hence
the design must be able to sustain the payload while relaying the imagery with the above functions. Furthermore the drone will be
programmed to function automatically with the assistance of autopilot system which was coded specifically to work for our needs,

II. ANALYTICAL METHOD

a) Design of the Frame
The drone was designed using CATIA software by taking the mission requirements into consideration. The bottom and top part of the
frame was designed separately and they are to be attached with screws. The motors for operation of the drone will be fit securely within the
motor holders which were also designed. The central hub, spars and the arms are designed individually and assembled.
 Figure 1: Top part of the model. Figure 2: Bottom part of the model.

Figure 3: Isometric view of the Design model.

b) Measurement of Center of Gravity

Centre of Gravity is defined as the point in which the whole mass of the body acts upon. This Centre of Gravity is calculated for the model
using CATIA software.

Figure 4: Isometric view of the Design model.

III. STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

The frame that has been designed must now be validated for it strength and rigidity under atmospheric pressure. The design model has been
imported into ANSYS workbench from CATIA where the static structural analysis has been performed. The loads acting on the drone in
air is given in table 1. In addition to these loads the motor weight and the payload weight are also applied.
 Condition Air

Pressure- condition Standard atmospheric condition

Pressure- magnitude 101325 Pa

Density 1.225 kg/m3

Table 1: Loading conditions.

a) Weight Estimation

The weight of each component was taken into consideration. The weight of the bottom part, top part and the motor holder
was computed in CATIA software. The weight estimation procedure is adopted from.

Components Weight (kg)

Landing Gear 0.022
Bottom Plate 0.033
Arm & Hub 0.132
Battery 0.380
ESC 0.084
Motors 0.216
Camera & Circuit 0.060
Table 2 : Weight Distribution

W 0= Wfw + Wpp + Wbat + Wpay

W0 = Takeoff gross weight

Wfw = Frame weight

Wpp = Powerplant weight (motor)

Wsys = Systems weight

Wbat = Battery weight

Wpay = Payload weight

Also, the empty weight can be defined as:

We = Wfw + Wpp + Wsys

The Takeoff weight will remain constant as the drone is electrically powered.

So the takeoff gross weight is:

W0 = We + Wbat + Wpay

Empty weight,

We = Wfw + Wpp + Wsys

= 0.132 + 0.126 + 0.084

= 0.432 kg

Takeoff gross weight,

W0 = We + Wbat + Wpay
 = 0.432 + 0.380 + 0.06

= 0.896 kg (approx.)

Empty weight fraction,

We / W 0 = 0.482
The Structural analysis of the drone was done with two principal parts of the drone. The top part HUB and ARM was considered a single
body and the base and landing gear as another part. The meshing and structural analysis was conducted separately for finer results and
deformation outcomes at loading conditions.

b) Meshing
The meshing of both the bodies of the drone was done in ANSYS workbench with Tetragonal type meshing which gives better results for
this structure. Further the mesh size is 3mm which produces finer results in terms of static load analysis.

Figure 1: Meshing of ARM and HUB Figure 2: Meshing of Landing Gear and Bottom Plate

NODES 36755 NODES 80170

ELEMENTS 17397 ELEMENTS 32341

c) Loading & Boundary Conditions

Since the lift is solely provided by the motors the centre HUB of the body was made as fixed support and a load of 50N was applied on each
motor base with a Factor of Safety of 5. As per the motor specifications and performance each motor is set to give a minimum thrust of 1kg.
The structural deformation of the body was studied under these loading conditions.
The landing gear and the bottom part loading was done with the legs of the landing gears given fixed support and the loading of about 100N
was applied on the bottom plate with a factor of safety of 10.

Figure 1: Loading of ARM and HUB Figure 2: Loading of Landing Gear and Bottom Plate
 IV. RESULTS
The total deformation for the above mentioned loading conditions and materials were obtained using structural analysis tool in
ANSYS for atmospheric air condition. The deformation results are shown in the conditions below.

a) Total Deformation

After the analysis of the bodies it was found that the maximum displacement which occurred on the rotor is (6.06mm) and at the
center of wing frame (between 2.02 and 0.6 (mm)). The material used is Air-Grade Aluminum with an Youngs modulus of
70000(N/mm2). Which implies that the UAV Drone has a good rigidity with designed wing frame size. The total weight of the
overall frame is 920 (gram).

Figure 1: Total Deformation of ARM and HUB Figure 2: Total Deformation of Landing Gear and Bottom Plate

No Description Load case (N) Total Deformation (mm) Max. Stress, Mpa
1 HUB AND ARM 10 0.06 2.83

2 BASE AND LG 100 0.12 37.45

b) Max. Principal Stress (Mpa)

It is defined as the normal stress calculated at an angle when shear stress is considered as zero. The normal stress can be obtained
for maximum and minimum values. The maximum value of normal stress is known as major principal stress and minimum value
of normal stress is known as minor principal stress. The max. principal stress was calculated for both the bodies for same loading
conditions.

Figure 1: Max. Principal Stress of ARM and HUB Figure 2: Max. Principal Stress of Landing Gear and Bottom Plate
 V. CONCLUSION
The center of gravity was calculated and it was found to satisfy the balancing condition for this case. From
the total deformation results obtained in ANSYS we inferred that the deformation for all the chosen materials
was within negligible limits. Therefore the most suitable material was chosen based on the weight of the frame.
Since Aluminum gives a lighter structure it was chosen for fabrication of the drone. Aluminum not only gives a
lighter and stronger structure, it additionally proves to be structurally uniform.

REFERENCE

[1] S.Selvaganapathy and A.Ilangumaran. (2017).Design of Quadcopter for Aerial View and Organ
Transportation Using Drone Technology. Vol 1, Issue 3, Pg 311-315.

[2] Mathew Thomas, Albin A T, Christin Joseph, Amal Kurian Mathew Jerin Cyriac. (2016). DESIGN
AND ANALYSIS OF A QUADCOPTER USING CATIA. Vol 7, Issue 3.

[3] Kuantama, Dan Craciun, Radu Tarca. (2016). QUADCOPTER BODY FRAME MODEL AND
ANALYSIS. Issue 1.

[4] Abishini A H, Priyanka Bas B, Raque Bertilla A, Haston Amit Kumar. (2018). DESIGN AND STATIC
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF AN AERIAL AND UNDERWATER DRONE. Vol 5, Issue 4.

[5] S.Selvaganapathy and A.Ilangumaran. (2017). Design of Quadcopter for Aerial View and Organ
Transportation Using Drone Technology. Vol 1, Issue 3, Pg 311-315.