Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems
This 16-week, 46 hour course is designed to expose students to the many aspects of UAS. The course brings an understanding for the broad application of UAS in the workforce, discusses certifications, and qualifications as related to the aerospace industry career field. Currently over 41 countries are utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and, as of 2008, the U.S. Military owned more unmanned aircraft than manned aircraft.
The course is organized into four modules:
Module 1: Foundations
Introduction to UAS
UAS certifications and requirements
Aerodynamics
Module 2: UAS Development
Parts of an airplane & aircraft performance
Structures and fabrication, and aircraft components
Reliability, availability, maintainability (RAM)
Module 3: UAV Flight Operations
UAV Guidance, navigation, and Ccntrol
UAV Payloads, power, and communications
UAS Personnel, operations, and careers
Module 4: UAS Operations
UAS missions
Ground control station components
History of UAS, systems engineering, engineering design process
Unmanned Aircraft Systems I
This 16-week, 46 hour courses will delve deeper into UAV system design, with an emphasis on air vehicle design considerations and responsiveness to customer requirements. The student will gain a conceptual framework of how the components of a UAS come together to form a complete system. This course will form the basis of all subsequent study.
The course is organized into nine modules plus the final week:
Module 1: System Design – Basic Concepts
Deck clearing
System components & relationships
Payload types & considerations
Platform classes & categories
Communication (protocols and radio propagation)
Controls stations & autopilots
Personnel
Launch/recovery & other system interfaces
Module 2: Customer Requirements as a Driver of Design & Function
Types of customers
Types of missions
Module 3: Basic Aerodynamics, Energy, Power, & Performance
Four forces of flight
Angle of attack, climbing & diving, trim, stalls
Power, powerplants, and performance
Module 4: Air Vehicle Aerodynamics and Performance
Form follows function
Turning flight maneuvers
Module 5: Vehicle Design and Configuration
Rotorcraft aerodynamics
Operational impact of air vehicle configuration
Module 6: Structures
Simple brams, free-body diagrams & loads
Monocoques & shells, design limits, and operational issues
Module 7: Materials, Reliability, Degradation
Materials, suitability of materials to various applications
Wear and fatigue, accident investigation
System reliability, faults and failures
Module 8: Availability and Maintainability
System availability and maintainability, field maintenance
Module 9: Certification and Regulation of Air Vehicles and Systems
Overview of regulatory environment
Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs)
