Numerical and experimental comparative performance analysis of emerging spherical-caged drones

Abstract As technology in the 21st century matures at a faster pace, one technology is taking major strides as an everyday utility: unmanned aerial vehicles. Spherical drones are an emerging technology to tackle environments that previous systems have had considerable trouble trying to navigate in. These systems have equal potential in both military and civilian applications. A spherical cage is designed for a traditional pusher quad-copter and fabricated out of low-cost 3D-printer materials including polylactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Autodesk Finite Element Analysis simulations are carried out to show stress and performance relations for the various material densities. Endurance and thrust to weight considerations are tested to further optimize the low-cost vehicle utilizing New Mexico State University's (NMSU) wind tunnel. The vehicle is also mounted to a thrust test stand from RCBenchmark that can measure RPM, power consumption, thrust, and torque. The effect of cage interference is compared with changing airflow interference so that different cage platforms can be installed for mission sets that require more protected or gapped configurations. Although every airframe will have slight changes in the methodology used for design, this reliable strategy can be the framework for future spherical drone prototyping.