Drone aircraft (UAV) fuel measurement

UAV’s are making rapid technological advances as a growing industry strives to leap frog existing designs with the next generation of planes.
 
Unmanned flight has the benefit of eliminating human exposure to dangerous airspace with the added benefits of lower cost surveillance and increased stealth. The most common uses of a UAV are to make observations, collect data, or make a delivery. Typical payloads include:

• Infra-red and other light and heat sensors
• Radar sensors
• Ordnance and rescue/support equipment
• Chemical and environmental sensors

 
Collection of data is the most common use of a UAV. UAV’s can penetrate areas and locations without risk to human life, and collect data that can be critical in assessing the next stage of an operation or mission. Data gathering may require covering long distances and an extended time aloft, so fuel consumption is a key performance criterion. Time aloft must be predictable and fuel consumption verifiable to make full use of each UAV deployment.  
 
Armed with accurate fuel efficiency data, the designer has the option of trading fuel payload for added operational payload. In the design and servicing of hyper fuel efficient engines, the high resolution of the Max Model 213 gives the engineer the ability to evaluate the impact of every change in vehicle weight, flight profile or engine performance. The efficiency gains with each new design can be small and incremental, making those gains difficult to resolve. Only a flow meter with high accuracy and high resolution can provide test data that is adequate for design verification.

Based on this need for high resolution, Max has supplied flow meters to over a dozen UAV related companies. The combination of the Model 213 meter and Model 295 transmitter weighs in at less than 3 lbs and the overall dimensions are 2.5" square by 6" tall. The output signals available include 1,000 pulse/cc, 0-10Vdc or 0-20mA.