Testing Robin, a UAV model made of 3d-printed blocks
Can just a wing fly? Apparently yes, as this high speed UAV model proved!
Robin is a 250km/h flying wing UAV for fast response and surveillance, designed by Ioannis Boubalis and Marios Giannikopoulos for the course "Innovative Design of Mechanical Products" of the School of Mechanical Engineers of NTUA.
Aerodynamic analysis is the base of any good design, but without experimental confirmation it's never complete. That's why this 0.7 scale model of half the aircraft is made, tailored to fit the smaller section of the wind tunnel to test speeds of up to 35m/s. The goal is to measure the Lift, Drag and Moment Coefficients and compare them to the CFD ones, as well as test the practicality of rapidly producing the model with minimum budget using 3d printing.
