Small Unmanned Aircraft Design
At AeroTestra, it has been our goal since 2012 to design and manufacture high quality vehicles with painstaking attention to every detail from materials to manufacturing processes to performance. The AeroTestra Mk09 effectively represents this effort through its superior performance in any measure of a vehicle of this type. Read further to learn what goes into and results from our unique approach to unmanned aircraft design.
Uni-body Fuselage Design
Most every vehicle you see today, utilizes an advanced method of chassis construction that combines an internal mechanical structure with a thin, stressed skin resulting in a light, rigid body capable of carrying substantial force loads. This is similar to the process AeroTestra began developing in 2012 to construct multirotor aircraft that could deal with the range of issues suffered by vehicles employing more conventional mechanical assemblies.
The Mk09 is different only in that the mechanical structure of the system is external to the thermoformed shell of the vehicle. The most illustrative example is that of an exoskeletal insect compared to an animal having a internal skeletal system. In the exoskeletal system, forces are equally distributed across the body while the internal skeletal structure tends to experience the effects of force more acutely.
The purpose of the mechanical structure is to create an architecture for appointing the various systems within the aircraft, including electrical supply, mechanical subsystems, and sensor payloads.
Primary Vibration Isolation
The main mechanical structure of the aircraft is designed to accommodate the placement of various systems required for vehicle operation. This main structure is isolated from the vibration generated in the fuselage by way of a series of shock absorbing devices. These “shocks” provide damping of high frequency vibrations that can compromise avionics and imaging sensors while still reliably tracking the vehicle’s attitude and vector.
Auto Pilot Mount
When considering how an autopilot system measures and react within that environment, it is critically important to create an environment silent any unwanted noise in the form of vibration or electromagnetic interference. In addition to the vibration isolation employed to reduce frequencies generated by the propellers, a secondary system focuses specifically on the autopilot mounting location. These systems protect the inertial navigation sensors resulting in stable reliable flight characteristics.
