UAV in Engineering Applications (English)

By Dr. E. Balasubramanian | National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai

Learners enrolled: 1091

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones are becoming widely used in multifaceted environments, agricultural, societal, defence, military, marine and many real world applications. They have been deployed with various payloads, sensors and even transportation of medical kits are feasible using UAVs. With an advent of drone technology, UAVs are integrated with machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms with on-board processing capabilities which are capable of precisely mapping natural features, performing reconnaissance and border surveillance as well. This course provides insight on basic design aspects of UAV including flapping and rotary wing UAVs, performance characteristics and diverse engineering applications of UAVs with case studies are enlightened. Experiences gained during the real deployment of UAVs for inspection of bridges, heritage structures, remote water bodies, environmental monitoring, 3D mapping with SWARM of UAVs and other novel application of UAVs are being shared. The DGCA rules and regulations, novel pay loads and future engineering applications of UAVs are being dealt in this course.

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	8 weeks
Category :	Teacher Education
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Continuing Education
Start Date :	15 Jul 2024
End Date :	31 Oct 2024
Enrollment Ends :	31 Aug 2024
Exam Date :	14 Dec 2024 IST
Exam Shift :	Shift-1

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Contact NC Support

Email id | swayam@nitttrc.edu.in, swayam@nitttrc.ac.in

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction, Classifications, Applications and Payloads of UAV

Motivation - Types of UAV – Characteristics – Fixed Wing – Rotary Wing – Flapping Wing – Basic Parts of UAV – Specifications – Applications – Pay loads of UAV

Week 2: Aerodynamics and Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis of UAV

Basics of Aerodynamics - Lift and Drag – Bernoulli Theories and Equations – Angle of Attack - Peculiarities of Multicopters – Wing Tip Vortices and Wake Turbulence - Stability – Turning Flight – Stall - Introduction to CFD – Fluid Governing Equations - Turbulence Models - External and Internal Flow -Modeling and Aerodynamic Analysis - Computational and Numerical Tools.

Week 3: Design, Assembly, Integration and Testing of Quadcopter

Design of Quadcopter – Selection of Sub Systems - Airframe Assembly – Integration of Electronic Systems – Firmware Loading and Parameter Set up - Calibration of Sensors – Tuning - Introduction to Ground Control Station – Flight Simulation – Autonomous Flight Path Planning – Testing of Quadcopter – Demonstration Videos.

Week 4: Industrial and Engineering Applications of UAVs

Need of UAVs for Industrial Applications - Development of UAVs for Powerline Inspection - Telecom Structure Inspection and Radiation Measurement – Bridge and Heritage Structure Inspection – Collection of Sea Weeds using UAV.

Week 5: Case study 1 : Development of Amphibious UAV for water quality monitoring

Conceptual Designs of Amphibious UAV - Design Parameters – CFD and FEA Analysis – Subsystems of Amphibious UAV - Selection of Components – Fabrication - Testing of Sub Systems – Integration of Sub Systems – Real Time Testing of Developed Amphibious UAV – Water Quality Sensors – Collection of Water Quality Data using IoT Platform.

Week 6: Case study 2: SWARM of UAVs for 3D Mapping using Stereo vision system

Stereo Vision Camera – Working Principle – Capturing of Point Cloud Data: Indoor and Outdoor Environment – Image Stitching – 3D Mapping. Path Planning Algorithms – Simulation Studies – Implementation of Developed Algorithm in UAV – Testing – Obstacle Avoidance. SWARM of UAVs : Simulation Studies – Line and Triangle Formation of UAVs : Demonstration Videos with UAV – Theoretical an Experimental Comparison – Discussion.

Week 7: Case study 3: Development of Flapping Wing Vehicle (FWV) and Image Based Control of Flocking of Birds

Flapping Wing Vehicle – Introduction – Lift and Drag Forces – Birds Motion – Angle of Attack – Measurement of Lift and Thrust Forces – Mechanism Design of FWV – Manufacturing of Micro Mechanism Components: Injection Moulding, Wire Cut EDM, 3D Printing – Selection and Assembly of FWV Components – Testing – Image Based Control of Group of FWVs – Demonstration Videos with FWV.

Week 8: DGCA Rules, Regulation and Future Engineering Application of UAVs

Drone Categories Based on All-up weight – Type Certification of UAVs - DGCA Rules for UAV Registration, Certification and Pilot Licensing - Remote Pilot Training Organization (RPTO) – Flying Zones – Future Engineering Applications of UAVs.

Books and references

1. Austin, R. (2011). Unmanned aircraft systems: UAVS design, development and deployment. John Wiley & Sons.

2. Fahlstrom P, Gleason T (2012) Introduction to UAV systems, 4th edn. Wiley, UK

3. Norris D (2014) Build your own quadcopter. McGraw-Hill Education, New York

4. Büchi R (2014) Radio control with 2.4 GHz. BoD–Books on Demand

5. Valavanis K. P.; Vachtsevanos, G. J., eds (2015): Handbook of unmanned aerial vehicles, Springer reference

6. Yang, L. J., & Esakki, B. (2021). Flapping Wing Vehicles: Numerical and Experimental Approach. CRC Press.

7. Sebbane, Y. B. (2022). A first course in aerial robots and drones. CRC Press.

Instructor bio

Dr. E. Balasubramanian

National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai

Dr. Balasubramanian Esakki received Ph.D. in the field of Robotics and Control at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. He is presently working as Associate Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chennai. He published three books, more than 100 Journal and International conference publications and 5 patents have been granted under his credit. He received grants from various Government of India funding programmes supported through Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and other funding agencies which includes various international collaborations such as Indo – Taiwan, Canada and South Korea. His team developed UAVs for diverse applications including power line inspection, telecom tower inspection and radiation measurement, bridge inspection, environmental monitoring, mining, infrastructure assessment, crop monitoring, pesticide spraying, surveillance and traffic monitoring etc. His team won the first prize in the National level competition organized by Power Grid Corporation Limited and prestigious telecom sector Aegis Graham bell award in the category of best innovative business model. He also carried out consultancy projects for diverse national agencies Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), ISRO and automobile sector. His research interests are UAVs, robotics, 3D Printing, Non linear control systems and sensors with online data acquisition systems.

Mr. K. Karthik
(Co-speaker)

A highly experienced aeronautical engineer with a specialization in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (drones) with ten plus years of industrial experience on micro, small, medium and large UAVs. Participated in 60+ various types of drone operational, demonstration and deployment missions (Crowd monitoring, SAR mission, ISR and product demonstration). Won second place in the UAV Challenge at Medical Express 2018, Queensland, Australia. DGCA-certified drone pilot. Strong knowledge of the DJI and Ardupilot platforms. Strong knowledge of UAS operations (VLOS, EVLOS, and FPV). Experience on micro, small, and large UAVs: manufacturing, assembly, integration of avionics systems, payload integration, GCS operation, flight-testing and tuning. Can fly multi-rotors and fixed-wing aircraft (electric and nitro). Extensive knowledge of multirotor tuning. Deployed more than 60 UAS operational missions. Trained 40+ police officers from the STF and Commando teams. Experience in long-range and endurance flight testing.

Mr. S. Subramanian
(Co-speaker)

He is an Aerospace Engineer and Entrepreneur from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has completed Masters in Engineering from MIT, Chennai. He is presently the Managing Director of M/S Indagatus Solutions (P) Ltd which is focused on delivering educational services to academics. In the past, he has been in the board of directors of Hexis Aerotech (P) Ltd and Steady Climb Academic Development Services (P) Ltd. He is involved in facilitating University Industry collaboration, enhancing research through linking facilities and suppliers with academics and promoting skill development programs among students through Indagatus portal. He is also a research scholar in MIT Aerospace Department. His research is on Gas Turbine Combustion and in the past, he has worked as research faculty in Vel Tech University, Chennai. He has guided students for various space competitions and his team has won awards from ISRO, NAFEMS and Hackathons. He has completed funded projects from Institute of Engineers India and from Nidhi Prayas- Department of Science and Technology. He has coordinated the Thermal and Deployment mechanism team for Vel Tech Student satellite Project. He has guided 8 international students in summer internship program from France, Lebanon and China. He is a member of Institute of Engineers (INDIA), Combustion Institute, and American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace (AIAA). He is a passionate speaker who has delivered more than 20 guest lectures and Invited talks (in INSPIRE programs, FDP on Small satellites, Defence startup Talk on MLR-Hyderabad, JDIET Nagpur, etc). In the research front, he has presented in more than 10 international conferences (including 51st Joint Aerospace Propulsion Conference, AIAA, Florida, USA, National Propulsion Conference, IIT B) and published 3 research papers in indexed journals.

Course certificate

"The SWAYAM Course Enrolment and learning is free. However, to obtain a certificate, the learner must register and take the proctored exam in person at one of the designated exam centres. The registration URL will be announced by NTA once the registration form becomes available. To receive the certification, you need to complete the online registration form and pay the examination fee. Additional details, including any updates, will be provided upon the publication of the exam registration form. For more information about the exam locations and the terms associated with completing the form, please refer to the form itself."

Grading Policy:

- Internal Assignment Score: This accounts for 30% of the final grade and is calculated based on the average of the best three assignments out of all the assignments given in the course.

- Final Proctored Exam Score: This makes up 70% of the final grade and is derived from the proctored exam score out of 100.

- Final Score: The final score is the sum of the average assignment score and the exam score.

Eligibility for Certification:

- To qualify for a certificate, you must achieve an average assignment score of at least 10 out of 30, and an exam score of at least 30 out of 70. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >=40/100.

Certificate Details:

- The certificate will include your name, photograph, roll number, and the percentage score from the final exam. It will also feature the logos of the Ministry of Education, SWAYAM, and NITTTR.

- Certificate Format: Only electronic certificates (e-certificates) will be issued; hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy Learning.

*********