The report details the design of a wildfire management system consisting of a swarm of electrically-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) engaging in pre-, active- and post-fire operations. Specifically, the system monitors key parameters in wildfire detection and spread modelling, simultaneously providing a mobile communication network supporting emergency responders acting on the ground. At an altitude of 850m, necessary measurements can be taken with a three-meter ground resolution. The vehicles have a fixed-wing, single-propeller configuration, allowing a five-hour endurance. The swarm comprises twenty surveillance and five relay units, with five backup units stationed on the ground for contingency management. All necessary hardware for a swarm fits neatly into two standard twenty-foot shipping containers. After taking off from an electronically-activated deployable launch rail, the UAVs are capable of autonomous flight. The swarm intelligence is based on zig-zag flight patterns inside Voronoi sectors generated from wildfire risk maps dynamically updated by the UAVs' sensors. Ground operations are limited to monitoring the system state, as autonomous contingent behaviour is also accounted for. Assuming a maximum fire spread rate of 2.5 m/s, the system is capable of detection in 16 minutes on average. This is a competitive performance compared to existing fire detection methods such as satellites and aeroplanes. After flying, the UAVs return to the ground station and land autonomously using an arresting gear, removing the need for runways and landing gear. A financial analysis of the system reveals a cost of 750,000 USD per swarm, proving its competitiveness in price and performance compared to available market options. It is concluded that such a system is technically and financially feasible and can realistically impart a positive change to wildfire management efforts worldwide. ... Read more

As climate change becomes more and more apparent, it is necessary to find sustainable methods for future aviation. The battery industry is rapidly developing, allowing for batteries with more power density which make more electric aviation possible. As the average aerobatic flight is only 30-40 minutes, it is the perfect category to test these new electric methods. By using this information, the following mission need and project statement can be formulated. ... Read more

Bush planes are general aviation aircraft, that enable transportation to remote areas, where there is no infrastructure supporting regular aviation. Their main features are the taildragger configuration, a short take off and landing distance (STOL) and they offer the ability to land on rough terrain. Paradoxically, although they are the aircraft most directly related to nature, bush planes are often old, polluting and loud, and thus far from being environmentally friendly. To partially overcome these disadvantageous characteristics, Group 12 designed a stateoftheart bush plane, using the principle of distributed propulsion, called the Twin Puffin. In order to design a bush plane, first an understanding is required of the needs and desires of the stakeholders. For this, a market analysis is performed and from this it can be concluded that the aircraft will serve for three main purposes: transport, medical emergency missions and tourism. After obtaining the insight into the market of bush planes, all possible design options are listed. Pruning of unfeasible, unrealistic and inapplicable options is done to end up with seven aircraft concepts. From those concepts, the most suitable and promising is then selected. The aircraft is chosen to be a twin boom concept, therefore the name Twin Puffin was chosen for the design. Following, the design is worked out in detail, where all the subsystems are designed. The fuselage, the structure of the plane, the energy source, the wing, the propulsion system, the empennage, landing gear and electrical systems are designed and optimised, so the final aircraft design is finalised. Inspired by Nature, the bush plane is named the Twin Puffin. ’Twin’ following the distinctive twinboom empennage, and the ’Puffin’, from the bird with a stubby display and a master of short takeoff and landing on the ocean cliffsides, a real inspiration for a STOL aircraft. The featured twin boom empennage make aft loading of cargo or a medical stretcher easy. Furthermore, the distributed propulsion is placed on the wing’s leading edge, allowing unobstructed view during all flight phases, solving the typical visibility issues of a traditional bush plane. The distributed propellers are powered by a hybrid engine using both electricity from batteries and power generated by an internal combustion engine that can run on diesel, jet fuel, and suitable types of biofuels. This allows for an increase in available power and a local reduction in the emissions and noise during electricallypowered takeoff and landing. Furthermore, the distributed electric propulsion lead to excellent STOL characteristics, as the blown air over the wing allow for a large increase in lift at low speeds. Moreover, the Twin Puffin is primarily built of the sustainable material flax fibre composite, making the aircraft more environmentally friendly. The Twin Puffin is estimated to produce 70% less noise and 50% emission, compared to competing aircraft and is thereby a modern, impressively performing bush plane design. ... Read more

Radar technique advancements have made it possible to equip lightweight aircraft with radar systems. These systems can help determine the relative position of the world around the aircraft. Performing calculations on the incoming radar signals, it is possible to determine the locations of the ground elements in the aircraft body of reference, which can be done using Direction of Arrival Estimation (DAE) in a lateral setting, as a Side Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR). Using traditional computing techniques for image processing as well as two pre-trained image segmentation machine learning algorithms, it is possible to identify the aforementioned structural elements onto a satellite image to determine the actual position of the aircraft. As a consequence, navigation may be possible alongside Global Positioning Systems (GPS) methods, through obtaining the coordinates of the aircraft based on radar images. Experiment results show that a high accuracy identification rate is possible, based on large features, such as highways, within the radar image. ... Read more