HYDERABAD: TWorks, the State government’s latest incubation facility, test flew a fully 3D printed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on Thursday about 50 km from Hyderabad. The test results will be used to analyse the structural and aerodynamic properties for future applications of 3D printed UAVs.
The series of experiments by TWorks will serve as a testbed for new autonomous technologies and has the potential of 3D printing applications in the aerospace industry.
The UAV features various 3D printed parts from materials such as PLA (Polylactic Acid), ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) and HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene).
The aircraft weighed 1.5 kg with an estimated top speed of 200 kmph and was designed, 3D printed and assembled in-house at TWorks.
Sujai Karampuri, CEO of TWorks, explained, “3D printing allows low-risk and fast track prototyping. People have spent 400-500 hours shaping every single part of a model aircraft with balsa wood and plywood. Today, prototyping has become so easy wherein we only need to design on computers and 3D printers will bring our creations to reality.”
This aircraft took 100 hours to design and 3D print, after which the parts were slot fitted and assembled without nuts, bolts or screws.
The team experimented with different internal ‘infill’ structures and found a honeycomb-like structure to be most effective and lightweight for the purpose of structural strengthening for thin-walled structures.
The team also developed a custom lithium-polymer battery pack and found innovative ways to use microcontrollers for serial communication which significantly reduced cost and complexity.