Completed atmospheric unmanned aerial vehicles. Light medium-range UAVs

Unmanned aircrafts Nowadays, they allow us to solve a wide variety of problems, such as Peaceful time, and on the battlefield. After the war in Georgia, the command Russian army drew attention to the insufficient staffing of UAV troops. Since then, the industry has received an additional boost.

Types of unmanned aerial vehicles

Conventionally, drones are usually divided into three large categories:

• RPV - unmanned remotely piloted vehicles;
• Automatic UAVs;
• Uncontrolled UAVs.

• Heavy - have a ceiling of up to 20 km, can spend more than 24 hours in the air without refueling;
• Medium (sometimes called “midi”) - have a mass of up to 1000 kg, are able to spend 10-12 hours in the air and rise to a height of 9-10 km;
• Mini - 50 kg, can spend several hours in the air, ceiling is limited to 3-5 km;
• Micro - up to 10 kg, they cannot rise above a kilometer for about an hour in the air.

Types of unmanned aerial vehicles are often quite a relative concept. Especially nowadays high technology. Often UAVs appear on the market that do not fit into the usual classification.

Unmanned vehicles of Russia

In the 70-80s of the last century, the USSR was among the leaders in the production of drones; more than 900 Tu-134s alone were produced. But modern realities are such that we are forced to rely on the developments of foreign companies in the production of UAVs. But even taking into account foreign partners, Russian unmanned vehicles are mainly represented by reconnaissance UAVs. Main striking power Russian aviation is still entrusted to Russian pilots.

Civilian unmanned aerial vehicles are widely used in Russia. It is difficult to list all the areas for which the device of a UAV would not be a real panacea for many ills. Among the main advantages of using drones are their low cost, relatively low costs for fuel and maintenance. Patrolling fisheries or forests with manned aircraft will cost significantly more. And in the event of abnormal or emergency situations, the loss of a UAV does not pose a threat to human life. Drones are used for reconnaissance of the spread of forest fires, for security and patrolling.

Attack UAVs first appeared back in 1950, in the USA. Unmanned helicopters could, on command, go to the area where the submarine was supposed to be located and drop an anti-submarine torpedo with a homing system. The experiment was considered successful and the drone was in service with the US Navy until 1970. The most popular UAVs are now in service with the American army and are actively used in armed conflicts. These are models of helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper.

Unmanned vehicles in Russia are now actively being developed at the Sukhoi Design Bureau.

Helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles

IN this moment Unmanned aerial vehicles in Russia are mainly represented by aircraft-type UAVs. However, due to the obvious problems with the use of aircraft in the absence of prepared sites, the need to create a helicopter-type UAV device has long been overdue.

Helicopters are capable of taking off and landing vertically and hovering over a given point. This is important for many UAV applications. At the moment, helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles are being developed by only a few companies in the world.

We were among the first to appreciate the advantages of helicopter-type UAVs and from us you can purchase the following models of unmanned helicopters:

UAV device

Airplane and helicopter-type drones are extremely useful in civilian life and during military operations. Due to the absence of the need to carry a pilot, UAVs can free up significant volumes for transporting cargo, ammunition, or simply reduce their size and weight. This makes them simply indispensable in reconnaissance.

They also have a weak point. Unlike manned aircraft and helicopters, UAVs are completely dependent on communication channels. It is theoretically possible to give an enemy drone the wrong data, but it is even easier to simply clog the communication channel with interference. That is why many military experts are very skeptical about the use of attack UAVs in the fight against superbly equipped technical opponents. For civilian purposes, drones are often just the perfect solution.

The Technocom Group company sells equipment for unmanned aerial vehicles and the UAVs themselves. We have extensive experience working in Russia and all products are appropriately certified and tested.

Aircraft (fixed wing drones)

Advantages

High flight speed

High flight range

Flaws

Launch from a catapult

Landing by parachute or from the runway

Piloting skills required

Multicopters

Copters differ in the number of propellers - there can be 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or more. The most popular ones for 2015-2017 are quadcopters with 4 propellers, but there are also, as a rule, more lifting hexa- and octacopters.

Another possible optional design difference between multicopters is the foldability of the structure. There are several different models of copters available that fold easily for easy portability and are just as easy to prepare for use. Examples of such devices: AheadX Transdrone A4, China; Ascent AeroSystems Sprite; Snap, Vantage Robotics and PowerEgg, PowerVision Robot, China.

The direction of racing multicopters is spreading. Record for 2017.07 - 262.3 km/h

Advantages

Does not require a catapult or runway for takeoff

Energy efficiency - better than a copter due to the use of a larger diameter propeller

Ability to hover at a given point

Does not require a parachute or runway for landing

Flaws

Short flight time

Low flight speed

Relatively difficult piloting

A drone that takes off “like a helicopter” due to engines with propellers installed in a horizontal plane, and then moves “like an airplane” due to a pushing or pulling propeller installed in a vertical plane.

Companies leading the development of so-called logistics drones, for example, Airbus and Local Motors, are interested in this scheme.

Until recently, when a drone with a relatively high payload capacity was required, the choice was between helicopter-type UAVs and some aircraft models. In the tenth years of the 21st century, multi-rotor models with comparable characteristics began to appear. Some of the vehicles are military vehicles, often tiltrotors. There are also civilian models.

A drone that lands and takes off “like a helicopter”, due to the rotation of its engines, and in flight moves like an airplane supported by a fixed wing. The drone body remains horizontal. Alternatively, the motors can also remain in a fixed position, and the direction of the pull is determined by the deflection of the blinds.

Advantages

Copter-like take-off capability (does not require a catapult or runway)

ability to fly like an airplane

ease of use

Design Features

UAV engines rotate in a vertical plane or louvers that deflect the air flow in the desired direction. There is the use of canards - duct electric fans combined into blocks. By turning such canards, the drone can take off vertically and then move “like an airplane.” Tail canards also act as rudders.

LightingStrike strike drone developed by DARPA, Aurora Flight Sciences. A 3 MW (4 thousand hp) gas turbine engine is planned, 24 duct fans - 9 in each rotary wing and 3 in the rotary bow canards. 4.5 tons. Planned speeds are 740 km/h, payload is about 1.8 tons. Expected construction time is 2018. 2016.04.22. 1:5.

FireFLY6 PRO, BirdsEyeView Aerobotics, USA. Range up to 36 km. The platform can carry various payloads. The weight of the drone is about 4 kg. Continuous flight - up to 40 minutes on a single battery charge. Speed ​​is about 15-18 m/s. Announced in September 2016.

This is a UAV without an engine or with an engine, the power of which is insufficient to ensure constant keeping of the vehicle in the air, but is sufficient to adjust the course of the UAV in order to ensure its landing at a point with given coordinates or, for example, a prolonged stay of the vehicle in the air using updrafts . They may not have an engine, but use, for example, rudders and elevators controlled by an on-board processor to achieve the goals described above.

As a rule, they are intended for reconnaissance. The collected information is transmitted by radio to the control center via an escort aircraft or drone, or via satellite.

Examples: Cicada, TACAD, Pouncer

A vertical take-off drone that, once in the air, turns horizontally and flies like an aircraft-type drone. To land, such a drone returns to a vertical position and lands on special “ribs” extending from the wings and tail, which serve as its support. This design is distinguished from tiltrotors by the absence of rotating elements.

Advantages

ability vertical take-off like a copter (does not require a catapult or runway)

ability to fly like an airplane using a fixed wing

ability to hover at a given point

Energy efficiency is higher than that of a quadcopter

ease of use

Design Features

to change the mode from “take-off-landing” to “flight” the UAV is rotated in a vertical plane

Drones of atypical design, not mass-produced, unusual drone concepts. These are, for example: drones landing on water; drones with the ability to dive under water and take off from under water; drones with the ability to land on a vertical surface, able to attach themselves to it and climb on it; and so on. These also include monocopters - copters with a single propeller. And also UAVs with artificial feathers, allowing them to maneuver in a manner similar to birds.

The idea of ​​this design is to remove the heaviest part from the drone - the battery. In this case, the drone is connected to a ground power source - a power supply connected to an industrial current network or to a powerful battery. After which such an indicator as the time of continuous flight becomes very large - hours, days, weeks? Of course, such a drone, as a rule, does not fly back and forth, but remains in place, above the point where its power cable leads. Such systems can be used for two main purposes - providing surveillance using an on-board video camera (cameras) with the ability to view up to 360 degrees. Or a drone can serve as an antenna, which will allow a communication session to be carried out even in situations where this would not be possible from the ground due to the curvature of the surface of our planet.
Examples: PARC, CyPhy, USA; Tether Eye, AeroVironment, USA; Z18 UF, Drone Volt, France - the list is far from complete.

A number of existing drones are designed to fold for easy portability. Before use, such devices are laid out in preparation for launch. As a rule, this does not require the use of special skills or tools.

Examples: Agras, DJI, China; AheadX Transdrone A4, China; Ascent AeroSystems Sprite; Mavic PRO, DJI, China; Pocket Drone, Odyssey Toys, USA; PowerEgg, PowerVision Robot, China; Rotem, IAI, Israel; Snap, Vantage Robotics; S6, Wingsland, China; Yuneec Typhoon H and others.

Examples: Pocket Drone, Odyssey Toys; RoboBee, Harvard University, USA; Skeye Nano Drone, Skeeter.

Modular drones

Drones that can be assembled in various configurations depending on the task from unified modules.

2017.01.07. The originality of the idea is that the UAV is formed from unified quadcopter modules, their number in the UAV is determined by the cargo that needs to be transported. After delivery, the UAV can be reconfigured and again disassembled into individual quadcopter modules.

Conducting work on the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is considered one of the most promising courses in the development of current combat aviation. The use of drones or drones has already led to important changes in the tactics and strategy of military conflicts. Moreover, it is believed that in the very near future their importance will increase significantly. Some military experts believe that the positive development of drones is the most important achievement aircraft industry of the last decade.

However, drones are used not only for military purposes. Today they are actively involved in the “national economy”. With their help, aerial photography, patrolling, geodetic surveys, monitoring of a wide variety of objects are carried out, and some even deliver purchases home. However, the most promising developments new drones are being carried out today for military purposes.

Many problems are solved with the help of UAVs. Mainly, this is intelligence activity. Most of modern drones were created specifically for this purpose. IN last years more and more drums appear unmanned vehicles. Kamikaze drones can be identified as a separate category. UAVs can conduct electronic warfare, they can be radio signal repeaters, artillery spotters, and aerial targets.

For the first time, attempts to create aircraft that were not controlled by humans were made immediately with the advent of the first airplanes. However, their practical implementation occurred only in the 70s of the last century. After which a real “drone boom” began. Remote controlled aviation equipment It was not possible to realize it for quite a long time, but today it is produced in abundance.

As often happens, American companies occupy a leading position in the creation of drones. And this is not surprising, because funding from the American budget for the creation of drones was simply astronomical by our standards. So, during the 90s, three billion dollars were spent on similar projects, while in 2003 alone they spent more than one billion.

Nowadays, work is underway to create the latest drones with longer flight duration. The devices themselves must be heavier and solve problems in difficult environments. Drones are being developed designed to combat ballistic missiles, unmanned fighters, and microdrones capable of operating in large groups (swarms).

Work on the development of drones is underway in many countries around the world. More than one thousand companies are involved in this industry, but the most promising developments go straight to the military.

Drones: advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of unmanned aerial vehicles are:

• A significant reduction in size compared to conventional aircraft, leading to a reduction in cost and an increase in their survivability;
• The potential to create small UAVs that could perform a wide variety of tasks in combat areas;
• The ability to conduct reconnaissance and transmit information in real time;
• There are no restrictions on use in extremely difficult combat situations associated with the risk of their loss. During critical operations, multiple drones can easily be sacrificed;
• Reduction (by more than one order of magnitude) of flight operations in peacetime, which would be required by traditional aircraft, preparing the flight crew;
• Availability of high combat readiness and mobility;
• Potential to create small, uncomplicated mobile drone systems for non-aviation forces.

The disadvantages of UAVs include:

• Insufficient flexibility of use compared to traditional aircraft;
• Difficulties in resolving issues with communication, landing, and rescue of vehicles;
• In terms of reliability, drones are still inferior to conventional aircraft;
• Limiting drone flights during peacetime.

A little history of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

The first remote-controlled aircraft was the Fairy Queen, built in 1933 in Great Britain. It was a target aircraft for fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft guns.

And the first production drone to participate in a real war was the V-1 rocket. This German “miracle weapon” bombarded Great Britain. In total, up to 25,000 units of such equipment were produced. The V-1 had a pulse jet engine and an autopilot with route data.

After the war, they worked on unmanned reconnaissance systems in the USSR and the USA. Soviet drones were spy planes. With their help, aerial photography, electronic reconnaissance, and relay were carried out.

Israel has done a lot for the development of drones. Since 1978 they have had their first drone, the IAI Scout. During the 1982 Lebanon War, the Israeli army, using drones, completely destroyed the Syrian air defense system. As a result, Syria lost almost 20 air defense batteries and almost 90 aircraft. This affected the attitude of military science towards UAVs.

The Americans used UAVs in Desert Storm and the Yugoslav campaign. In the 90s, they became leaders in the development of drones. So, since 2012, they had almost 8 thousand UAVs of a wide variety of modifications. These were mainly small army reconnaissance drones, but there were also attack UAVs.

The first of them, in 2002, eliminated one of the heads of al-Qaeda with a missile strike on a car. Since then, the use of UAVs to eliminate enemy military forces or its units has become commonplace.

Types of drones

Currently, there are a lot of drones that differ in size, appearance, flight range, and functionality. UAVs differ in their control methods and their autonomy.

They can be:

• Uncontrollable;
• Remote controlled;
• Automatic.

According to their sizes, drones are:

• Microdrones (up to 10 kg);
• Minidrones (up to 50 kg);
• Mididrons (up to 1 ton);
• Heavy drones (weighing more than a ton).

Microdrones can stay in the air for up to one hour, minidrones - from three to five hours, and middrones - up to fifteen hours. Heavy drones can stay in the air for more than twenty-four hours while making intercontinental flights.

Review of foreign unmanned aerial vehicles

The main trend in the development of modern drones is to reduce their size. One such example would be one of the Norwegian drones from Prox Dynamics. The helicopter drone has a length of 100 mm and a weight of 120 g, a range of up to one km, and a flight duration of up to 25 minutes. It has three video cameras.

These drones began to be produced commercially in 2012. Thus, the British military purchased 160 sets of PD-100 Black Hornet worth $31 million to conduct special operations in Afghanistan.

Microdrones are also being developed in the United States. They are working on special program Soldier Borne Sensors, aimed at developing and deploying reconnaissance drones with the potential to obtain information for platoons or companies. There is information about plans by the American army leadership to provide individual drones to all soldiers.

Today, the RQ-11 Raven is considered the heaviest drone in the US Army. It has a mass of 1.7 kg, a wingspan of 1.5 m and a flight of up to 5 km. With an electric motor, the drone reaches speeds of up to 95 km/h and stays in flight for up to one hour.

It has a digital video camera with night vision. The launch is done manually, and no special platform is needed for landing. The devices can fly along specified routes in automatic mode, GPS signals can serve as landmarks for them, or they can be controlled by operators. These drones are in service with more than a dozen countries.

The US Army's heavy UAV is the RQ-7 Shadow, which conducts reconnaissance at the brigade level. It went into serial production in 2004 and has a two-fin tail with a pusher propeller and several modifications. These drones are equipped with conventional or infrared video cameras, radars, target illumination, laser rangefinders, and multispectral cameras. Guided five-kilogram bombs are suspended from the devices.

The RQ-5 Hunter is a mid-size half-ton drone developed jointly by the US and Israel. Its arsenal includes a television camera, a third generation thermal imager, laser rangefinder and other equipment. It is launched from a special platform using a rocket accelerator. Its flight zone is within a range of up to 270 km, within 12 hours. Some modifications of Hunters have pendants for small bombs.

The MQ-1 Predator is the most famous American UAV. This is a “reincarnation” of a reconnaissance drone into an attack drone, which has several modifications. The Predator conducts reconnaissance and carries out precision ground strikes. It has a maximum take-off weight of more than a ton, a radar station, several video cameras (including an IR system), other equipment and several modifications.

In 2001, a high-precision laser-guided Hellfire-C missile was created for it, which next year used in Afghanistan. The complex has four drones, a control station and a satellite communications terminal, and it costs more than four million dollars. The most advanced modification is the MQ-1C Gray Eagle with a larger wingspan and a more advanced engine.

The MQ-9 Reaper is the next American attack UAV, which has several modifications and has been known since 2007. It has a longer flight duration, controlled aerial bombs, and more advanced radio electronics. The MQ-9 Reaper performed admirably in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. Its advantage over the F-16 is its lower purchase and operating price, longer flight duration without risk to the life of the pilot.

1998 - the first flight of the American strategic unmanned reconnaissance aircraft RQ-4 Global Hawk. Currently, this is the largest UAV with a take-off weight of more than 14 tons, with a payload of 1.3 tons. It can stay in the airspace for 36 hours, while covering 22 thousand km. It is assumed that these drones will replace U-2S reconnaissance aircraft.

Review of Russian UAVs

What is at the disposal of the Russian army these days, and what are the prospects for Russian UAVs in the near future?

"Bee-1T"- Soviet drone, first flew in 1990. He was a fire spotter for systems volley fire. It had a mass of 138 kg and a range of up to 60 km. He took off from a special installation with a rocket booster and landed by parachute. Used in Chechnya, but outdated.

"Dozor-85"- reconnaissance drone for the border service with a mass of 85 kg, flight time up to 8 hours. The Skat reconnaissance and attack UAV was a promising vehicle, but work has been suspended for now.

UAV "Forpost" is a licensed copy of the Israeli Searcher 2. It was developed back in the 90s. "Forpost" has a take-off weight of up to 400 kg, a flight range of up to 250 km, satellite navigation and television cameras.

In 2007, a reconnaissance drone was adopted "Tipchak", with a launch weight of 50 kg and a flight duration of up to two hours. It has a regular and infrared camera. "Dozor-600" is a multi-purpose device developed by Transas, which was presented at the MAKS-2009 exhibition. It is considered an analogue of the American Predator.

UAVs "Orlan-3M" and "Orlan-10". They were developed for reconnaissance, search and rescue operations, and target designation. Drones are extremely similar in their appearance. However, they differ slightly in their take-off weight and flight range. They take off using a catapult and land by parachute.

Drones in Lately are becoming more widespread. They are beginning to be used everywhere: in the air, on water and on land. Scientists around the world have high hopes for unmanned devices and expect that in the future there will not be a single area where they will not be used. Today these devices are one of the most promising directions in the development of military technologies. Their use has already led to a significant change in combat tactics.

It is planned that significant changes will occur in the civilian sector. By 2025, the global drone technology market will grow several hundredfold, displacing many existing operational processes. The cost of the devices is gradually decreasing, and with their introduction into large-scale production, they will cost quite a bit, which will lead to their widespread use.

Kinds

INair . UAVs are increasingly used, since it is much easier to control an aerial drone, because there are practically no obstacles in the air. These are a variety of flying military robots, drones for photo and video filming, entertainment devices, airships, including units delivering goods and parcels.

UAV by purpose:

• Commercial or civil . They are designed for transporting goods, construction, fertilizing fields, scientific research etc.

• Consumer . In most cases, they are used for entertainment, for example, for racing, shooting high-altitude videos, and so on.

• Combat. They have a complex design and are used for military purposes.

By design, aerial drones can be of the following types:

• Fixed wing drones . Their advantages include greater range and flight speed.
• Multicopters . They can have a different number of propellers: from 2 to 8. The propellers of some models can be folded.
• Drones helicopter type.
• Convertiplanes . The peculiarity of such models is that they take off “like a helicopter”, and in flight they move like an airplane, relying on their wings.
• Gliders or gliders . These devices may be motorized or motorless. In most cases, they are used for reconnaissance operations.
• Tailsitters . To change the flight mode, the UAV rotates its structure in a vertical plane.
• Exotic . These devices have an atypical design, for example, devices that can land on water, take off from it and dive into it. They can also be devices that land on a vertical surface and can climb along it.
• Tethered drones . Their peculiarity is that energy is supplied to such a drone via a wire.
• Miniature .
• Modular .

Ground drones . Their design is created taking into account the presence of numerous obstacles and objects that may be under the wheels. It is also necessary to take into account the type of soil. In this case, military developments have great prospects.

On smooth surfaces the situation is somewhat different. Many companies developing the civilian automotive sector are working in this direction. Current laws limit the introduction of such devices. But today there are already certain advances that will make it possible to introduce these cars in the coming years.

Water drones. These are tankers, submarines, robotic fish, and so on. Inventors are constantly improving devices, creating robotic water striders, jellyfish, and fish.

Space drones. Their peculiarity is that they are incredibly complex and precise devices that do not tolerate errors. Huge amounts of money are allocated for their production, but mostly single copies are created.

Device

Unmanned flying devices in most cases consist of the following basic elements:

• Device for regulating screw speed.
• Propeller.
• Engine.
• Flight controller.
• Frame.

The basis of a flying machine is the frame. It is on this that all elements are installed. In most cases, it is made from polymers and various metal alloys. The flight controller controls the drone. It receives signals from the control panel. The controller includes a processor, a barometer, which determines altitude, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a GPS navigator, a random access memory device, and a signal receiving device.

Motors, governors and propellers are responsible for the flight of the drone. Using the regulator, the speed of the flying vehicle is set. The battery is the source of energy for the engine, as well as other elements of the drone. Commercial and consumer drones are controlled using a remote control. Military units are controlled using both remote control and satellite systems.

The design of ground-based drones is somewhat different from flying ones. Most developers use existing vehicles, which integrates controls, cameras, sensors and sensors. According to the degree of automation, these can be completely autonomous devices or units that are controlled partially or completely by a person, but at a distance. Military ground drones can be miniature in the form of worms and snakes and huge in the form of tanks, mine clearers, landing vehicles and infantry vehicles.

The design of civilian vehicles is made taking into account the following elements:

• Laser, sound, infrared and other sensors.
• Navigation that connects electronic cards and GPS system.
• Server with batteries and software.
• Automated controls, which include the engine control system, steering wheel control, and brake system.
• Transmission.
• A wireless network through which control can take place, programs, maps and other data can be downloaded.

Operating principle

Commercial and consumer drones are in most cases controlled using a remote control. However, there may also be fully automatic devices. Remote controller remote control sends signals to the controller.

The controller processes the received signals and then sends commands to various elements of the drone. For example, a signal to increase speed causes the propeller to spin faster, which leads to increased speed and movement of the drone.

Fully automated ground vehicles lack the typical controls found in standard cars. There are no pedals or steering wheel. The passenger only needs to activate, that is, indicate the destination where he needs to go, or deactivate the system.

Self-driving cars usually have a variety of sensors that help them navigate in space. Their basis, for example, can be a 64-beam light rangefinder, which is installed on the roof of the car. Using this device, a detailed map of the space around the machine is generated. The car then combines the information received with high-precision maps and processes them.

As a result, he can move around avoiding any obstacles that arise. There are also other sensors and devices on the car, including bumper radars, front and rear view cameras, inertial meters, and wheel sensors that allow you to determine the position and track the movement of the car.

Application

• Civilian ones are used in industry, agriculture, security and logistics operations.
• Systems using drones and special software can autonomously survey the required terrain, creating two or three-dimensional maps. In addition, they can receive visual data that will help builders and architects make the right decisions in construction, electrical supply and so on.
• Taxi and air taxi without driver. A person only needs to call a taxi on his gadget for it to come to him and take him to the desired location. At the moment, such possibilities are only being tested, but in the future this will be the way the majority of citizens will go about their business.
• Unmanned vehicles open up enormous opportunities for the military. There is no longer any need to risk people's lives to complete the task. Military equipment can be operated by an operator thousands of miles away. Tanks and planes may even become fully automated. It will be enough to load the program into them for them to complete the task. Already today there are drones that can fire missiles and drop bombs.

The military is also creating smaller devices in the form of insects, worms and snakes. They can be used unnoticed for reconnaissance and even destruction of targets. For example, a drone in the form of a wasp can attack an enemy, piercing him with its sting and releasing a deadly poison.

• Unmanned vehicles can be used to deliver cargo, pizza, mail or medicine.
• UAVs help fight poachers, detect fires and landfills, plant forests, inspect clearings, and keep records of animals in the herd.

In recent years, a large number of publications have appeared on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to solve topographic problems. This interest is largely due to their ease of operation, efficiency, relatively low cost, efficiency, etc. The listed qualities and the availability of effective software for automatic processing of aerial photography materials (including the choice necessary points) open up the possibility of widespread use of software technical means unmanned aircraft in the practice of engineering and geodetic surveys.

In this issue, with a review of technical means of unmanned aircraft, we open a series of publications about the capabilities of UAVs and the experience of using them in field and desk work.

D.P. INOZEMTSEV, project manager, PLAZ LLC, Saint Petersburg

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: THEORY AND PRACTICE

Part 1. Review of technical means

HISTORICAL REFERENCE

Unmanned aerial vehicles appeared in connection with the need to effectively solve military problems - tactical reconnaissance, delivery of military weapons (bombs, torpedoes, etc.) to their destination, combat control, etc. And it is no coincidence that their first use is considered to be the delivery of bombs by Austrian troops to a besieged Venice with help balloons in 1849. A powerful impetus for the development of UAVs was the emergence of radio telegraphs and aviation, which made it possible to significantly improve their autonomy and controllability.

Thus, in 1898, Nikola Tesla developed and demonstrated a miniature radio-controlled vessel, and already in 1910, the American military engineer Charles Kettering proposed, built and tested several models of unmanned aerial vehicles. In 1933, the first UAV was developed in Great Britain.

reusable, and the radio-controlled target created on its basis was used in the Royal Navy of Great Britain until 1943.

The research of German scientists who gave the world in the 1940s was several decades ahead of its time. jet engine And cruise missile"V-1" as the first unmanned aerial vehicle used in real combat operations.

In the USSR, in the 1930–1940s, aircraft designer Nikitin developed a torpedo bomber-glider of the “flying wing” type, and by the early 40s, a project for an unmanned flying torpedo with a flight range of 100 kilometers and above was prepared, but these developments did not turn into real designs.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War interest in UAVs has increased significantly, and since the 1960s, their widespread use has been noted to solve non-military problems.

In general, the history of UAVs can be divided into four time stages:

1.1849 – beginning of the twentieth century - attempts and experimental experiments to create UAVs, formation theoretical foundations aerodynamics, flight theory and aircraft calculations in the works of scientists.

2. Beginning of the twentieth century - 1945 - development of military UAVs (projectile aircraft with a short range and flight duration).

3.1945–1960 - a period of expansion of the classification of UAVs by purpose and their creation primarily for reconnaissance operations.

4.1960 - present day - expansion of the classification and improvement of UAVs, the beginning of mass use for solving non-military problems.

UAV CLASSIFICATION

It is well known that aerial photography, as a type of remote sensing of the Earth (ERS), is the most productive method of collecting spatial information, the basis for creating topographic plans and maps, creating 3D models relief and terrain. Aerial photography is carried out both from manned aircraft - airplanes, airships, trikes and balloons, and from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Unmanned aerial vehicles, like manned ones, are of airplane and helicopter types (helicopters and multicopters are aircraft with four or more rotors with main rotors). Currently in Russia there is no generally accepted classification of aircraft-type UAVs. Missiles.

Ru together with the portal UAV.RU offers modern classification Aircraft-type UAV, developed based on the approaches of the UAV International organization, but taking into account the specifics and situation domestic market(classes) (Table 1):

Short-range micro- and mini-UAVs. The class of miniature ultra-light and lightweight devices and complexes based on them with a take-off weight of up to 5 kilograms began to appear in Russia relatively recently, but already quite

widely represented. Such UAVs are intended for individual operational use at short ranges at a distance of up to 25–40 kilometers. They are easy to operate and transport, they are foldable and positioned as “portable”; they are launched using a catapult or by hand. These include: Geoscan 101, Geoscan 201, 101ZALA 421-11, ZALA 421-08, ZALA 421-12, T23 “Aileron”, T25, “Aileron-3”, “Gamayun-3”, “Irkut-2M”, “ Istra-10",

“BROTHER”, “Curl”, “Inspector 101”, “Inspector 201”, “Inspector 301”, etc.

Lightweight short-range UAVs. This class includes slightly larger aircraft - with a take-off weight from 5 to 50 kilograms. Their range is within 10–120 kilometers.

Among them: Geoscan 300, “GRANT”, ZALA 421-04, Orlan-10, PteroSM, PteroE5, T10, “Eleron-10”, “Gamayun-10”, “Irkut-10”,

T92 “Lotos”, T90 (T90-11), T21, T24, “Tipchak” UAV-05, UAV-07, UAV-08.

Lightweight, medium-range UAVs. A number of domestic models can be classified as this class of UAVs. Their weight varies between 50–100 kilograms. These include: T92M "Chibis", ZALA 421-09,

“Dozor-2”, “Dozor-4”, “Pchela-1T”.

Medium UAVs. The take-off weight of medium-sized UAVs ranges from 100 to 300 kilograms. They are intended for use at ranges of 150–1000 kilometers. In this class: M850 “Astra”, “Binom”, La-225 “Komar”, T04, E22M “Berta”, “Berkut”, “Irkut-200”.

Medium-heavy UAVs. This class has a range similar to that of the previous class of UAVs, but has a slightly larger take-off weight - from 300 to 500 kilograms.

This class should include: “Hummingbird”, “Dunham”, “Dan-Baruk”, “Stork” (“Yulia”), “Dozor-3”.

Heavy medium-range UAVs. This class includes UAVs with a flight weight of 500 kilograms or more, designed for use at medium ranges of 70–300 kilometers. In the heavy class are the following: Tu-243 “Flight-D”, Tu-300, “Irkut-850”, “Nart” (A-03).

Heavy UAVs with long flight duration. The category of unmanned aerial vehicles is quite in demand abroad, which includes the American UAVs Predator, Reaper, GlobalHawk, Israeli Heron, Heron TP. There are practically no samples in Russia: Zond-3M, Zond-2, Zond-1, Sukhoi unmanned aerial systems (BasS), within the framework of which a robotic aviation complex (RAC) is being created.

Unmanned combat aircraft (UCA). Currently, work is actively underway around the world to create promising UAVs that have the ability to carry weapons on board and are designed to attack ground and surface stationary and mobile targets in the face of strong opposition from enemy air defense forces. They are characterized by a range of about 1,500 kilometers and a weight of 1,500 kilograms.

Today in Russia there are two projects presented in the BBS class: “Proryv-U”, “Scat”.

In practice, UAVs weighing up to 10–15 kilograms (micro-, mini-UAVs and light UAVs) are usually used for aerial photography. This is due to the fact that with an increase in the take-off weight of a UAV, the complexity of its development increases and, accordingly, the cost, but the reliability and safety of operation decreases. The fact is that when landing a UAV, energy E = mv2 / 2 is released, and the greater the mass of the vehicle m, the greater its landing speed v, that is, the energy released during landing grows very quickly with increasing mass. And this energy can damage both the UAV itself and property on the ground.

An unmanned helicopter and a multicopter do not have this drawback. Theoretically, such a device can be landed at an arbitrarily low speed of approach to the Earth. However, unmanned helicopters are too expensive, and copters are not yet capable of flying long distances, and are used only for shooting local objects (individual buildings and structures).

Rice. 1. UAV Mavinci SIRIUS Fig. 2. UAV Geoscan 101

ADVANTAGES OF UAV

The superiority of UAVs over manned ones aircraft is, first of all, the cost of work, as well as a significant reduction in the number of routine operations. The very absence of a person on board the aircraft greatly simplifies the preparatory activities for aerial photography.

Firstly, you don’t need an airfield, even the most primitive one. Unmanned aerial vehicles are launched either by hand or using a special take-off device - a catapult.

Secondly, especially when using an electric propulsion circuit, there is no need for qualified technical assistance to maintain the aircraft, and measures to ensure safety at the work site are not so complex.

Thirdly, the inter-regulatory period of operation of a UAV is absent or much longer than that of a manned aircraft.

This circumstance has great importance when operating an aerial photography complex in remote areas of our country. As a rule, the field season for aerial photography is short; every fine day must be used for surveying.

UAV DEVICE

two main UAV layout schemes: classical (according to the “fuselage + wings + tail” scheme), which includes, for example, the Orlan-10 UAV, Mavinci SIRIUS (Fig. 1), etc., and the “flying wing”, which includes include Geoscan101 (Fig. 2), Gatewing X100, Trimble UX5, etc.

The main parts of an unmanned aerial photography system are: body, engine, on-board control system (autopilot), ground control system (GCS) and aerial photography equipment.

The UAV body is made of lightweight plastic (such as carbon fiber or Kevlar) to protect expensive camera equipment and controls and navigation, and its wings are made of plastic or extruded polystyrene foam (EPP). This material is lightweight, quite durable and does not break upon impact. A deformed EPP part can often be restored using improvised means.

A lightweight UAV with a parachute landing can withstand several hundred flights without repair, which usually includes replacing wings, fuselage elements, etc. Manufacturers are trying to reduce the cost of parts of the body that are subject to wear, so that the user’s costs for maintaining the UAV in working condition are minimal.

It should be noted that the most expensive elements of the aerial photography complex are the ground control system, avionics, software, - are not subject to wear at all.

The UAV's power plant can be gasoline or electric. Moreover, a gasoline engine will provide a much longer flight, since gasoline, per kilogram, stores 10–15 times more energy than can be stored in the best battery. However, such a power plant is complex, less reliable and requires considerable time to prepare the UAV for launch. In addition, a gasoline-powered unmanned aerial vehicle is extremely difficult to transport to a work site by plane. Finally, it requires highly qualified operators. Therefore, it makes sense to use a gasoline UAV only in cases where a very long flight duration is required - for continuous monitoring, for examining particularly remote objects.

An electric propulsion system, on the contrary, is very undemanding in terms of the qualifications of the operating personnel. Modern batteries can provide a continuous flight duration of over four hours. Servicing an electric motor is not difficult at all. Mostly this is only protection from moisture and dirt, as well as checking the voltage of the on-board network, which is carried out from the ground control system. The batteries are charged from the on-board network of the accompanying vehicle or from an autonomous electric generator. The brushless electric motor of a UAV has virtually no wear and tear.

Autopilot - with an inertial system (Fig. 3) - the most important element UAV control.

The autopilot weighs only 20–30 grams. But this is a very complex product. In addition to a powerful processor, the autopilot contains many sensors - a three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer (and sometimes a magnetometer), GLO-NAS/GPS receiver, pressure sensor, airspeed sensor. With these devices, an unmanned aerial vehicle will be able to fly strictly on a given course.

Rice. 3. AutopilotMicropilot

The UAV has a radio modem necessary for downloading the flight mission, transmitting telemetric data about the flight and the current location at the work site to the ground control system.

Ground control system

(NSU) is a tablet computer or laptop equipped with a modem for communication with the UAV. An important part of the NCS is software for planning a flight mission and displaying the progress of its implementation.

As a rule, the flight mission is compiled automatically, according to given contour area object or nodal points of a linear object. In addition, it is possible to design flight routes based on the required flight altitude and the required resolution of photographs on the ground. To automatically maintain a given flight altitude, it is possible to take into account in the flight mission digital model localities in common formats.

During the flight, the position of the UAV and the contours of the photographs taken are displayed on the cartographic background of the NSU monitor. During the flight, the operator has the opportunity to quickly redirect the UAV to another landing area and even quickly land the UAV using the “red” button of the ground control system. Upon command from the NCS, other auxiliary operations can be planned, for example, parachute release.

In addition to providing navigation and flight support, the autopilot must control the camera to take pictures at a given frame interval (as soon as the UAV has flown the required distance from the previous photographing center). If the pre-calculated frame interval is not maintained stably, you have to adjust the shutter response time so that even with a tailwind, the longitudinal overlap is sufficient.

The autopilot must register the coordinates of the photographing centers of the GLONASS/GPS geodetic satellite receiver so that the automatic image processing program can quickly build a model and tie it to the terrain. The required accuracy in determining the coordinates of photographing centers depends on the technical specifications for performing aerial photography work.

Aerial photography equipment is installed on a UAV depending on its class and purpose of use.

Micro- and mini-UAVs are equipped with compact digital cameras, equipped with interchangeable lenses with constant focal length(without zoom or zoom device) weighing 300–500 grams. SONY NEX-7 cameras are currently used as such cameras.

with a 24.3 MP matrix, CANON600D 18.5 MP matrix and the like. The shutter is controlled and the signal from the shutter is transmitted to the satellite receiver using standard or slightly modified electrical connectors of the camera.

Lightweight short-range UAVs are equipped with SLR cameras with a large photosensitive element, for example CanonEOS5D (sensor size 36×24 mm), NikonD800 (matrix 36.8 MP (sensor size 35.9×24 mm)), Pentax645D (CCD sensor 44x33 mm, 40 MP matrix) and the like, weighing 1.0–1.5 kilograms.

Rice. 4. Layout of aerial photographs (blue rectangles with number signatures)

UAV CAPABILITIES

According to the requirements of the document “Basic provisions for aerial photography performed to create and update topographic maps and plans” GKINP-09-32-80, the carrier of aerial photography equipment must extremely accurately follow the design position of aerial photography routes, maintain a given echelon (photographing height), and ensure compliance requirements maximum deviations in camera orientation angles - tilt, roll, pitch. In addition, navigation equipment must provide the exact time of operation of the photo shutter and determine the coordinates of photographing centers.

The equipment integrated into the autopilot was indicated above: a microbarometer, an airspeed sensor, an inertial system, and navigation satellite equipment. Based on the tests carried out (in particular, the Geoscan101 UAV), the following deviations of the actual shooting parameters from the specified ones were established:

The deviation of the UAV from the route axis is in the range of 5–10 meters;

Photography height deviations are in the range of 5–10 meters;

Fluctuation in photographing heights of adjacent images - no more

“Herringbones” that appear during flight (reversals of images in the horizontal plane) are processed automated system photogrammetric processing without noticeable negative consequences.

Photographic equipment installed on a UAV allows you to obtain digital images of the area with a resolution of better than 3 centimeters per pixel. The use of short-, medium-, and long-focus photographic lenses is determined by the nature of the resulting finished materials: be it a relief model or an orthomosaic. All calculations are made in the same way as in “large” aerial photography.

The use of a dual-frequency GLO-NASS/GPS satellite geodetic system to determine the coordinates of the centers of images allows, in the process of post-processing, to obtain the coordinates of the centers of photography with an accuracy of better than 5 centimeters, and the use of the PPP (PrecisePointPositioning) method allows one to determine the coordinates of the centers of images without using base stations or at a considerable distance from them.

The final processing of aerial photography materials can serve as an objective criterion for assessing the quality of the work performed. To illustrate, we can consider the data on assessing the accuracy of photogrammetric processing of aerial photography materials from a UAV, performed in the PhotoScan software (manufactured by Agisoſt, St. Petersburg) based on control points (Table 2).

Point numbers	Errors along coordinate axes, m				Abs, pix	Projections
(ΔD)2= ΔХ2+ ΔY2+ ΔZ2

UAV APPLICATION

In the world, and recently in Russia, unmanned aerial vehicles are used in geodetic surveys during construction, for drawing up cadastral plans of industrial facilities, transport infrastructure, settlements, summer cottages, in surveying to determine the volume of mine workings and dumps, taking into account traffic bulk cargo in quarries, ports, mining and processing plants, to create maps, plans and 3D models of cities and enterprises.

3. Tseplyaeva T.P., Morozova O.V. Stages of development of unmanned aerial vehicles. M., “Open information and computer integrated technologies”, No. 42, 2009.