Vanderbilt Aerospace ClubRocket Launched Reconnaissance UAV

2008-2009 Design Team

William Runge (ME)

Kyser Miree (ME)

Thomas Carroll (ME)

Thomas Bowden (ME)

Tyler Lamb (ME)

Ben Havrilesko (ME)

Matt Heller (Comp-E)

NASA Undergraduate Student Launch Initiative

HistoryThe club was formed in 2006 with the objective of competing in the NASA-sponsored Undergraduate Student Launch Initiative. Funding comes from the Tennessee Space Consortium and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The USLI competition involves launching a scientific payload to an altitude of one mile.

USLI Scoring:

-Technical reports on the project and its progress

-Design quality of the rocket

-Technical and design value of the payload

-Actual flight performance on competition day

Faculty Sponsor: Prof. A.V. Anilkumar

Last Year’s Project• UAV

– Rotating wing mechanism for packaging inside rocket– 3° dihedral wing and self-righting aerodynamic design– Aluminum and PVC construction– 4-foot wingspan, 8” chord-length– Propeller-driven– Low-resolution imagery payload– UAV was packaged inside a foam sabot during rocket portion of flight

• Rocket– 14 feet tall, 10 inches in diameter– Large payload section to accommodate UAV– Carbon fiber fins to minimize weight– Pyrotechnics for deploying parachute and UAV– Various altimeters and telemetry systems on board for post-flight recovery and analysis

• Other– A highly configurable and customizable launch pad was designed and built– Project was presented at an AIAA conference and won 2nd Place in the Team Division– In the USLI Competition Launch, the rocket flew to 5,264’, according to four separate

onboard altimeters, earning the team 1st place in the altitude portion of the contest.– UAV flight was only marginally successful for a variety of reasons

ObjectivesRocket Launched Reconnaissance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

• UAV Airplane Requirements– Design, build, and flight test a Reconnaissance UAV. – The airplane is to have a rotating wing so that it may be packaged inside the rocket– The airplane must have a strong static and dynamic stability, with self-righting flight

characteristics as a corollary.– UAV is to be piloted without visual contact until landing, e.g. piloted by a user at a computer

terminal viewing the outputs of various sensors and cameras onboard the aircraft.– Sensors, circuitry, and software onboard the airplane for the transmission of critical flight

data, including GPS, airspeed, altitude, and accelerometry data.– The airplane will have one forward-facing camera to aid in navigation.– The airplane will have a downward-facing tilt-pan-zoom camera for reconnaissance.

• Rocket Design Criteria – Design and construct a highly stable and reliable rocket appropriate to the mission– The rocket is to be compatible with the launch pad built last year for the project– The rocket will have onboard altimeters and data acquisition systems appropriate for

recovery of post-flight data• Ground Systems

– Design and construct the receiver appropriate for receiving flight information from the aircraft

– A graphical display of critical flight data is to be provided to the pilot for navigating and operating the airplane

– A co-pilot may be required to operate the forward-facing camera to aid the pilot– A payload specialist will monitor the ground systems and operate the high-resolution

camera for the purpose of taking reconnaissance photographs and/or video.

Questions?

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