Sensors, Vol. 20, Pages 1752: Integration and Investigation of Selected On-Board Devices for Development of the Newly Designed Miniature UAV (Sensors)

The article is a development of the topic generally presented in the conference proceedings issued after the 2019 IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Aerospace. In contrast to topics presented in the conference, the article describes in detail avionic equipment and on-board systems integration process and their in-flight adjustment in regard to the newly designed miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (mini-UAV). The mini-airplane was constructed and assembled in the course of the research project, the purpose of which was to show implementation of a totally new mini-UAV design. The intention of the work was to develop a new unmanned system including an originally constructed small airplane with elements purchased from open market. Such approach should allow to construct a new aerial unmanned system, which technologically would not be very advanced but should be easy to use and relatively inexpensive. The demonstrator mini-airplane has equipment typical for such an object, i.e., electric propulsion, autopilot system, camera head and parachute device for recovery. The key efforts in the project were taken to elaborate an original but easy to use system, to integrate subsystem elements and test them so to prove their functionality and reliability.