User:CSU-FCUAV

CSU - Long Endurance Flight Team

The long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has significant value as a low-cost, autonomous reconnaissance and remote sensing platform for research, commercial and military missions. Fuel cell powerplants are of interest in this application because of the potential to construct powerplants of high specific energy, low noise, low thermal signature, and improved environmental compatibility.

Because of these performance advantages, fuel cells have recently found their first aviation applications as powerplants for small-scale long-endurance and long-range UAVs.

The increasing interest in practical fuel cell powered UAVs motivated research into design methods for fuel cell powered aircraft. The purposes of the design studies are 1) to characterize the design tradeoffs and optimal configurations of aviation-specific fuel cell powerplants, 2) to compare the performance of fuel cell aircraft to conventional aircraft, and 3) to function as a preliminary design tool in a development process for a fuel cell UAV.

CSU-FCUAV Team Blog

Started our user page -- Nick (Mar 31, 2009)

CSU-FCUAV Hobby Lobby Senior Telemaster ARF Autopilot/Sensor Mule

Specs:

Airframe: Hobby Lobyy Senior Telemaster ARF

RX: Modified Futaba R617FS

Autopilot: Tiny 2.11 LEA-5H from PPZUAV

Link: XBee Pro 2.4 GHz

IR: PPZUAV IRV and IRH Sensors

Extras: AttoPilot Current Sensor (IP)

Associated Files:

Airframe:

Media:

Flight 1 Video

Flight 2 Video

Flight 3 Video

Contact Information

Dr. Thomas H. Bradley

Mechanical Engineering

Colorado State University

E: thomas.bradley@colostate.edu