group
What campus are you from?
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Stanlie Cerda-Cruz, Senior Ishai Masada, Senior
Lead Presenter's Name
Stanlie Cerda-Cruz
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr.Drakunov
Abstract
The increased accessibility of 3D printers allowed labs to research novel propulsion methods for Micro Arial Vehicles (MAVs), such as toroidal propellers and electric ducted fans (EDFs), both of which minimize the vortices produced by standard drone blades. Wingtip vortices lead to significant noise pollution, an environmental concern, and cause efficiency loss in propulsion, a problem for hobbyists or research groups. Other factors, such as wake contraction on open rotors, negatively affect the system's efficiency, all of which can be mitigated with EDFs. With the rapid expansion of small and micro-drone use, labs can benefit monetarily from manufacturing drone fans and EDFs instead of buying them fully assembled with standard propellers. This study aims to assess the efficiency gains, minimize wake noise, and evaluate the feasibility and practicality of producing EDF ducts and rotors for MAVs in the laboratory. In addition, it seeks to assess novel post-processing smoothing techniques to improve the flow parameters of plastic fused deposition modeling (FDM) components. The surface quality of 3D-printed plastics, both Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Polycarbonate (PC), can be enhanced with dichloromethane vapor smoothing and/or acetone smoothing. This research ultimately aims to increase the accessibility of drones to labs and students while strengthening autonomous control systems and mitigating environmental concerns associated with MAVs, all at a low cost.
Did this research project receive funding support from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
No
EDF FDM for MAVs
The increased accessibility of 3D printers allowed labs to research novel propulsion methods for Micro Arial Vehicles (MAVs), such as toroidal propellers and electric ducted fans (EDFs), both of which minimize the vortices produced by standard drone blades. Wingtip vortices lead to significant noise pollution, an environmental concern, and cause efficiency loss in propulsion, a problem for hobbyists or research groups. Other factors, such as wake contraction on open rotors, negatively affect the system's efficiency, all of which can be mitigated with EDFs. With the rapid expansion of small and micro-drone use, labs can benefit monetarily from manufacturing drone fans and EDFs instead of buying them fully assembled with standard propellers. This study aims to assess the efficiency gains, minimize wake noise, and evaluate the feasibility and practicality of producing EDF ducts and rotors for MAVs in the laboratory. In addition, it seeks to assess novel post-processing smoothing techniques to improve the flow parameters of plastic fused deposition modeling (FDM) components. The surface quality of 3D-printed plastics, both Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Polycarbonate (PC), can be enhanced with dichloromethane vapor smoothing and/or acetone smoothing. This research ultimately aims to increase the accessibility of drones to labs and students while strengthening autonomous control systems and mitigating environmental concerns associated with MAVs, all at a low cost.