Design and Flight Testing of a Rocket-Launched Folding UAV for Earth and Planetary Exploration Applications

With the advances in Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles' (UAVs) control capabilities, advances in additive manufacturing technology, and miniaturization of components new opportunities have arisen for the application of UAVs to applications such as search and rescue, high-altitude surveying, and planetary exploration. UAVs can now be rapidly prototyped and manufactured to suit many applications. They have been proven to have the capability to survey large areas and perform complex scientific missions during flight. Recently, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter performed a series of powered, controlled flights on another planet. Planetary exploration applications of UAVs pose challenges that are unique in comparison to terrestrial ones. Among these challenges are the deployment of UAVs, as well as the significant area required to be covered by a UAV conducting aerial surveying. Current applications rely on surface deployment of the UAV after successful landing of a primary payload, such as the Mars Perseverance rover. Deploying a UAV at altitude comes with the benefits of increased flight time and range associated with the mission profile being activated at an elevation above the planetary surface. Utilizing a morphological airframe results in a smaller pre-deployment footprint, which would allow for multiple UAVs to be packed into a single payload cannister and deployed progressively during descent. This paper presents the design and development of a low-cost, 3D printed, folding UAV for terrestrial and extra-planetary exploration applications using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components. The flight systems are designed in such a way that the UAV can self-arm, re-orient if required, and acquire a stable hover pose before landing at a pre-determined GPS location. Other than employing GPS navigation for landing, the UAV will require no external input. The paper will also cover the design and development of a deployment system using a small high-power rocket to simulate atmospheric deployment of the UAV. Testing will aim to demonstrate the viability of deploying UAVs from a payload cannister during atmospheric injection. The project is unique in that it utilizes a novel method for deploying a UAV from a carrier vehicle while in ballistic descent, allowing for atmospheric insertion of multiple small-form-factor UAVs for planetary exploration purposes.