The Project

Scope and Philosophy

The “Green Raven” project is a multidisciplinary, student-focused research project of a technological demonstrator platform for a hybrid/electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for sustainable aviation.

Trom the start, the project placed great emphasis on the educational aspect, generating numerous project topics and master thesis projects.

First and foremost, the “Green Raven” is a multidisciplinary learning platform for students to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom.

Background

The project was launched in January 2020 with a feasibility pre-study on sustainable aviation, which highlighted compressed hydrogen fuel cells, in a hybrid system with batteries, as the approach for future net-zero emissions.

The pre-study also highlighted the need to make a clean break from the conventional tube-and-wing aircraft configuration towards a highly aerodynamic efficiency aircraft to optimize this novel propulsion system. A Blended Wing Body (BWB) configuration was selected, for an overall increase in efficiency and decrease in emission.

The Ones Who Preceded Us

A review of existing projects showed that hybrid/electric fuel cells had been tested in small UAVs, all of which shared the common mission goal of high endurance, with high-aspect ratio thin wings and a slender glider-type fuselage configuration.

The choice of a BWB configuration sets the “Green Raven” apart from preceding work.