Vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) of Schübeler Composite brings help from above

BAD LIPPSPRINGE, Germany - Sept. 26, 2014 - PRLog -- In a successfully three year collaboration representatives of German high-tech industry and aerospace engineering together with partners from the fields of Research developed in the research project "AVIGLE” a novel, widely applicable avionic service platform. The platform supports multiple high-tech services by using open interfaces. The result is an aerial robot that flies like a plane, but vertically takes off and lands. Schübeler Composite contributed to the project with its vast knowledge and experience of Fluid-flow machines and lightweight. The aerodynamic shape of the AVIGLE drone (Avionic Digital Service Platform) was developed at the RWTH Aachen University.

The drone addresses application fields such as areas of civil security, mobile communications, construction, GIS and surveying, but also the entertainment market and the media. The highlight is: the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is ready for use without infrastructure. For take-off and landing the wings are tilted 90 degrees upward, so that the two propellers - normally responsible for the propulsion - are turning into rotors for hovering. Accordingly, the drone does not need a runway, but can be used in open terrain. Flying in a horizontal line in turn has the advantage that it is more energy efficient than a helicopter flight.

AVIGLE envisions a swarm of flying robots, equipped with 3D-cameras, which are taking high resolution pictures of a region from different perspectives. This data is submitted to an evaluation system via a high performance communication network where a 3D virtual world is created in quasi real time. This model can support architects and city planners but also rescue personnel at civil protection organizations with their work or other situations where is to provide scarce resources for short-term cellular structure of dynamic wireless networks.

Participation in project

Bringing in its extensive know-how in the field of drive technology, lightweight and Fluid Machinery Schübeler Composite contributed significantly to the development of an innovative and impressive flight deck. Schübeler supported the evaluation in development, design and production of the flight platform. For this purpose, the company used numerical flow simulations and new non-autoclave production technologies. The construction of the airframes and associated strength and weight optimizations therefore were brought about. This among other things resulted in a wind tunnel model, which was used for design evaluation. The structure was optimized during the project for revised weight, strength and efficiency of the components. For this purpose, new manufacturing methods for composite structures were tested and implemented.

A mechanism for pivoting wing was developed for the drone, which is a tiltwing-model. In the driving area, the company took over the evaluation and deployment of the propeller blade designs (variable pitch propeller) as well as the preparation. The development of the adjustment mechanisms for wings and propellers were also implemented to realize the adaptation of the two flight modes: floating and horizontal flight.

Schübeler Composite moreover was responsible for selecting and providing the optimum energy supply as well as the development, design and tuning of the driving components. A lightweight chassis made ​​of carbon fiber with lithium polymer batteries finally was used. A flight time of 60 minutes at a take-off mass of 10 kg is now achieved with a payload mass of 1.5 kg. The speed of the high wing aircraft is at most 40 m / s. The drone has a wingspan and fuselage length of about 2m.

Transfer and result exploitation

Within the project Schübeler Composite was able to expand its knowledge in the field of flow simulation and lightweight construction and conducting intensive research into these topics. Important aspects of the know-how gained is incorporated into new products and the development of existing procedures and processes, so among other things the technical competence of the tiltwing will be transferred to other Tiltwing and Tiltrotor projects.

Thanks to the knowledge built up on the new production technology “vacuum infusion” during the project, this could be implemented in the company. It will be used for the production of lightweight structures with a non-autoclave production technology. In addition, the company will use the broadband usage of lightweight composite know-how as well as the application of CFD simulation methods at different prop projects. Furthermore the obtained FEM competence for viewing strength of structural components will be in use.

In the interdisciplinary research consortium Schübeler Composite collaborated with the universities TU Dortmund, RWTH Aachen and Münster, the research institutes Fraunhofer IMS and IMST as well as the high-tech companies - located in North Rhine-Westphalia - mimoOn GmbH, Aerowest GmbH, new media and its partner company Microdrones GmbH. The project was subsidized from means of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).