Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unamanned Aircraft System for Terrestrial Cliff Exploration

Project goal: To design, build and test a high-endurance, low-cost unmanned aircraft system to explore and map difficult or remote terrain without disturbing wildlife or the environment. The final design selected is a vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft that can adjust the motor power distribution to fly as a fixed-wing aircraft. While soaring at cruise, the aircraft uses its carbon-fiber air frame and airfoil to maximize lift coefficients, plus a high-capacity lithium polymer battery for a flight time of 30 minutes. After arriving at its destination, it transitions to a quadcopter, and produces high-resolution photographs and first-person view video through an on board flight computer system. Three different iterations of the aircraft, with increasing stability and performance, were designed, built and tested.