Design and Fabrication of Low Cost Parachute Recovery System for SUAVs

Zakaria, M. Y.

doi:10.21608/asat.2013.22230

Design and Fabrication of Low Cost Parachute Recovery System for SUAVs

Document Type : Original Article

Author

M. Y. Zakaria

Egyptian Armed Forces, Egypt.

10.21608/asat.2013.22230

Abstract

The military has shown the most recent interest in small UAVs (SUAVs) for many reasons. A SUAV is much more portable than its large counterparts and requires only one operator. A smaller reconnaissance plane can assess ground targets at a closer range without being detected. We developed a recovery method for a designed SUAV short range reconnaissance in order to decrease fuselage failure probability during landing and also to save the SUAV for crashing due to flight testing while integration with the autopilot. Our Recovery parachute system Prototype was fabricated and tested under several flight conditions with remote control to examine inflation flight performance and tested with a designed SUAV case study (SAKR 2). The reliable feasibility of such a system will also be briefly considered. The findings of this work indicate that a PRS is capable of recovering these SUAV within an appropriate altitude. The low cost of implementation for a PRS also
make it financially cost effective. The PRS can save SUAV when deployed at altitude more than 30 meter and with maximum forward speed 70 km/hr.