Develop telescope wing of UAV

• Main Author: Ng, Yeunn Ject.
• Other Authors: Liu Yong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aviation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/39758
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project involves the design and fabrication of a working prototype of the telescopic wing for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Simulation showed that the wing is able to extend and retract span wise from centre wing box. The wing prototype includes the wing structure and gear box (mechanism). The wing structure consists of spars and ribs as in a conventional wings but with additional movable wing section that can slide over at fixed section of the wing which gives the wings its telescopic abilities. The wing cross section is adopting NACA 0024 airfoil profile, full scale of original retracted wing span of 75cm, 150cm in extended mode. The actuator mechanism is designed using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) as driving force to replace conventional pneumatic actuator. SMA is chosen over pneumatic of its high force to weight ratio. A set of gear train is employed to provide the mechanical leverage to amplify the small displacement produced by SMA. Both the extension and retraction is accomplished by the same set of gear train when SMA wire is heated using resistive heating controlled by a set of electronic microcontroller system. The performance of the wing is unable to meet the requirements set initially due to complicated fabrication procedure which requires highly trained machining skills. However, functionality of the mechanism has been proven working by simulation on Solidworks. Further work needs to be done on improving the prototype for more comprehensive testing and implementation on practical applications.