Retractable landing aid for mini/micro uav

摘要

Title: Retractable Landing aid for Mini/Micro UAV Abstract: UAVs have different landing aids depending on the class of the aircraft. The Micro / Mini UAVs often do not have any landing aid and makes landing on its belly on ground. While the bigger ones like MALE and HALE UAV (including UCAVs) use conventional retractable landing gear and make use of runway for landing. Use of conventional landing gear has All-Up-Weight restrictions on smaller UAVs (micro, mini, tactical class) and hence alternate methods like parachute recovery with soft belly landing is deployed to prevent damage to payloads during recovery. Moreever user requirements may necessitate the UAV to be deployed in absence of runway (launching in forest/ hilly areas) which makes landing gear unnecessary. The RETRACTABLE LANDING AID is designed to be extremely light and at the same time meet the recovery requirements by absorbing the kinetic energy of impact. The retractable landing aid is made of flexible light spring steel wire (or composite) suitable to withstand the forces of impact by dissipating the kinetic energy during recovery. Before launching, the landing aid will be held in retracted position by a microswitch/ actuator. When the micro/ mini UAV is in visual range and approaches for landing, the microswitch releases the spring loaded landing aid and prevents the expensive payloads from damage. Since the landing aid comprises of a thin wire, the weight penalty of the landing aid mechanism and the aerodynamic drag, when held in retracted position under the wing/ fuselage, is minimal.