Developed requirements and engineering for a 30 lb. all-electric, long-duration, amphibious UAV and launcher. Work included flight testing, payloads, data communications, wiring, propulsion, flight controls, structures, and composites.
Flight controls included the MicroPilot MP2128, Hitec servos, radio data communications, motor controller, and power storage/conversion.
Designed and lofted the aircraft in SolidWorks and AutoCAD. Fabrication included developing plugs and molds using a CNC router. Fabricated complex aluminum parts from flat, laser-cut aluminum using plate technology. Developed methods for bonding composites to aluminum. Materials used included ProSet and West System epoxies. Vacuum-bagged parts and oven-cured them using temperature schedules. Composite cloths included carbon, fiberglass, and Kevlar.
The aircraft is designed to be assembled in less than 10 minutes, out of the box, using self-aligning electrical and mechanical connections.