Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

This paper presents in details design and development of a probe for measuring airflow data for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The research regards the definition of the requirements and dimensions of the device and limits the measurements to selected aerodynamic parameters only. In the design concept the five parameters gauged in the two independent sections of the probe were envisaged. In the first section temperature, stagnation and static pressure and in the second section flow angles - sideslip and angle of attack (AoA) were determined. The development has been divided into three stages. The first stage included a formulation of the guidelines for the construction of the mechanical elements. The specified requirements included the maximum size of the probe and the resultant restriction on the size of the sensors and their electronics hardware circuits. The next stage was focused on sensors selection and electronics hardware development. Additionally, an appropriate microcontroller system for sensors control and data acquisition was developed. The final stage included formulation of a software algorithm and its implementation. Eventually, the probe was installed on a mini UAV for inflight tests which verified the correctness of the design.

Probes, Electron tubes, Temperature measurement, Aerodynamics, Sensors, Blades, Unmanned aerial vehicles