Modeling the Motion of Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) Due to Ground Collision

The aim of this paper is to develop a modeling method in order to predict the rebounce distance of a small size

unmanned aerial system (sUAS) after collision with the ground. This distance would be useful to determine the safe range on the ground when operating the UAS. A two-step strategy is developed to model this procedure. In step one, numerical simulations are performed to model the first impact and predict the rebounce angle and impact velocity. Based on the information obtained, in step two, an analytical model is employed to calculate the rebounce distance without running numerical simulations, to save the computational time. Based on the model predictions, a non-linear function (known as a Meta model) is established to describe the rebounce behavior as a function of impact parameters, i.e. impact velocity, angle, and friction coefficient between the vehicle and ground. A correlation analysis is further performed to analyze the effect of these parameters on the response. The results show that the maximum rebounce range could be greater than 10 m. Compared to impact angle and friction coefficient, impact velocity is the most significant factor influencing the rebounce range. The larger velocity, smaller impact angle, and smaller ground friction coefficient would lead to the large rebounce range. The established Meta model would be useful to estimate safety range when operating sUAS platforms.