The purpose of our project is to reduce the weight of a drone, resulting in a longer flight time. Drones provide aerial surveillance and data collection at a fraction of the cost of ordinary aircraft. They have various applications, both in military and civilian settings. In the military domain, drones gather intelligence. For civilian use, the farming and agricultural industries use drones to survey land, count livestock, and check water conditions. Considering the necessity and function of each part's purpose helped reduce the weight of the drone. We questioned the job of each part and tried to find other ways to combine them. Changing a single piece impacts other parts of the drone. Reducing the weight means the drone needs less power to fly at the same rate as before. Using a lighter battery that provides a more precise amount of power, results in even more weight savings. We are applying three weight reducing techniques to the Believer 1960mm aerial surveying drone. We are reducing the weight of the battery and motors, replacing parts with 3D printed pieces, and improving the weight of the propellers. Decreasing the weight of the battery and motors is done by replacing the original parts with lighter versions. The 3D printed pieces are made of a lightweight filament. Propellers made of carbon fiber are lighter and stronger than those made of plastic. We aim to have a flight time over one hour. Another part of this project is developing a tool to measure the effectiveness of the light-weighting techniques used. This tool can be applied to other projects with weight cutting goals. Looking at the energy consumed by the drone, after the weight savings, shows the effectiveness of the work performed.
| Project Scope | Targets | |
| Customer Needs | Concept Generation | |
| Functional Decomposition | Concept Selection |
Future Work
| Fall 2020 | Spring 2021 | |
| Design Review 1 | Design Review 4 | |
| Design Review 2 | Design Review 5 | |
| Design Review 3 | Design Review 6 |
| Final Evidence Manual |
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John Storms Test Engineer Mechanical Engineering |
Ethan Hale Manufacuring & Systems Engineer Mechanical Engineering |
Max Sirianni Flight Dynamics Mechanical Engineering |
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Joseph Ledo-Massey Design Engineer & Project Manager Mechanical Engineering |
Jackson Dixon Supply Chain Engineer Mechanical Engineering |