High Altitude Surveillance and Reconnaissance Vehicle

The team researched the optimization of flight paths for solar panel performance at high altitude and designed a vehicle to meet the following requirements: achieve completely autonomous flight with human oversight and GPS tracking; be completely solar-powered with battery backups for emergency situations; remain within a 500-meter radius airspace; have a constant flight period of one month; maintain a steady altitude of 10,000 feet to 12,000 feet; operate a 40+ megapixel camera; and have a minimum communications bandwidth of 256 Kbps.

Further endurance benefits were analyzed by changing the release mechanisms to ensure quicker stability response. Static and dynamic stability were optimized for increased endurance.