Hybrid Unmanned Aircraft System with Long Flight Autonomy and Capable of Lifting 20 lbs of Payload

Students: Seth Mathew Miller, Cody Thomas Langenfeld, Jim Keyser, Derek Ellinger and Robert Menarcheck

Advisor: Dr. Vladimir Gurau

Engineering Technology Department

Kent State University at Tuscarawas, 330 University Dr. N.E., New Philadelphia, OH 44663

1. Introduction

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) are systems comprising of an unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV), its payloads, the control station, its support subsystem and its communication subsystem [1]. UASs can be used for cargo / package delivery or as sensor platforms for data acquisition [2] such as aerial mapping, aerial surveying, precision agriculture (crop health or crop damage assessment), natural resource management (wildlife census, impact of human activities on wildlife), inspection of industrial and civil infrastructure, aerial filming and photography, news reporting or intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and emergency response.

1. Objectives

The current project represents Phase 3 of a four-phase endeavor at Kent State University at Tuscarawas. Its general objectives are to design, build and test an UAS consisting of an octocopter as UAV (Figure 1) for data acquisition and capable of operating under manual control, stabilized control and automated control (autopilot). The system has video acquisition and recording subsystem consisting of an SJ 4000 action camera mounted on a 3–axes gimbal for image stabilization (Figure 2) and first person view (FPV) subsystem consisting of an HD camera, 5.8 GHz video transmitter and receiver modules and on-screen display (OSD) for transmitting telemetry data (Figure 3).

Figure 1

The Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle (Octocopter) Built at KSU Tuscarawas

To secure an increased flight autonomy, the power electrical system is hybrid and will consist of six lithium-polymer batteries recharged by a 0.5 kW High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (HT-PEMFC) stack designed and built at KSU Tuscarawas (Figure 4). The hydrogen fuel for the HT-PEMFC will be produced on-board by a methanol reformer designed and built at KSU Tuscarawas [3] (Figure 5).

Figure 2

The Video Acquisition System on 3-Axes Gimbal for Image Stabilization Built at KSU Tuscarawas

In the first two phases of the project the HT-PEMFC and the methanol reformer, the octocopter, the gimbal for video acquisition system and the FPV system have been designed and built.

In the current phase, we will integrate the flight control system, will calibrate the sensors for stabilized and automated flight control (sensor for global navigation satellite system, electronic compass, altimeter / range finder and accelerometer / gyroscope), will program flight modes, will integrate the video acquisition and FPV system and will test the system in various flight modes.

In a future phase, the HT-PEMFC and the methanol reformer will be integrated to the UAS to secure an increased flight autonomy.

References

[1] R. Austin: “Unmanned Aircraft Systems – UAVs Design, Development and Deployment”, John Wiley & Sons Ltd (2010),

[2] “Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems”, CRC Press, 2nd Edition, D.M. Marshall, R.K. Barnhart, E. Shappee and M.T. Most Editors (2016)

[3] J. Snyder, D. Vonallman and J. Allen: “Design and Fabrication of a Methanol Reformer for Production of Hydrogen as Fuel for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells”, 2nd Annual Undergraduate Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity, Kent State University, March 11, 2015

Figure 3

The First Person View System Built at KSU Tuscarawas

Figure 4

High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack Designed and Built at KSU Tuscarawas

Figure 5

Methanol Reformer Designed and Built at KSU Tuscarawas for On-Board Production of Hydrogen as Fuel for PEM Fuel Cell

The pursuit of happiness is a guaranteed right in the U.S. Constitution, yet teenage happiness is relatively understudied. Several key variables have been previously identified as possible causative agents of teenage happiness: parental relationships, friendship quality, and religiosity. We hypothesize that substance use and deviant behaviors act as the pathway through which parental relationships and religiosity positively affect adolescent happiness. We used data from the 1994 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (ADD Health). The survey contained >6000 adolescent respondents from U.S. private and public schools with a total response rate of 79%. Our dependent variable, happiness, was created as an index from the following items: suicidal tendency, depression, and life satisfaction, with higher scores indicating greater relative happiness. The independent variables included in the analysis were biological sex, age, race, religiosity, parental relationship quality, hours of sleep, exercise per week, friendship quality, deviance, substance use, and self-reported general health. Several multivariate linear regressions were estimated to determine the independent effects of substance use and deviance on adolescent happiness and how these effects potentially mediate those of religiosity and parental relationships. The analysis shows a positive association from parental relationships and religiosity on happiness. The results show that when substance use and deviance are added to the regression, the impact of parental relationships and religiosity on the happiness index are reduced. These findings indicate that parents have the greatest effect on their adolescent’s happiness when they help their children avoid social deviance and substance use.

INTRODUCTION: Increasingly, qualitative research suggests that high-quality camp programming is correlated with a number of favorable outcomes such as independence and social skills (Thurber, Scanlin, Scheuler, & Henderson, 2006). The current study examined administrative data from a residential camp in Colorado to assess their achievement of youth development outcomes, including affinity for nature, camp connectedness, teamwork, friendship skills, and family citizenship.

METHODS: 564 participants attending summer camp during 2013 and 2014 (66.8% female) completed questionnaires from the American Camp Association’s Youth Outcome Battery. Participants were divided by age group. Questionnaire administration took place on the third or fourth Sunday of each month long session, using a retrospective pre-test design.

RESULTS: Campers reported a moderate degree of perceived change from pre-camp to post-camp status for all outcomes. Mean scores fluctuated around the ACA national average, resulting in scores above the 50^th percentile for Family Citizenship (64 – 67^th percentile) and Teamwork (57^th percentile) and slightly below the 50^th percentile for Affinity to Nature (48^th percentile) and Friendship Skills (45^th percentile) outcomes. Outcome scores were positively correlated with one another; Camp Connectedness and Friendship Skills were particularly highly correlated with other outcomes.

DISCUSSION: This camp was moderately successful in achieving development outcomes. Future efforts to quantify development outcomes at this and other residential camps will allow for systematic improvements in delivery of the classic camp experience.