FURI | Fall 2020

Aircraft Performance Data Acquisition

Considering the applications and popularity of electric fixed-wing UAVs are growing, it is critical to quickly obtain performance data on aircraft platforms to verify and optimize design. Research is conducted via the development of modular instruments onboard a miniature electric aircraft platform. These instruments are capable of measuring orientation, position, thrust, angle of attack, altitude, airspeed, battery voltage, current draw, and internal temperature. The onboard flight computer logs performance characteristics and rebuilds its flight into a virtual environment for post-flight analysis. Once implemented, electric UAVs will be able to optimize aircraft performance features from a single flight.