Development of tethered tactical systems based on rotary wings

• Grant number: 15/00703-7
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: April 01, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Leonardo Mendes Nogueira
• Grantee: Leonardo Mendes Nogueira
• Company: Altave Indústria, Comércio e Exportação de Aeronaves S/A
• City: São José dos Campos
• Pesquisadores principais: Bruno Avena de Azevedo ; Davi Ferreira de Castro
• Associated researchers: Davi Antônio dos Santos ; Jonatas Sant'Anna Santos

Abstract

Multicopters Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have attracted the industry and the academy attention in the last decade. This interest can be explained by the relative low cost and simplicity in its construction, as compared with other vehicles such as airplanes and helicopters. Multicopters are rotorcrafts vehicles that have the landing capacity and vertical takeoff, hover, good maneuverability and ability to hold attitude and position. Because of these qualities, these vehicles are suitable for applications such as traffic monitoring, inspection of electric power transmission lines, agricultural monitoring, inspection of buildings, building monitoring, border surveillance, surveillance in urban areas and search operations and rescue. Multicopters have some disadvantages such as low autonomy, limited payload capacity and nonexistence of regulations background. A new technology the aerospace sector are captive rotorcraft or anchored by cables. Cables, despite restrict vehicle flight to a smaller space, are used for electric power transmission for vehicles during operations by providing it greater autonomy for vehicles. Few vehicles of this kind, with only three public knowledge: two are Israelis (HoverMast-100 and ETOP) and an American (LTAP). So far there is no confirmation that these vehicles are already on the market or are just ongoing projects, that it is, therefore technological development projects. The ability to create a point of observation or communication in order heights of tens of meters in seconds is attractive for a variety of tactical missions. Thus, it is understood that the captives multicópteros will arise in a market niche between manned or unmanned aerial vehicles and aerostats captives. The aircraft, especially helicopters manned and all types of UAVs, are suitable for rapid shifts in the missions have small durations. The captives airships are ideal for missions with durations from two hours going even months, at heights of 100 meters or higher. The captives multicópteros would supply the playing field between the mentioned vehicles, with minimum installation times and capable off operate efficiently for a few hours at a height of a few tens of meters. Interested in this new solution, ALTAVE started from May 2014, with support from CNPq RHAE - Researcher in the Company, a technological exploration of all the items involved in the solution, and investigated the conditions in which present the best opportunities technical and market. Through this analysis, the ALTAVE concluded that the best setting to explore would be a multicopter, where it is used electric high performance engines, this being anchored by a cable that receives electricity. Based on what is disclosed by potential competitors, the company has decided to impose a target, the design of a vehicle capable of carrying payloads with mass 5kg order and for flights to heights of 50m order. It was built and tested a captive multicóptero with four rotors in order to demonstrate the concept. The power supply was made through the soil, thus dispensed is embedded batteries. Through this prototype completed to phase one of this project from its own resources, in order to open the development and market entry, to maximize the chances of success of the proposed project. This project has the objective of developing the first national captive multicopter. For this, many studies should be performed in order to find solutions that optimize the system in terms of mass, energy consumption, stability, anchoring system and operating safety. (AU)