1515

	UniCopter ~ Intermeshing
	Electric UAV ~ 1/4 scale
	To Primary Index

This project may be the design, development and possible construction of a 1/4 scale electric UniCopter for UAV applications

~ comprising ~

Intermeshing Configuration (bilateral symmetry and no tail rotor).

Large Chord and Low Tip Speed (including 'Absolutely' Rigid Rotors, Tractor or Pusher Propeller, & Lifting Body )

Advancing Blade Concept (subset of the above)

Independent Root & Tip Control (probably utilizing the Floating Root Method)

The utility inventions on this site are openly and publicly disclosed on the Internet to negate an entity from patenting them, to the exclusion of all others whom may wish to use them. ~ Reference patent law 35 U.S.C. 102 A person shall be entitled to a patent unless - (a) the invention was known ... by others in this country, ..., before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent.

Proposal for 1/2 Scale Intermeshing UAV:

Proposal for 1/4 Scale Interleaving UAV with Electric Motor:

Item 1515

OTHER: Helicopter - Inside - Intermeshing - UniCopter-UAV - 1/4 scale - Electric

To Home Page ~ UniCopter-UAV

Objective:

To perhaps develop and test an advanced Intermeshing small UAV electric rotorcraft.

A rotorcraft that has good loitering time, high-speed forward flight, quiet and expendable. ~ Based on the assumption that there will be significant improvements in electrical storage during the next few decades.

Usage:

SWARM. Surveillance and Weapon with Advanced Remote Monitoring l. WOW, Sounds dangerous. . Now, how can this craft serve the peace corp?

Outdoor Urban Missions:

A large number of these volume-produced helicopters are flown to and parked on elevated locations.
The craft then use their surveillance equipment to oversee the surrounding territory AND oversee one or more other of these helicopters.
The helicopters do not carry weapons, they are the weapon. They are not intended to penetrate armor. This craft's parts and the onboard weapon become shrapnel.
With electric motor and propulsor these craft are intended to quietly and quickly attack the enemy.
Should one of the helicopters be 'attacked' then the other helicopters can attack the attackers within seconds

Indoor flight will require Microlights, which this page does not address.

Mockup of Pusher Prop Version: Well, very early stage of mockup.

Sketch of Pusher Prop Version:

On the revised drawing, the axis of the fuselage has a 21º angle with the rotor's tip path plane, and the propeller's axis has a 15º angle with the rotor's tip path plane.

Sketch of Tractor Prop Version:

For information related to reason for tractor prop see; DESIGN: UniCopter ~ Pusher Prop - General - Tractor vs. Pusher

This is an alternative arraignment for consideration. It may offer advantages over the pusher layout arraignment.

Proposed Features:

Tractor or Pusher Prop Assist:

To provide faster forward speeds.

Advancing Blade Concept (ABC);

The model's blades and rotor will have a greater rigidity than that of a conventional helicopter. This means that as the forward velocity of the craft increases the advancing (outside forward) blades will assume a greater percentage of the lift and the downwash on the fuselage, which is under the retreating blades, will decrease.

Independent Root & Tip Control: (perhaps)

This, in conjunction with a cyclic control that has a higher rate than 1/ revolution, and with the ABC, will result in a significantly improved thrust distribution about the total disk area.

Reverse Velocity Utilization: (perhaps)

To improve lift distribution during faster forward speeds.

More Proposed Features:

Fuselage to act as lifting body.

Electric propulsion.

Motor's shaft drives the prop and the motor's frame drives the rotors; for initial 2:1 rpm reduction during forward flight.

Speed controller to vary the prop's rpm. This will, in turn, the rotor's rpm, in the opposite direction. I.e. slow-speed rotor during cruise.

Consider In-flight discharging of used battery packs for weight reduction; if required.

~ All material is rough and constantly under revision. ~

Primary Grouping:

Grey is currently links to Full-size UniCopter pages. They have not been changed over yet.

Marketability

UniCopter Overview

Tasks & Concerns

DESIGN, MAKE & BUY:

Grey is currently links to Full-size UniCopter pages. They have not been changed over yet.

Control - Flight	Control - Power Train	Weight & Balance
Rotor	Power Train	Dimension, Area & Drag
Fuselage	Pusher Prop	Trim, Stability & Control:
Landing Gear	Motor
Instrument		Vibration
Electrical	Electrical Storage	Special Tool

OTHER:

Aerodynamics	Intermeshing Information	Miscellaneous
Flight Dynamics	Helicopters - Outside	Regulations
Mechanics	Helicopters - Inside	Composites
	Rotor Concepts:	CNC Workstation

1/4 Scaling of UniCopter:

Most of the craft's features will be scaled down versions of those proposed for the UniCopter.

	Full Size:	Ratio:	1/4 Scale:
Rotor Radius:	114" (9'-6")	4:1	28.5" (2'-4.5")	Consider 30" to 33" radius
Single Disk Area	40,844²" (284²')	16:1	2,553²" (17.7²')	30"R = 19.6: 33"R = 23.8
Total Disk Area	(331²')	16:1	(20.6²')	22.8: 27.7
Effective Disk Area	(407²')	16:1	(25.3²')
Total Gross Weight:	1320 lbs.	64:1	20.6 lbs
Power:	132 hp. ??	64:1	2 hp. ??
Prop Diameter:	60"	4:1	15"
Prop Pitch:	Variable??"	4:1	Variable??"	How will this interrelate with variable RRPM, and perhaps variable PRPM?
Rotor Tip Speed ⁽¹⁾during hover			387 fps	⁽³⁾
Rotor RPM based on 33"R. during hover			1,343 rpm	⁽³⁾
Rotor Tip Speed ⁽¹⁾during cruise			387 fps */ 2 ???*	⁽³⁾
Cruise at mu = 0.4 C *???*			106 mph ⁽²⁾	⁽³⁾
Motor Speed:			13,000 rpm	Perhaps too high.
Motor to Rotor reduction w/ prop locked:			9.7:1	Perhaps too high a ratio.
Prop Speed: 50% of 13,000 rpm			6,500 rpm
Prop Speed:15 * 16" at 80% efficiency			79 mph ⁽²⁾

Based on Joker 2 below.

Eliminate the discrepancy.I suspect that it is the 79 mph that is too low and the pitch will have to be greater (special?). Perhaps greater RPM will go to the propeller then to the rotors. This will increase the speed above 79 mph.

Consider increasing the rotor rpm during hover an, of course, lowering it by 50% ?? for cruise. It will probable mean that the advance ratio is greater than 0.4 during cruise.

Alternative Scaling; for general interest only:

	Full scale:	1/2 scale:	1/3 scale:	1/4 scale:
Gross weight (lb)	1325	160	50	21
Power (HP)	165	21	6.5	2.5
Rotor radius (ft)	10	5	3.3 (40")	2.5 (30")

Battery Charger: (Buyout)

http://www.schulze-elektronik-gmbh.de/index_uk.htm

Portability:

The blades are removable (or swing aft). The propeller folds aft when not operational. The tail assemble swing down 30º.

The collapsed size of the craft should be; 42" long x 12" wide * 10" high.

The weight of the craft should be 21 lbs.

Weight & Balance:

Item:	Full Name:	Wt. Ea.	Qty.	Length of Arm (in)			Moment (lb-in)
		Wt. Ea.	Qty.	X	Y	Z	X	Y	Z
xx	Motor	595 g (1.31 #)	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	ESC	180-210 g	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	Batteries	1117 g (2.46 #)	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	Propeller	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	Reciever	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	Servos	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	Rotor	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	Fuselage	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	Tail	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	xx	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
xx	xx	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x
	Total:	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x

Questions & Concerns:

I am creating a conflict between the requirements for much energy and the inability of electricity to provide much energy.

Reduce the disk loading by increasing the rotor radius to perhaps 30" to 36".

I suspect that the rotor(s) and propeller may be slightly more efficient that the rotor(s) alone. This is true for a gyrocopter, however the gyrocopter's rotor is not mechanically powered.

The low drag lifting body should help some.

Perhaps OTHER: Helicopter - Inside - Interleaving - Electric UAV is the best configuration.

Is the pitch angle of the propeller to great? And, if its diameter is reduced, how much will it reduce the efficiency of the propeller?

Will the craft require an overrunning clutch?

Will the blades initially (before incorporating some of the above features) require a 2-position pitch change for authoritative descent?

Does the craft require the ability to Autorotate if it were to be a UAV and produced in large volumes?

Will the passage of the propeller blades interfere with any imaging etc. that needs to look 'through' the propeller's disk area?

Notes and Thoughts:

Considering the difficulty of controlling small autonomous helicopters, will not the fact that the full size Kaman synchropter was easier to fly then helicopters with tail rotors suggest that the intermeshing helicopter will be a better platform?

at Outside Web Sites:

A SMALL SEMI-AUTONOMOUS ROTARY-WING UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE I have copy of this on the removable drive and hard copy.

Recreational R/C forum; http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/index.php

The Future:

Joker - USA

Information on the Yamaha; Maxi-Joker II; Ursa Electra series

INSTRUMENTATION OF THE YAMAHA R-50/RMAX HELICOPTER TESTBEDS FOR AIRLOADS IDENTIFICATION AND FOLLOW-ON RESEARCH; http://controls.ae.gatech.edu/papers/schrage_erf_99.pdf Have hard copy.

Pricing: From USA post on RCGroups.com

maxi joker 2 kit cost about 1300-1400 bucks for basic kit. figure another 350-600 for motor and similiar price for esc. so 2000-2500 bucks without radio or battery. figure 500 -900 per each set of lipo battery. also, figure minimum of 300 and up for helicam or airfoil camera mount. (for basic version. it will go up with more option. with gimbal and gyros, you can spend upto 2000 for nice camera mounting system that is stabilized)

Fxaeromodels

MAXI-JOKER 2 Kit (a carrier for camera) $1,299.00 US

The Maxi-Joker 2 is a Joker 2 with an enlarged main rotor diameter of 1.8 m and so a 35% larger mainrotor plane. Following the worldwide success of the Maxi-Joker as professional camera-ship the Maxi-Joker 2. However as opposed to the Maxi-Joker the Maxi-Joker 2 is equipped with a straight tailboom with the 45°-Top-Tail gear as an option.

The gear reduction depends on the motor used, between 10,8 and 11,6:1, so a rotorspeed of 1200-1300 rpm can be achieved. With a payload of 2- 7 lbs. Flight time: Normally 15-25 min depends on Lipo-size, each pound payload reduces the flight time about 1 min.

For professional camera use the Plettenberg HP 370/40/A2 and with Schulze 40-160WK ESC is especially recommended because of its finely balanced rotor. When using the Maxi-Joker 2 in fuselages the actro 24-5 or Actro 32-3 with J1640 Kontronik ESC/ J1619 80-32ESC is recommended because of its low weight. A fuselage mount without lower frame is available as an option.. Batteries can use Flight Power 750mAh 5S3P (2X) 18.5V batteries or thunder Power 80005S4P pack.

Note: The Maxi-Joker was developed as carrier for cameras, scale fuselages etc., and is not recommended for aerobatics because large cyclic deflections cause a high energy consumption.

JOKER 2 Kit $1,200.00 It looks like the MAXI-JOKER 2 may have replaced this.

Based on the great success of the Joker and on the experience gained a completely new model was created, which employs the latest technical advances in the electric flight sector.

The Joker 2 is more flexible and allows for a much wider choice of motor and controller. Following the high praise given to the Acrobat we have decided to adopt the complete main gear and tailrotor design and specification from this 3D-model. So a model was created with a unique spectrum of practical usage and great flexibility.

The Joker 2 can be used as pure beginner model as well as for daily 3D-flights or for commercial usage. The life time of the mechanics is many hundreds of flight hours without needing to replace parts, so the maintenance costs are very low.

For extreme-3D usage extra strong components now available, which makes the Joker 2 into one of the most powerful helicopters available today. The noise of the model is substantially reduced by employing a very quiet belt drive.

- Fully Aerobatic Electrical Helicopter using 10-12 Lipo or 28-32 NiCd/NiMH cells.

Batteries can use Flight Power 750mAh 5S3P (2X) 18.5V batteries or thunder Power 80005S4P pack.

- Main rotor diameter: 1560 mm.
- Tail rotor diameter: 290 mm.

Joker 2 : 2 - 2.5 lb payload

Flight time: Normally 15-25 min depends on Lipo-size, each lb payload reduces the flight time about 1 min.

http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/bear/testbeds/bear_fleet_behind.jpg

	Ursa Electra series	Ursa Major series	Ursa Magna series	Ursa Maxima series
Base platform	Maxi-Joker	Bergen Industrial Twin	Yamaha R-50	Yamaha RMAX
Length	2.2m	2m	3.58m	3.63m
Width	0.26m	0.53m	0.72m	0.72m
Height	0.41m	0.66m	1.08m	1.08m
Rotor diameter	1.8m	1.8m	3.07m	3.12m
Disk Area:	2.55m² (27.45sq-ft)	2.55m² (27.45sq-ft)
Disk Loading:	(0.68 lb/sq-ft)	(1.36 lb/sq-ft)
Rotor Speed:	1200 - 1300 rpm
Tip Speed:	^{+/_-118 m/sec (387 fps)}
Dry weight	4.5kg	10kg	44kg	58kg
Payload	4kg	7kg	20kg	30kg
Powerplant	DC Brushless motor (3.0hp) with 10s4p Lithium-Polymer Battery	Twin Genoa air-cooled two-stroke gasoline engine	98cc water-cooled single cylinder 2 stroke engine	256 cc water-cooled two-stroke, horizontally opposed configuration 21 horsepower
Flight Time	15min	20min	30min	30min
Avionics Operation Time	60min	60min	60min	120min
CPU	P3 700MHz	P3 700MHz	Primary: AMD K6 400MHz Secondary: AMD K6 400MHz	Primary: P3 700MHz Secondary: P4 1.6GHz
Navigation sensors	Inertial Science ISIS-IMU NovAtel OEM4 L1/L2	Systron-Donner DQI-NP NovAtel OEM3 MillenRT2	Systron-Donner DQI-NP NovAtel OEM3 MillenRT2	Systron-Donner CMIGITS-II NovAtel OEM3 MillenRT2 or Inertial Science ISIS-IMU NovAtel OEM4 L1/L2
Additioina Sensors	Heading sensor Ultrasonic array	N/A	Ultrasonic altimeter Laser rangefinder Stereovision Cameras	3-D laser range finder Heading sensor

Information:

http://www.e-helis.com/manual_Maxi_Joker2_V1.pdf

http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/bear/testbeds.html

http://www.fxaeromodels.com/product_info.php?cPath=49_57&products_id=570

http://www.fxaeromodels.com/product_info.php?products_id=1913

http://www.fxaeromodels.com/product_info.php?products_id=1390

http://www.fxaeromodels.com/product_info.php?products_id=2541

http://www.fxaeromodels.com/product_info.php?products_id=1389

http://www.fxaeromodels.com/product_info.php?products_id=2584

The Maxi-Joker 2 is a Joker 2 with an enlarged main rotor diameter of 1.8 m and so a 35% larger mainrotor plane, following the worldwide success of the Maxi-Joker as professional camera-ship the Maxi-Joker 2 can also lift a weight of 2 kg. As opposed to the Maxi-Joker the Maxi-Joker 2 is equipped with a straight tailboom, the 45°-Top-Tail gear can be ordered as an option. The gear reduction depends on the motor used, between 10,8 and 11,6:1, so a rotorspeed of 1200-1300 rpm can be achieved. With a payload of 2 kg the all-up weight is about 8,0 kg. Equipped with a 10s3p-battery a flight time up to 20 min can be reached, depending on the payload. For professional camera use the Plettenberg HP 370/40/A2 is especially recommended because of its finely balanced rotor. When using the Maxi-Joker in fuselages the actro 24-5 is recommended because of its low weight. A fuselage mount without lower frame is available as an option.

Motor: Plettenberg; Model HP 370/40/A2 S (heli): See: BUY: Electric - Motor - Plettenberg - HP 370/40 Heli

Miscellaneous:

R/C Helicopter Glossary: http://www.helihobby.com/html/helicopter_dictionary.html

R/C Flying Clubs in BC:

http://www.wcrcaf.com/

http://www.ridgeflyers.com/

Initially displayed: June 19, 2006 ~ Posted on PPRuNe: July 10, 2006 ~ Posted on Rotary Wing Forum: July 15, 2006 ~ Latest revision; September 23, 2008

The above utility invention is openly and publicly disclosed on the Internet to negate an entity from patenting it, to the exclusion of all others whom may wish to use them. ~ Reference patent law 35 U.S.C. 102 A person shall be entitled to a patent unless - (a) the invention was known ... by others in this country, ..., before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent.