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This paper discusses the various factors that were addressed in the planning process for the design and construction of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) destined for use as a multirole research aircraft for Clarkson University. Details related to mission requirements, cost, construction materials, manufacturing methods, and regulatory requirements will be discussed. The resulting airframe, structure, manufacturing, and control system plan of action will be laid out. An overview of anticipated FAA regulations will be presented, and the need to design for conformity to said regulations addressed. Emphasis will be placed on design and manufacturing decisions relating to the extensive use of composite materials throughout the aircraft.

This paper describes the design and development of a virtual environment conceived to support flight operations of an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) used for wind mapping in the proximity of existing or planned wind farms. The virtual environment can be used in pre-flight briefings aiming to define a trajectory from a list of waypoints, to change and eventually re-plan the mission in case of intersection with no fly zones, to simulate the mission, and to preview images/videos taken from the UAV on-board cameras. During flight, the tool can be used to compute the wind speed along the trajectory by analyzing the data streaming from the UAV. The integration of Augmented Reality (AR) techniques in the flight environment provides assistance in remotely piloted landings, and allows visualizing flight and environmental information that are critical to the mission.