Drone Engineering and design Workshop

Length 4 days (35 hours)

Fee: Please contact (group discount offered)

1. Introduction to UAV and multicopters (4h)
   1. Introduction to the different types and categories of UAV (fixed-wings, multicopters, VTOL, swarms, etc…)
   2. UAV ecosystem : main protagonists, applications, businesses. Focus on multicopters
   3. Laws and regulations
2. Drone concept definition (4h)
   1. How to design a drone fitted for a given mission or need ?
   2. Type of actuation, size, payloads, etc…
   3. Hands-on activity : the students will imagine a drone concept based on a need.
3. Multicopter Mechanical Design  (4h)
   1. Goal : understanding the main trade-offs a designer has to take into account when designing a drone : mass, flight time, velocity, robustness, durability,…
   2. Understanding the main challenges to face : vibrations, mechanical constraints, production constraints, prototyping
   3. Electronics and electromagnetic compatibility
4. Propulsive group design  (4h)
   1. Introduction to BLDC motors design and control. How do BLDC motors work, trapezoidal control vs FOC control and other problematics
   2. Propulsive group sizing ; how to avoid under or over-actuated drones, and how to design a coherent propeller-motor duo to make your drone fly as long as possible
5. Aerodynamics and flight mechanics  (4h)
   1. Understanding the basics of aerodynamics : what makes a vehicle aerodynamically efficient, understanding the concepts of drag and lift, Vortex Ring state, etc…
   2. Introduction to flight mechanics : application to airplanes, rockets and multicopters
   3. How to design a drone that flies well : controllability principles, thrust-to-weight ratio, and how it relates to the drone flight performances : speed, endurance, reactivity, etc…
6. Autonomous vehicle control (8h)
   1. Reflexions on the concept of autonomy for a vehicle
   2. Introduction to GNC (Guidance Navigation and Control) :
      1. Guidance : Trajectory planning, obstacle sensing and avoidance
      2. Navigation : Sensors choice integration and fusion, state estimation, event recognition
      3. Control : flight control algorithms design and target, introduction to PID control, digital filtering, model-based control
   3. Hands on practice on drone simulation
7. Gimbal, camera and image quality (2h)
   1. Understanding the concepts related to image quality, and how they relate to drone design and flight control
   2. Introduction to gimbal design and mechanical stabilization
8. Perspectives about the drone industry (2h)
   1. Evolution of the drone market
   2. Military industry and business
   3. Reflexions on ethics and safetyWho Should Attend: Ideal attendees are drone engineers, program managers, project managers, prototyping and drone designers, researchers and developers, drone pilots, and beginners.