Power minimization of fixed-wing drones for Venus exploration in various altitudes

Abstract

Abstract Venus has a harsh environment that makes its exploration especially difficult. Standard rovers like on Mars would not work as the intense temperature, and pressure would cause them to have a short operating time. At an altitude of about 55\u202fkm, Venus has an Earth-like atmosphere where a robotic system could survey for different features. A fixed-wing drone that can fly at this altitude would be practical. To obtain better information on Venus, the UAV can operate at lower altitudes until pressure and temperature operational limits are met. Then the drone can come back to an altitude of 55\u202fkm and alleviate until it is ready to go back into the lower altitudes. The atmospheric analysis is done to model Venus’ characteristics at lower altitudes between 0\u202fkm and 60\u202fkm. Functions are made that model the atmospheric properties of Venus, such as temperature, pressure, density, and viscosity. These modeled atmospheric properties are then used to investigate the wing and thrust loading of a fixed-wing UAV in Venus. The results from this wing and thrust loading investigation are that, as wing loading and altitude increase, thrust loading also increases. This general trend is not consistent for all flight modes. For the case analyzed, thrust loading decreases between 0\u202fN/m2 and 16\u202fN/m2, and increases between 17\u202fN/m2 and 80\u202fN/m2 for flight at a constant altitude and cruise speed. There is a specific wing loading that requires the minimum thrust loading for each flight mode and altitude. For flight at a constant altitude and cruise speed, the best wing loading to have is about 16.75\u202fN/m2. For flight at accelerated climb speed, the best wing loading to have is as low as it can be, in this case, it is 10\u202fN/m2. This study gives outlines for future steps of designing fixed-wing UAVs for Venus exploration.