Development of a multi-purpose portable electrical UAV system, fixed & rotative wing

This paper describes the development of a multipurpose portable electrical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system, consisting of aircraft, ground station and field support equipment. This UAV can be employed in different applications, such as tactical surveillance, and power line inspection. The system allows the operator to remotely fly and control the aircraft from a one-man portable ground station. We also describe the development of the UAV electrically propelled airborne platform system, including two aircraft types (rotative and fixed wing type), the assembling of the onboard hardware, the one-man portable ground station components, and subsystem integration. An overview of on-ground and in-flight tests required for the system qualification is also presented. This system proves that employing low-cost and off-the-shelf equipment to develop flexible UAV models is possible.