This paper presents the design, analysis and optimization of a small-scale coaxial rotor aerial vehicle configuration. A review of current UAV platforms reveals a lack of options combining portability, endurance, and pay load capacity. A reduction in propulsion system weight and an expected improvement in flight performance motivates investigation of a new coaxial rotor configuration. Design analysis utilizes a configuration-independent modeling and analysis toolbox developed by the authors and supplemented with configuration-specific analyses. Design optimization is achieved using a NSGA-II algorithm producing a seven-dimensional Pareto frontier. A sensitivity analysis conducted identifies the contributions of selected design variables to the vehicle flight performance. Preliminary results indicate that the new configuration cannot simultaneously meet all the design objectives and that flight performance must be traded against size and portability.
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