DESIGN OF A PROTOTYPE UNMANNED LIGHTER-THAN-AIR PLATFORM FOR REMOTE SENSING: CONTROL, ALIMENTATION, AND PROPULSION SYSTEMS

This work presents several aspects related to the design of a new concept for a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), specifically, a Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) platform for the remote sensing of medium-sized rural and urban areas. The airship’s payload is intended to carry an array of sensors ranging from high-definition video cameras to hyperspectral sensors, a thermographic camera, and a LiDAR system, which all require power alimentation during low-speed surveying for fine mapping. Here, a fuel cell design solution, combined with supercapacitors, is proposed. The system is designed to provide energy for both the onboard sensors and the propulsion and thrust vector control system. In this regard, the design and optimization of the propeller blades, using Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT), is discussed as well, in a multidisciplinary optimisation fashion. A twin paper describes the other structural aspects of the airship design.