A Notre Dame Electrical Engineering Senior Design Project
In recent times, potential package delivery and retrieval unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have mainly consisted of multi-copter (i.e. vertical lift) topologies. Although there are many good reasons for this bias towards multi-copters, there are numerous situations in which a fixed-wing topology would be not only advantageous, but of necessity. For instance, a relatively long distance and/or high-speed delivery flight would substantially favor a fixed-wing vehicle over a multi-copter. That said, conventional fixed-wing airframes lack the functionality to allow a user safely and efficiently on the ground to transfer a package for delivery. The only realistic option with a traditional airframe is to abort powered flight and conduct a full landing at the user's location. In many situations, such a maneuver is difficult if not impossible. Once on the ground the UAV is directly accessible to the user. Such a situation is prime for intentional and unintentional tampering with the system. In short, the current technological landscape does not possess a viable approach to package retrieval situations that favor fixed wings. Zipline, one of the few companies in this sector utilizing fixed-wings for delivery, requires a large and complex catapult-like mechanism to launch their UAVs back into the air once they have landed. As such, this is a solution only viable in areas of developed infrastructure.
DroneHook mitigates the aforementioned issues such that we can make use of a fixed-wing's superior efficiency and cruise speeds. We propose developing a system capable of retrieving a package "in-stride" and continuing onto its destination with little to no delay or change in altitude. Our system draws significant inspiration from the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system. We hypothesized that a fixed-wing with our system is capable of outperforming a variable takeoff and landing (VTOL) air frame. A package with a balloon attached to it will be deployed. Through the utilization of transmitted GPS coordinates, a fixed-wing will fly into visual sight of the balloon and then use its on-board computer vision system to snag the line and reel in the package. Firstly, we were concerned with creating a balloon mechanism with associated sensors capable of positioning the system and quantifying the volatility of the environment. This data must be broadcast by an appropriately sized radio module such that it can be received by an out-of-sight fixed-wing. Secondly, we developled a system that will be onboard the vehicle that will receive the broadcast sensor data and utilize it to generate an appropriate path to the balloon and attached package.
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