BUAA unmanned helicopter

The Falcon Hawk (Sun Ying or Sunying, 隼鹰) is an unmanned helicopter in conventional helicopter layout with a pair of skids as landing gear, and it is designed for various missions such as crop dusting, aerial surveying, phototopography and cinematography. The helicopter made its public debut on November 6, 2004, when it won the first place in the rotary wing category in the “Flying Leopard Cup” (Fei-Bao Bei or Feibaobei, 飞豹杯) Aerial Robotic Competition. The Falcon Hawk differs from later models developed by BUAA in that it lacks the aerodynamic fairing later models have. The model is no longer marketed, and has since been replaced by more advanced UAV models.[1]

The F-120 is also an unmanned helicopter in conventional helicopter layout with a pair of skids as landing gear, and it was designed for the same missions as the Falcon Hawk: crop dusting, aerial surveying, phototopography and cinematography. The helicopter has the following specifications:[2]

• Rotor diameter: 3.6 m (12 ft)
• Height: 1.2 m (3.9 ft)
• Length: 0.8 m (2.6 ft)
• Empty weight: 60 kg (130 lb)
• Payload + fuel: 45 kg (99 lb)
• Endurance: 2 hr
• Range: 120 km (75 mi)
• Max speed: 90 km/h (56 mph)
• Cruising speed: 60 km/h (37 mph)
• Ceiling: 2.5 km (1.6 mi)
• Temperature: −45 to 50 °C (−49 to 122 °F)
• Engine: 20 kW (27 hp) gasoline engine

The FH-1 is an unmanned coaxial helicopter developed by BUAA, and it shares the same airframe with another Chinese unmanned helicopter, the TTA FH-1. As a result, the dimensions and performance of both unmanned helicopters are similar. However, the BUAA FH-1 has slightly larger main rotors and is 20% heavier than the TTA FH-1, and thus has a lower operational ceiling and slower maximum speed, despite its engine being 50% more powerful than that of the TTA FH-1. The maximum wind speed allowed for operation is also lower for the BUAA FH-1 than the TTA FH-1. The extreme similarity between the two unmanned helicopters is the result of BUAA selling its design to other Chinese UAV manufacturers to produce. In some instances, these Chinese UAV manufacturers developed their own design by making modifications to the original BUAA design. TTA's FH-1 is one of these modified versions of the BUAA design. Specifications:[3]

• Main rotor diameter: 2.6 m (8.5 ft)
• Height: 1.3 m (4.3 ft)
• Length: 0.8 m (2.6 ft)
• Empty weight: 50 kg (110 lb)
• Payload + fuel: 40 kg (88 lb)
• Fuel: 10 kg (22 lb)
• Max take-off weight: 90 kg (200 lb)
• Endurance: 2 hr with 15 L (4.0 US gal) fuel, 2.6 hr with 20 L (5.3 US gal) fuel, and 3.3 hr with 25 L (6.6 US gal) fuel
• Range @ 60 km/h (37 mph): 90 km (56 mi) with 15 L (4.0 US gal) fuel, 150 km (93 mi) with 20 L (5.3 US gal) fuel, and 190 km (120 mi) with 25 L (6.6 US gal) fuel
• Max speed: 100 km/h (62 mph)
• Cruising speed: 60–70 km/h (37–43 mph)
• Ceiling: 2.5 km (1.6 mi)
• Engine: two 15 hp (11 kW) gasoline engines
• Rate of climb: 3 m/s (9.8 ft/s)
• Max wind speed allowed for operation: 70 km/h (43 mph; 38 kn) in flight, 36 km/h (22 mph; 19 kn) during take-off and landing

The FH-2 unmanned helicopter is a small UAV in conventional helicopter layout with a pair of skids as landing gear. The FH-2 has a modular design that allows different payloads to be carried, and for blades of different sizes to be used for its main rotor.[4] Specifications:[5]

• Rotor diameter: 2.5 m (8.2 ft) or 3 m (9.8 ft)
• Rotor blades: 2
• Height: 1.4 m (4.6 ft)
• Length: 1.7 m (5.6 ft)
• Width: 0.7 m (2.3 ft)
• Distance between skids: 0.8 m (2.6 ft)
• Empty weight: 25–30 kg (55–66 lb)
• Max take-off weight: 40–60 kg (88–132 lb)
• Max payload: 20 kg (44 lb)
• Endurance: 1 hr with 15 kg (33 lb) payload, 2 hr with 10 kg (22 lb) payload
• Range: 90–120 km (56–75 mi)
• Max speed: 100 km/h (62 mph)
• Cruising speed: 60–70 km/h (37–43 mph)
• Ceiling: 2.5 km (1.6 mi)
• Temperature: −40 to 50 °C (−40 to 122 °F)
• Engine: 10 kW (13 hp) two-stroke gasoline motorcycle engine
• Max wind speed allowed for operation: 36 km/h (22 mph; 19 kn) in flight, 70 km/h (43 mph; 38 kn) during take-off and landing

The M-18 Gull (Hai-Ou or Haiou, 海鸥) I is an unmanned coaxial helicopter developed by BUAA, and its maiden flight was successfully completed in January 1996. The Gull I has twin tails, and also uses a pair of skids as landing gear.[6] Externally, it resembles another Chinese unmanned coaxial helicopter, the PAPEI Sky Eye 2. The flight control system is a strap-down system developed by NUAA, which is shared by another unmanned coaxial helicopter developed by BUAA, the M-22 (described below).[7]

The M-18 is intended for aerial survey, photography and cinematography. Specifications:[8]

• Weight: 300 kg (660 lb)
• Engine: 80 hp (60 kW) gasoline engine

The M-22 is an unmanned coaxial helicopter developed by BUAA that resembles a miniature version of the much larger Kamov Ka-137. Like the FH-2, the M-22 is modular, with many interchangeable subsystems, such as different rotor sizes that can be used for the two pairs of rotors. When greater endurance is required, some of the payload modules can be removed to make room for more fuel modules, and when larger payloads are needed, fuel tank modules can be removed to make room for a larger payload section. The flight control system is a strap-down system developed by NUAA, which it shares with the earlier M-18.[7] Specifications:[9][10]

• Rotor diameter: 2–2.5 m (6.6–8.2 ft)
• Height: 1.3 m (4.3 ft)
• Length: 0.8 m (2.6 ft)
• Empty weight: 32–34 kg (71–75 lb)
• Max fuel: 6 kg (13 lb)
• Max weight: 50 kg (110 lb)
• Max payload: 10 kg (22 lb)
• Endurance: 1 hr
• Range: 90 km (56 mi)
• Max speed: 90 km/h (56 mph) with 10 kg (22 lb) payload, 123 km/h (76 mph) without payload
• Cruising speed: 60–70 km/h (37–43 mph)
• Ceiling: 2.5–3 km (1.6–1.9 mi)
• Temperature: −45 to 50 °C (−49 to 122 °F)
• Engine: Two 4.7 kW (6.3 hp) or 6.5 kW (8.7 hp) two-stroke gasoline motorcycle engines
• Max wind speed allowed for operation: 70 km/h (43 mph; 38 kn) in flight, 36 km/h (22 mph; 19 kn) for take-off and landing

The MH-28 Gull II is the successor of the MH-18, and shares its airframe with another Chinese unmanned helicopter, the Yotaisc M28 Honey Bee 28. The performances of the two are extremely similar, differing only in their ground control systems, which are independently developed by their two companies. The MH-28 ground control station consists of two laptop computers, one for mission planning and the other for payload control and image processing. Compared to the M28, the MH-28 has a slightly larger main rotor, can fly higher, and has more endurance.[11] Specifications:

• Rotor diameter: 5.1 m (17 ft)
• Height: 2.2 m (7.2 ft)
• Fuselage width: 3.6 m (12 ft)
• Empty weight: 250 kg (550 lb)
• Fuel: 50 kg (110 lb)
• Max take-off weight: 380 kg (840 lb)
• Max payload: 80 kg (180 lb)
• Endurance: 3–5 h
• Max speed: 130 km/h (81 mph)
• Cruising speed: 100 km/h (62 mph)
• Economy speed: 65 km/h (40 mph)
• Ceiling: 3–5 km (1.9–3.1 mi)
• Rate of climb: 7.2 m/s (24 ft/s)

The BUAA quadrotor is a quadcopter developed by the School of Instrumentation Science and Opto-Electronics Engineering (北航仪器科学与光电工程学院)"School of Instrumentation Science and Opto-Electronics Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-05-15. of BUAA. The general designer is Mr. Hu Jun, and the UAV is primarily intended for aerial surveillance and photography missions. Its flight control system (FCS) is controlled by Atmel ATmega16 microcontrollers, and includes three gyroscopes. For fully autonomous flight, GPS and OSD modules are used. This UAV is specifically designed as a low-cost unit, performing the same tasks as other quadcopters for 50% of the cost. The quadcopter can be remotely piloted or fully autonomous.[12]

List of unmanned aerial vehicles of China