Search results

The main purpose of the study was mechanical designing, simulation and manufacturing process for a new model of octocopter V-frame and to achieve simple manufacturing with 3D printing technology. Moreover, the octocopter PID controller was simulated on the Simulink environment to get performance on the roll and pitch angle control.

Octocopter is one kind of multirotor vehicle (a rotorcraft with more than two rotors), that has lately gained a lot of attention for both the scientific and commercial spheres. With a greater number of rotors, the multirotor is very maneuverable and robust. Multi-copter makes an important contribution to the technological revolution in the military, industry, transportation, mapping and especially agriculture. Nowadays, we are heading to the four-industrial revolutions as well as the new technological application in the agricultural field such as precision agriculture, mapping and surveillance. Due to recently advanced technology about sensors, electronics, 3D printing, battery with high performance, multi-copter can be manufactured at low cost.

The V-frame octocopter was chosen to design in this paper; it had better performance scores including high redundancy rotors, high payload capability and affordable cost than another multi-copter family. The V-frame octocopter increasing freedom field of view of the camera was considered to place the camera position in the front of the drone.

For the future aspects, the mechanical structure of the octocopter could be improved by using more advanced metal 3D printing to produce the aluminum or titan alloy materials for lighter and more rigid compared with ABS material, and finally the assembly to the real test.

The study shows the new platform of the V-frame octocopter kinematics analysis, designed on the CAD software, with some important mechanical parts using FEM analysis to find the highest stress and displacement under high load applied, the result of all connecting the joints 3D printing part is completely safe. Mechanical parts were manufactured by using 3D printing technology and CNC milling. Moreover, the study has shown V-frame octocopter simulation based on Simulink using the second method Ziegler- Nichols to find suitable parameters of the PID controller for roll and pitch angle. Using the block simulation is good for implementing and fast checking the new algorithm when building the new platform of the robot.

Over the past decade, researchers have used unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in construction industry for various applications from site inspection to safety monitoring or building maintenance. This paper aims to assort academic studies on construction UAS applications, summarize logics behind using UAS in each application and extend understanding of current state of UAS research in the construction setting.

This research follows a systematic literature assessment methodology to summarize the results of 54 research papers over the past ten years and outlines the research trends for applying UASs in construction.

UASs are used in building inspection, damage assessment, site surveying, safety inspection, progress monitoring, building maintenance and other construction applications. Cost saving, time efficiency and improved accessibility are the primary reasons for choosing UAS in construction applications. Rotary-wing UASs are the most common types of UASs being used in construction. Cameras, LiDAR and Kinect are the most common onboard sensors integrated in construction UAS applications. The control styles used are manual, semi-autonomous and autonomous.

This paper contributes to classification of UAS applications in construction research and identification of UAS hardware and sensor types as well as their flying control systems in construction literature.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the study of an innovative unmanned mission to Mars, which is aimed at acquiring a great amount of detailed data related to both Mars’ atmosphere and surface.

The Mars surface exploration is conceived by means of a fleet of drones flying among a set of reference points (acting also as entry capsules and charging stations) on the surface. The three key enabling technologies of the proposed mission are the use of small satellites (used in constellation with a minimum of three), the use of electric propulsion systems for the interplanetary transfer (to reduce the propellant mass fraction) and lightweight, efficient, drones designed to operate in the harsh Mars environment and with its tiny atmosphere.

The low-thrust Earth-Mars transfer is designed by means of an optimization approach resulting in a duration of slightly more than 27 months with a propellant amount of about 125 kg, which is compatible with the choice of considering a 500 kg-class spacecraft. Four candidate drone configurations have been selected as the result of a sensitivity analysis. Flight endurance, weight and drone size have been considered as the driving design parameters for the selection of the final configuration, which is characterized by six rotors, a total mass of about 6.5 kg and a flight endurance of 28 minutes. In the mission scenario proposed, the drone is assumed to be delivered on the Mars surface by means of a passive entry capsule, which acts also as a docking station and charging base. Such a capsule has been sized both in terms of mass (68 kg) and power (80 W), showing to be compatible with 500 kg-class spacecraft.

As a general conclusion, the study shows the mission concept feasibility.

The concept would return incomparable scientific data and can be also be potentially implemented with a relatively low budget exploiting of the shelf components to the larger extent, small identical spacecraft buses and modular low-cost drones.

The innovative mission architecture proposed in this study aims at providing a complete coverage of the surface and lowest atmospheric layers. The main innovation factor of the proposed mission consists in the adoption of small multi-copter UAVs, also called “drones,” as remote-sensing platforms.

The purpose of this study is to offer a better and more effective hexacopter design for a 3 kg payload using finite element analysis (FEA), facilitating the use of different materials for different components that too without compromising strength.

A 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model of a hexacopter with a regular hexagonal frame is presented. Furthermore, a finite element model is developed to perform a structural analysis and determine Von Mises stress and strain values along with deformations of different components of the proposed hexacopter design.

The results establish that carbon fibre outperforms acrylonitrile butadiene (ABS) with respect to deformations. Within the permissible limits of the stress and strain values, both carbon fiber and ABS are suggested for different components. Thus, a proposed hexacopter offers lighter weight, high strength and low cost.

The use of different materials for different components is suggested by making use of static structural analysis. This encourages new research work and helps in developing new applications of hexacopter, and it has never been reported in literature. The suggested materials for the components of the hexacopter will prove to be suitable considering weight, strength and cost.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are commonly known as UAVs and drones. Nowadays, industries have begun to realise the operational and economic benefits of drone-enabled tasks. The Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, drones, etc., represent implementable advanced technologies intended to accomplish Industry 4.0. The purpose of this study is to discuss the significant contributions of drones for Industry 4.0.

Nowadays, drones are used for inspections, mapping and surveying in difficult or hazardous locations. For writing this paper, relevant research papers on drone for Industry 4.0 are identified from various research platforms such as Scopus, Google Scholar, ResearchGate and ScienceDirect. Given the enormous extent of the topic, this work analyses many papers, reports and news stories in an attempt to comprehend and clarify Industry 4.0.

Drones are being implemented in manufacturing, entertainment industries (cinematography, etc.) and machinery across the world. Thermal-imaging devices attached to drones can detect variable heat levels emanating from a facility, trigger the sprinkler system and inform emergency authorities. Due partly to their utility and adaptability in industrial areas such as energy, transportation, engineering and more, autonomous drones significantly impact Industry 4.0. This paper discusses drones and their types. Several technological advances and primary extents of drones for Industry 4.0 are diagrammatically elaborated. Further, the authors identified and discussed 19 major applications of drones for Industry 4.0.

This paper’s originality lies in its discussion and exploration of the capabilities of drones for Industry 4.0, especially in manufacturing organisations. In addition to improving efficiency and site productivity, drones can easily undertake routine inspections and check streamlines operations and maintenance procedures. This work contributes to creating a common foundation for comprehending Industry 4.0 outcomes from many disciplinary viewpoints, allowing for more research and development for industrial innovation and technological progress.

The motivation to perform research on feedback control system for unmanned aerial vehicles, a fact that each quadrocopter is unstable.

For this reason, it is necessary to design a control system which is capable of making unmanned aerial vehicle vertical take-off and landing (UAV VTOL) stable and controllable. For this purpose, it was decided to use a feedback control system with cascaded PID controller. The main reason for using it was that PID controllers are simple to implement and do not use much hardware resources. Moreover, cascaded control systems allow to control object response using more parameters than in a standard PID control. STM32 microcontrollers were used to make a real control system. The rapid prototyping using Embedded Coder Toolbox, FreeRTOS and STM32 CubeMX was conducted to design the algorithm of the feedback control system with cascaded PID controller for unmanned aerial vehicle vertical take-off and landings (UAV VTOLs).

During research, an algorithm of UAV VTOL control using the feedback control system with cascaded PID controller was designed. Tests were performed for the designed algorithm in the model simulation in Matlab/Simulink and in the real conditions.

It has been proved that an additional control loop must have a full PID controller. Moreover, a new library is presented for STM32 microcontrollers made using the Embedded Coder Toolbox just for the research. This library enabled to use rapid prototyping while developing the control algorithms.

Unlike the historical robots, the contemporary and futuristic ‘working’ robots within organisations are capable of taking decisions without human intervention. This chapter reviews the technical evolution of robots across history with the necessary evolution of operational procedures regarding laws and ethical standards. The objective of this review is to have a futuristic holistic insight into the new generation of robots that are invading our working environment within organisations. Out of the very wide perspective of robotics research field, this chapter only discusses the ‘working’ robots (excluding domestic, social, and warfare robots) in organisations along with its ethical and legal associated issues. To achieve this objective, the recent ‘working robot’ definition and associated expected ethics and laws, termed in this chapter as ‘Ten Commandments’ would be necessary for the utilisation of robotics before releasing ‘intelligent’ robots in the workplace environment. The proposed ‘Ten Commandments’ can be utilised by robot manufacturer to embed ‘machine testimony’ to their products. Providing that such ‘robot ethics’ built as part of the algorithmic structure of robots, a useful innovation like robot–manager is also identified in the organisational environment which can have multiple benefits as discussed in this chapter.

This chapter examines the catalysts that led drones to become a vast consumer market in a very short space of time. It tells the story of the drone’s resurgence as an object of popular desire and how this reflects a certain kind of technotopian allure, which is found more widely in the technological consumer culture. In so doing, it examines the historical origins of the drone across military aviation and musical culture, along with the major achievements in modern civilian drone exploration. The chapter also draws on literature in design theory, historical analyses of drone patents and speculative fictions within product development to articulate the central drivers behind the proliferation of drones in civil society.