Forum: Drones

Hey all, this hasn't got to do anything with Vipers but with all the expertise here. I guess this is the perfect place to ask a thing or two.

My group and I have come up with an unmanned aerial vehicle for our school's final year project. We've completed the model plane and have even test flown it. The problem is, immediately after take off, it just goes into a vertical climb and starts rolling. We presume that it has got to do with the overwhelming power of the motor. We also seem to have a huge problem controlling the plane. The control surfaces seem to be totally ineffective.

So my question is, what do you guys think went wrong that he plane went into such an attitude and also the lack of maneuverability? Any suggestions on what we can overcome these problems?

Thanks very much in advance.

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Active Member Joined: Nov 29, 2004 - 01:40 PM Posts: 146

To help you answer your questions, we are going to need more info from you.

You mentioned that you have already modeled and test flown the plane. How did you do this? Is it radio controlled or in a computer?

What is your design based off of?

Just how much power is "overwhelming power of the motor"?

But without any further info from you, it sounds like you have a control system problem.

Possibly way off CG too....

The roll might be getting induced from motor torque if this hasn't been compensated for. Much more info is needed

Can you post pics??

I would have to agree....we need to know if its a radio controled aircraft or is it a computer program? My first guess would be a CG thats too far aft for the verticle climb and some simple rigging issues for the rolling problem. Is it a prop plane? Did you factor in some offset thrust to compensate?

We took the design from basic RC trainer planes. and yes, it's a model controlled airplane. the motor that we got can provide enough thrust for a model that's 2kg heavy whereas ours just weighs 700grams. Sorry I don't have any pictures nor videos. So I guess if we were to correct the problem of the control surfaces, it's to increase it's surface area and possible deflection? oh yes how do we go about compensating the torque?

Thanks for the help guys. I owe it to all of you if we do well for this project . Wink

Forum: Drones

UAV school project - Help appreciated