UAV Design Training

Business Case

  • Problem Analysis

Understand the task/ problem:

Analyze the mission scope and objectives

Research on systems:

Evaluate the capabilities of various unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), such as their flight time, payload capacity, and operating costs; compare the features of similar unmanned aircraft products already existed on the market.

Research on background:

Study the logistical requirements, environmental circumstances, supply requirements, and personnel requirements according to the mission; consider the potential danger that may occur during operation.

  • Cost analysis

Variable costs:

Calculate operation costs, focusing primarily on fuel or battery costs. Then, consider manual costs, etc.

The calculations need to be very detailed, such as breaking down the battery cost into the price of a single battery, the price of charging electricity, and finally calculating the expenditure required for each flight. The choice of fuel/battery type needs to be selected reasonably, such as the comparison of lithium batteries and fuel to help explain the suitability of the choice of lithium batteries for a wildfire detection drone mission.

Fixed costs:

Analyze separately of the UAV’s airframe, C3 system, payload, backups, and ground support systems. Be sure to consider each category in detail.

When calculating the airframe price, it is necessary to communicate with the 3D modeler to know the fuselage volume of the aircraft, and then calculate the price of the selected fuselage material.

For the fuselage material you choose, be sure to compare with other common fuselage materials and highlight the characteristics (lower price, higher stability) of the material you decided to use.

If you are developing a complete go-to-market UAV, you can add insurance choices, which is conducive to enhance the credibility of UAV productions.

  • Communication plan (If needed)

Target audience: if the project is primarily aimed for governments and enterprises, try to explain the value of the UAS using more concise and less technical language.

Highlight the most competitive features of your UAV design, compare it to other drones, from performance to price. Some famous models such as SWOT, 4P, etc. are used to analyze the commercial value of UAV in the market in detail.