Gesang Nugroho

Avionic system design Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for disaster area monitoring

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Technology grew very fast. UAV is an aircraft that do not require cabin crew or a crew to operate it. Many developing countries were competing to develop this technology in a particular mission. UAV was originally developed for military purpose. Nowadays, it developed for civil purposes, such as for disaster area monitoring. Disaster area monitoring with an UAV is well suited for dangerous area that could not be reached safely. This research intends to design and discuss avionics system in an UAV that is used for disaster area monitoring mission. The first step of this research was identifying priority avionic system components for the UAV. The avionic components then were interfaced with autopilot system of the UAV. The avionic system was then installed in the UAV airframe. Performance of the avionic designed was tested with flight test. Wireless telemetry with Ground Control Station (GCS) was used for communication with UAV. It displayed real-time data on the UAVs such as the position, ground speed, altitude, airspeed, navigation and could be served as a “virtual cockpit”, by showing many of the same instruments as a real plane. Ground Control Station (GCS) is able to be used to control a UAV in flight, uploading new mission commands and setting parameters. It also used to monitor the live video streaming from the UAVs cameras. UAV flew by following the waypoint while taking video and photo. The obtained flight data shown that the UAV was able to track the given waypoint and it also able to fly in stable condition.

Machinability investigation of agel leaf fiber unsaturated polyester composite with CO 2 laser cutting machine

Determination of optimal cutting parameters is important in the CO2 laser cutting process to obtain good cutting result. In this experiment, agel leaf fiber/unsaturated polyester (ALF/UP) are being used as test specimen. Agel leaf fiber usage as composite reinforcement is in order to fulfill sustainability issue. The purpose of this study is to find the material removal rate (MRR) of laser cutting process of ALF/UP composites. Taguchis L27 orthogonal array was implemented in experiment to determine which parameter are most influential in the CO2 laser cutting process. ANOVA used to find which cutting parameters affect MRR the most. Four parameters from laser cutting machine, the laser power (36, 48, 60 W), the cutting speed (2, 4, 6 mm/s), the nozzle tip distance (24, 26, 28 mm), the cutting angle (0, 30, 45°), and one parameter from composite itself, the number of layers (4, 6, 8 layers) were used in the experiment. It was found that optimum MRR is obtained with 48W power and cutting speed of 6 mm/s. Another parameter such as nozzle tip distance and cutting angle have no significant effect to the MRR.

UAV long range surveillance system based on BiQuad antenna for the Ground Control Station

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that used in long-range surveillance missions need an optimal performance of signal communication. The goal of this system is to communicate between the UAV and ground station in real time. The maximal performances characteristics of antenna such as gain, Standing Wave Ratio (SWR), impedance, polarization, and frequency are important for the UAV communication. Nowadays, antennas are easy to find, but many of them are not appropriate because the characteristic and mission of antenna are not compatible. In this research, to optimize the communications between UAV and Ground Control System (GCS), we use BiQuad antenna for telemetry. Our BiQuad antenna has a vertical polarization which is made by two loops that work in the frequency of 433 MHz and it is the best performance. For higher performance, this antenna component is made by unusual BiQuad material such as Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for the reflector, Teflon cable to connect the element with RP-SMA connector, and without using RG-8 cable. BiQuad antenna simulated by using the MMANA-GAL software to analysis and simulation characteristic of antenna. The characteristic of these antenna based on the research SWR= 1.2, F/B = -0.14 dB, Impedance = 50.9 ohm, Gain = 11.24 dBi, and frequency 433 Mhz. Based on these data result, this antenna is very appropriate for UAV long-range surveillance missions.

Manufacturing Process and Flight Testing of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with Composite Material

The manufacturing process of lightweight and strong (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) UAV and composite aircraft flight testing capability is described in this research. Nowadays, UAV development becomes more creative and high technology. Mapping and monitoring process from a UAV will be more effective and efficient. Mapping and monitoring process needs high durability UAV so that development with lightweight and strong material is needed. Lightweight technology is very suitable applied in the UAV technology. The composite material has many benefits for an aerodynamics world. The composite material was made of fiberglass and resin, and this material was used in components that are not loaded to high loads. The aircraft industry uses fiberglass composites widely because of the stiffness, strength, and toughness of composite.This research was conducted by manufacturing an aircraft with a fiberglass composite. The first manufacturing process was making a master prototype from styrofoam and then the styrofoam master was used to make a mold. The next process is called hand lay-up in which fiberglass and resin were laid to the model to produce half side of the aircraft. The process refined by vacuum bag to obtain a thin, flat, and good surface of the aircraft. Aircraft flight testing is needed to obtain statistical of the stability in pitch, roll and altitude, so the data result will determine the feasibility of composite aircraft in this research. The flight data have shown that the aircraft has high stability on roll and pitch.

Effects of the Laser Head Distance and Cutting Speed of the Laser Cutting Machine in the Polymethyl Methacrylate Cutting Process

Laser cutting is a process used as an alternative of conventional machinery that works by directing the output of the laser power on the would be-cut material. Material exposed to the laser light is then melted, burned, and evaporated by the gas. Thus, this laser cutting process produces high-quality edge surface. The research aimed to determine the effects of the laser head distance and cutting speed to obtain minimum width of gap and the laser cutting process with the 3 mm-thick polymethyl methacrylate. This experiment used a 60 Watt-powered laser cutting machine to take the specimen in the form of a 30 mm-long horizontal line. The laser head distance ranged from 6 to 10 mm and cutting speed varied from 4 to 8 mm/s. A stereo zoom microscope with 30 times magnification was used to measure the gap. The research resulted in 0.582 to 0.931 mm as the value of the width gap in the cutting of 3 mm thick 60 Watts-powered polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The laser head distance and cutting speed contributed to the gap width of the product. The increased cutting speed and gap distance resulted in the smaller gap width.