Mini Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAV) - A Review of the Parameters for Classification of a Mini UAV

Abstract

The advent of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has redefined the battle space due to the ability to perform tasks which are categorised as dull, dirty, and dangerous. UAVs re-designated as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are now being developed to provide cost effective efficient solutions for specific applications, both in the spectrum of military and civilian usage. US Office of the Secretary of Defense (2013) describes UAS as a “system whose components include the necessary equipment, network, and personnel to control an unmanned aircraft.” In an earlier paper, US Office of the Secretary of Defense (2005) specifies UAV as the airborne element of the UAS and defines UAV as “A powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload.” John (2010) provided an excellent historical perspective about the evolution of the UAVs. Although the UAVs were in existence in some form or the other, since the early twentieth century, Operation Desert Storm in 1991 witnessed the coming of age of the UAVs in the true sense. Today we have UAVs which can travel across continents to the ones which can fly in our drawing rooms, the end use dictating the design and technology associated with these flying machines. Austin (2011) defined Mini UAV, but with adequate scope for interpretation. As per the author, “Mini UAV relates to UAV of below a certain mass, probably below 20kg, but not as small as the MAV (Micro Air Vehicles), capable of being hand-launched and operating at ranges of up to about 30 km.” Over the years, various scholars continue to persist with similar vague definition of Mini UAVs and this has denied a common identity for Mini UAV across the scientific world and amongst manufacturers. The review is organized in the next sections as follows: ‘Classification of Mini UAV’ section examines the criteria for classifying UAVs in various published literature. The ‘Factors for Classification of UAV’ discusses various parameters for classifying UAVs. The next section analyses the work of various researchers to identify the criteria used for categorising the Mini UAV. In addition, the data of the fixed and rotary wing in production Mini UAVs have also been studied in this section. This is followed by discussion and analysis of the observations from the preceding sections. The contradictions and the necessity to define parameters have been explained. Finally, section 6 concludes the paper.