Building a (basically) bulletproof drone
So what was the point of the project in general? What are the applications?
Embedding electronics within a structure can offer a number of benefits. For starters, fitting a sensor or processor directly into a structure can reduce weight, as separate mounting brackets are not required. There are some industries such as aerospace and motorsports where every single gram incurs a cost or performance penalty, so any opportunity for saving weight is to be welcomed.
Secondly, electronics like to be free from fluids, contaminants and other environmental effects. Encasing a component directly into a plastic can offer protection from dust, vacuum, water and other hazards. Although our drone was not totally airtight (we left it open for access to the USB controller), we know that in principle, we could hermetically seal it and protect the components from the environments. This is particularly useful underwater, in space or at high altitude.
And finally, from a regulatory point of view, ULTEM 9085 is certified for use in civil aviation and human spaceflight applications, due to its low outgassing characteristics, low toxicity and flammability ratings. We just wanted to demonstrate the applications of this aerospace plastic in a contextually relevant project. And we figured that a drone was the best way to show the capabilities of the plastic.
Oh, did I mention how tough the plastic is? With a tensile strength at yield of 83.4 MPa, ULTEM 9085 is stronger than certain types of aluminium, but at only 50 percent of the mass.
So it’s strong, lightweight, and basically bulletproof (depending on the thickness). Of course, we have yet to shoot it out of the sky to test the latter point.
It has, however, taken an uncontrolled drop from the sky when one of the power leads came loose, and survived to fly another day. So while our drone may not be as sexy as the latest offerings from the commercial drone manufacturers, but I would bet my last dollar that it can survive a greater fall.
Beat that DJI*.
*Disclaimer. We love the DJI products, and if DJI would like to send us some free flight controllers, IMUs and other flight hardware, then we would be more than happy to test them at high temperature, and see if we can make a high temperature variant of their products.
This article is from a monthly column called Final Frontiers. Click here to see the other articles in this series.
———
Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Phillip Keane/NTU.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
