Quadcopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Design for Search and Rescue (SAR)

The hard and challenging disaster terrain often hindered victim search processes which commonly use ground-based methods. UAVs were used to avoid this problem altogether, thus decreasing the victim search time. This research mainly focuses on the design of UAVs, specifically quadcopters, which are used for victim search. Our quadcopter UAV is designed to meet the requirements for SAR UAV systems, such as having a real-time response, stable flight, autonomous flight capability, and the ability to maintain its position and altitude. Commercial off-the-shelf components were used in this UAV. On the software side, an open-source autopilot firmware called ArduPilot is used. An observation points arrangement and UAV flight path for victim search operation is also described in this paper. The resulting UAV could take off at a maximum weight of 4kg. This research has not tested the maximum range and velocity of the UAV. Logging data of the UAV shows that the UAV is capable of maintaining altitude and position steadily, even though there are some wind disturbances. UAV is also capable of autonomous flights using 1 and 3 waypoints. UAV is also capable of completing a search mission scenario. Our UAV can also reach 30m height, which is more than enough for monitoring the disaster area.