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Design and Construction of a Quadcopter with Payload for Pipeline Inspection and Surveillance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to create a sustainable and flexible platform for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capable of carrying out inspection in real-time on a pipeline facility and perform surveillance actions using a quadcopter design profile. In other to achieve this, special components were used and certain equations governing the choice of components were considered. The design analysis of this project was carried out in two stages (Hardware and Software), with each stage subdivided further into smaller stages (Requirements, alternatives, decision criteria, decision, and implementation details). To safely fly the quadcopter, various tests were carried out on the individual components and the quadcopter at whole to ensure everything was functioning properly before flight. Two test stages were carried out on the quadcopter, these tests are Unit tests and Flight tests. After concluding the pre-flight and post flight tests, results were gotten and tables were created. The graphs in section IV show the results gotten. The results obtained in this study showed that the system was capable of attaining autonomous flight at a height of 20 meters and a range of 30 feet.

BO Omijeh, VM Oden, KJ Joseph, JA Erameh

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