Integrated Design and Analysis for Electric-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Optimization

This paper describes the design optimization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) using electric motors and batteries. The acoustic, exhaust emissions and thermal signatures are reduced compared to conventional propulsion systems by implementing electric propulsion. An optimization framework has been developed and implemented for the conceptual design of electric UAVs. An electric propulsion analysis program was develop and integrated with other analysis modules such as performance, mission, weight, and stability and control. A UAV configuration design optimization was performed by implementing the integrated analysis to enhance the endurance of electric powered UAVs.