what knowledge do i need to build a UAV

[Raad]

hello everyone

i was planning on building a UAV plane for my graduation project , which i will start on in 6 months
i would like to know what kind of knowledge do i need to build one ?

what areas of programming ?
what areas of electronics ?
what areas of avionics ?


anyone know any helpful links i could use to build up my knowledge before starting the actual physical plan ?

Thank you
Raad,,

[hgordon]

As a starting point, you need to have some experience in flying radio controlled fixed or rotary wing aircraft.  Without understanding the behavior of aircraft in flight, you can not hope to successfully design control systems.

For lots of practical information, take a look at http://diydrones.com

[Razor Concepts]

In programming, learning interrupts will be very very important.

Like hgordon said, experience in flying radio controlled aircraft is a must. UAVs are just radio controlled aircraft with a microcontroller - literally. Also some people focus on the physical design of the UAV (like how aerodynamic it is, etc) but actually that is pretty much the least important part. With today's high power motor technology people have gotten square peices of foam to fly pretty well - so focus on programming the microcontroller.

[izaktj]

- Basic Electronics
- Programming
- RC flying
- Aerodynamics common sense
- Building RC aircraft from depron would also be helpful

Check diydrones.com

[TrickyNekro]

Programming..... And when I say programming I mean very good programming....
(Know how to produce a math model for your craft and so on..........)
You probably need to know some physics and math.....
Separately from aerodynamics...
Learn how to fly.... to get the feeling of the controls....
And most important.... Making an UAV is a step by step process....
Build the circuit, interface it with your radio... and start giving the microcontroller more and more tasks
as you see that everything is all right.....

Cheers,

Lefteris, Greece

[Spoil9]

my .02...
On top of everything else you should really know how to soldier. There is not a lot of room in a good UAV so all leads need to be short. Plus, if you're messing with a video system you should know a little about the longer range AV transmitters which cost more (of course). When messing with the higher freq's of these every wire length becomes very important as they can start to act like little antenna's causing interference and static.
Also mechanical engineering as in how will the UAV land? Will it belly land and break apart like the RAVEN SUAV? Or will it have it's own wheels like the Shadow, Predator, etc?
Also, a little knowledge about politics and laws is needed as I believe it is illegal in most states to control a RC airplane that can operate out of eyesight of the operator. Although I'm not 100% sure on that one.

[TrickyNekro]

my .02...
On top of everything else you should really know how to soldier. There is not a lot of room in a good UAV so all leads need to be short. Plus, if you're messing with a video system you should know a little about the longer range AV transmitters which cost more (of course). When messing with the higher freq's of these every wire length becomes very important as they can start to act like little antenna's causing interference and static.
Also mechanical engineering as in how will the UAV land? Will it belly land and break apart like the RAVEN SUAV? Or will it have it's own wheels like the Shadow, Predator, etc?
Also, a little knowledge about politics and laws is needed as I believe it is illegal in most states to control a RC airplane that can operate out of eyesight of the operator. Although I'm not 100% sure on that one.

I think that in US the only legal problem is max altitude which is around 7000ft if I am right....
UAVs are not common... They are becoming very common only nowadays, so there is little legislation right now...

[Razor Concepts]

There is no law in the US that states you cannot fly out of eyesight. However when there are a lot more UAVs around, the FAA will restrict how far and how high.

[Spoil9]

Rules and laws by the FAA confuse me. I worked as an Air Defense Radar operator, and then as a Air Space Coordinator while in the Army. Those rules were simple IMO.

I found this on the DIYDrones site. Never looked there before, they got some interesting stuff.

Q: Are UAVs legal in the United States?

A: Under certain conditions, they are. There are two ways to legally fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the "National Airspace", which is to say all but certain restricted areas: 1) Get a Certificate of Authorization (COA) or Experimental Airworthyness Certificate (EAC) from the FAA, a process that can take months or more. 2) Fly under exemptions granted to non-commercial ("recreational") flyers who adhere to certain restrictions. More detail is here.

Q) What are those restrictions for non-commercial UAVs flying without a COA?

A: You MUST do the following: 1) Stay below 400ft. 2) Maintain a "pilot in control", which is to say that you must always be able to take manual control and fly the aircraft out of danger (in general, that means maintaining line-of-sight contact with the aircraft). 3) Stay away from built-up areas. More detail is here.

That page, plus more info is here:
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blog/show?id=705844%3ABlogPost%3A28583