Preliminary Design of a Double Sided Linear Induction Motor as a Catapult for Light Weight Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

In the last years, the technology of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has reached a maturity which allows their use in a number of relevant missions. The reduction of the take-off requirements is essential to extend the operating scenario of UAVs. In this paper the authors describe the design of an electromagnetic launch system for a light weigh UAV based on a Double Sided Linear Induction Motor. The length of the launcher and the average thrust force are assigned. The design, based on a multistage configuration, is performed in two steps. In the former, a semi-analytical model of the linear motor is established and the most relevant parameters are chosen. In the latter, the design is iteratively refined by the use of more accurate models based on the Finite Element Method (FEM).