Design and Development of Low-cost Multi-function UAV Suitable for Production and Operation in Low Resource Environments

A new flying wing design has been developed at the Unmanned Systems Lab (USL) at Virginia Tech to serve delivery and remote sensing applications in the developing world. The fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), named EcoSoar, was designed with the goal of creating a business opportunity for local entrepreneurs in low-resource communities. The system was developed in such a way that local fabrication, operation, and maintenance of the aircraft are all possible. In order to present a competitive financial model for sustained drone services, EcoSoar is made with reliable low-cost materials and electronics. This paper lays out the rapid prototyping and flight experiment efforts that went into polishing the design, test results from an EcoSoar centered drone workshop in Kasungu, Malawi, and finally a range optimization study with flight test validation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Aerospace and Ocean Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Standridge, Zachary Dakotah

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Kochersberger, Kevin B.
• Raj, Pradeep

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Mason, William H.

• Rapid Prototyping
• Developing Country
• Posterboard Wings
• UAV Design
• Range Optimization

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:16279

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/83877