Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

There is a global shift of philosophy from manned aircrafts to unmanned aircrafts. UAVs are generally classified as Mini UAVs, Tactical UAVs, Strategic UAVs. This paper is a documentation concerning the development of the EMEAGLE, which is a fixed wing UAV, autonomous control being enabled. It also incorporates high-bandwidth communications and encoded video feedback for surveillance and reconnaissance. The airframe was designed for high lift, light weight and low drag, high maneuverability leading to selection of a body of composites, which is a combination of Carbon fiber, S-Glass, E-glass and resigns. On board control for the EMEAGLE consists of a Micro Pilot MP2028 autopilot, a two-way full duplex modem, digital cameras capable of infrared and visible video. Also a transmitter is included in order to stream real time video. The software for the ground control station is an intuitive graphical user interface ¿Horizon¿ which is interfaced with the aircraft in order to monitor its location and trajectory. The HORIZON ground control software comes bundled with the autopilot and it is inclusive of a user-friendly GUI.