2. Professors
  3. GIANNETTI Flavio
  4. Teaching

UNMANNED AIR VEHICLES: THEORETICAL BASES AND APPLICATIONS

Flavio GIANNETTI UNMANNED AIR VEHICLES: THEORETICAL BASES AND APPLICATIONS

0622300050
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
EQF7
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
2024/2025



YEAR OF COURSE 2
YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2018
AUTUMN SEMESTER
CFUHOURSACTIVITY
660LESSONS
FLAVIO GIANNETTI T Curriculum
Objectives
THE COURSE IS AIMED AT PROVIDING THE STUDENT WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKING AND OPERATION PRINCIPLES OF UAVS (UNMANNED AIR VEHICLES), WITH EMPHASIS ON THE ASPECTS MOST RELEVANT TO THEIR MODELING AND SIMULATION. PART OF THE COURSE WILL BE DEVOTED TO LABORATORY ACTIVITIES WHERE STUDENTS ARE GUIDED IN THE DIMENSIONING, CONSTRUCTION AND CONFIGURATION OF A SMALL MULTICOPTER
AT THE END OF THE COURSE THE STUDENT WILL HAVE ACQUIRED:

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
INTERDISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORKING PRINCIPLES OF UAVS, UNDERSTANDING OF THE ARCHITECTURE AND COMPONENTS OF UAVS, KNOWLEDGE OF THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF UAV GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION, BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF UAV EUROPEAN REGULATION.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: ABILITY TO DIMENSION, ASSEMBLE AND CONFIGURE A MULTICOPTER;

AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT:
THE STUDENT MUST BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE MOST APPROPRIATE METHODOLOGIES FOR THE STUDY, DIMENSIONING AND CHOICE OF THE COMPONENTS OF UAVS.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
THE STUDENT IS REQUIRED TO ILLUSTRATE THE CHARACTERISTICS AND OPERATION OF UAVS USING AN APPROPRIATE AND CLEAR TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY. THE STUDENT WILL ACQUIRE PROFITABLE KNOWLEDGE FOR APPROACHING THE JOB MARKET. TEAM WORKING, WITH AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH, WILL BE DEVELOPED.

LEARNING SKILLS:
THE STUDENT IS REQUIRED TO BE ABLE TO APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED TO CONTEXTS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE PRESENTED DURING THE COURSE, AND TO FURTHER ELABORATE ON THE COVERED TOPICS USING TEXTBOOKS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE PROPOSED.
Prerequisites
FOR THE PROFITABLE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE COURSE OBJECTIVES A BASIC KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED OF THE NOTIONS TAUGHT IN THE COURSES OF FLUID MECHANICS, ELECTROTECHNICS AND MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS




Contents
• INTRODUCTION (THEORY 2H)
CLASSIFICATION OF UAV SYSTEMS AND THEIR HISTORICAL EVOLUTION. COMPONENTS OF A UAV SYSTEM. DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN CONCEPT.

• PRINCIPLES OF AERONAUTICS (THEORY 10H)
AIRCRAFT AERODYNAMICS, AERODYNAMIC LIFT AND DRAG. POLAR OF THE AIRCRAFT. PRINCIPLES OF MULTICOPTER FLIGHT AND FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT. STATIC STABILITY, WEIGHTS AND CENTERING, PAYLOAD. LIMITATIONS, FLIGHT ENVELOPE AND AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE. ELEMENTS OF METEOROLOGY.

• PROPULSION SYSTEMS (THEORY 5H)
CHARACTERISTICS AND PERFORMANCE OF PROPELLERS. ACTUATOR DISK THEORY. TYPES OF ENGINES. ELEMENTS OF ELECTRIC MOTORS FOR UAVS. BATTERIES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.

• FLIGHT MECHANICS (THEORY 5H)
AXES OF ROTATION AND MOVEMENTS IN FLIGHT. EQUATIONS OF MOTION.
BALANCE AND STABILITY OF AIRCRAFT. LONGITUDINAL AND LATERO-DIRECTIONAL STABILITY. STABILITY DERIVATIVES AND THEIR ESTIMATION.

• OVERVIEW OF CONTROL SYSTEMS AND AUTOPILOTS (THEORY 10H)
DYNAMIC MODELS AND CONTROLLER DESIGN FOR UAVS. MICROCONTROLLERS, ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLER, ACTUATORS, SENSORS AND PARAMETER MEASUREMENTS. AUTOPILOTS AND THEIR COMPONENTS: CONTROL, GUIDANCE, AND NAVIGATION SYSTEMS. TYPE OF MISSION AND MISSION PLANNING.

• EXAMPLES OF CIVIL AND MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF UAV SYSTEMS (THEORY 2H)

• LABORATORY ACTIVITY (26H)
CONSTRUCTION OF A SMALL MULTIROTOR USING THE THEORETICAL CONCEPTS EXPLAINED IN THE FIRST PART OF THE COURSE: CHOICE OF AIRFRAME AND CONFIGURATION, DIMENSIONING AND CHOICE OF COMPONENTS, ASSEMBLY AND WIRING OF ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND SENSORS, INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION OF AN AUTOPILOT.
Teaching Methods
THE COURSE CONSISTS OF A TOTAL OF 60 HOURS (6 CFU) OF TEACHING, DIVIDED IN: 34 HOURS OF LECTURES AND 26 HOURS OF PRACTICAL LABORATORY ACTIVITIES: THE STUDENTS, DIVIDED INTO GROUPS, WILL BE GUIDED IN THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND CONFIGURATION OF A SMALL UAV USING THE THEORETICAL NOTIONS INTRODUCED DURING THE COURSE.
Verification of learning
THE SUCCESSFUL ACHIEVEMENT OF COURSE OBJECTIVES WILL BE ASSESSED THROUGH AN ORAL INTERVIEW AND THE PRESENTATION/DISCUSSION OF A PROJECT AIMED AT DEEPENING SOME ASPECTS RELATED TO THE OPERATION, DESIGN AND USE OF UAVS.
THE FINAL MARK WILL BE EXPRESSED IN THIRTIETHS, CONSIDERING THE RESULTS OF THE INTERVIEW AND THE ASSESSMENT OF THE PROJECT AND WILL TAKE INTO ACCOUNT:
- THE QUALITY OF THE EXPOSITION, IN TERMS OF USE OF APPROPRIATE SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE
- THE CAPACITY OF CROSS-CORRELATION BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT TOPICS OF THE COURSE AND, WHERE POSSIBLE, WITH
OTHER DISCIPLINES
- JUDGMENT INDEPENDENCE
THE MINIMUM MARK (18/30) IS OBTAINED THROUGH A CORRECT MODELLING FORMULATION AND SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOPICS COVERED DURING THE COURSE (WITH PARTICULAR RELEVANCE TO THE AERODYNAMICS, THE MODELLING OF THE VARIOUS UAV SYSTEMS AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF A MULTIROTOR CONTROL SYSTEM).
THE STUDENT REACHES THE LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE IF IS ABLE TO DEAL WITH UNUSUAL PROBLEMS (OR PROBLEMS NOT EXPRESSLY COVERED DURING THE COURSE), DEMONSTRATING AN IN-DEPTH THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARCHITECTURE AND OF THE OPERATING PRINCIPLES OF A MULTIROTOR.
Texts
TEXTBOOKS:
1) Q. QUAN. INTRODUCTION TO MULTICOPTER DESIGN AND CONTROL, SPRINGER 2017
FOR THE PART CONCERNING AERODYNAMICS AND PROPELLERS:
2)J. ANDERSON. INTRODUCTION TO FLIGHT. MC GRAW-HILL
3)LEZIONI DI AERODINAMICA DELL’ALA ROTANTE: ELICHE, ROTORI ED AEROMOTORI CON UN’INTRODUZIONE ALL’AERODINAMICA INSTAZIONARIA, RENATO TOGNACCINI DISPENSE DEL DIP. DI INGEGNERIA INDUSTRIALE, UNIV. DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI “FEDERICO II”

ADDITIONAL READING MATERIALS:
4)R. W. BEARD & T. W. MC LAIN. SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: THEORY AND PRACTICE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
5)Y. B. SEBBANE. A FIRST COURSE IN AERIAL ROBOTS AND DRONES. TAYLOR & FRANCIS CRC PRESS.
6) Q. QUAN. MULTICOPTER DESIGN AND CONTROL PRACTICE, SPRINGER 2020
7) V. LOSITO. ELEMENTI DI AERONAUTICA GENERALE, ACCADEMIA AERONAUTICA DI POZZUOLI 1983
8)HTTPS://WWW.EASA.EUROPA.EU/REGULATIONS#REGULATIONS-BASIC-REGULATION
9)HTTPS://WWW.ENAC.GOV.IT/SICUREZZA-AEREA/DRONI/NORMATIVA-DRONI
More Information
THE SUBJECT IS DELIVERED IN ITALIAN.
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