Preliminary Investigation Of 4d Printing Technology For Deployable Uav Development

Current unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are large in size due to fixed wings and mechanical components. 4D printing is a technology that allows shape transformation (e.g. compaction, extension) of a 3D printed object. In this research, we investigated the feasibility of using 4D printing technology to design and fabricate compactable structures for deployable UAV model. The investigation has also shown that the folding angles (0(o), 15(o), 30(o) and 60(o)) of the hinge for the back wing of UAV model is programmable and controllable. Additionally, the folding sequence of different parts of the wing is programmable as well by using multiple materials. We have also demonstrated that by integrating these basic programmable structures, a 4D printed UAV model can be compacted and then deployed upon thermal stimulation. Future works will address the scalability issue and detailed thermomechanical stimulation methods.