Hazardous Particle Detection via Unmanned Air Vehicles: Optimal Placement of Sensors in Forward Flight

摘要

This project explores means of enhancing the efficiency of bio/chem/nuclear hazard detection in the atmosphere by unmanned air vehicles (UAV). Specifically, the study seeks to discover if and where the placement of sensors on UAV's can maximize the volume of space that is brought into contact with the sensor. A hybrid gridfree/finite volume numerical flow simulation methodology that is adept at modeling complex flow scenarios provides the basis for the analysis. This study focuses on the use of an unmanned helicopter in collecting particle data. Clear evidence is found that the judicious placement of sensors on the UAV can profoundly affect the efficiency with which the atmosphere can be surveyed for hazards. In particular, for the geometry considered here, sensor placement in the tail section of a helicopter in forward flight is found to enable sampling particles that originate from relatively widely separated forward positions. Future work should be devoted to optimizing sensor placement for particular geometries under a range offlight conditions.