Initial Planning

• Name

  • Eclipse

• High Level Specs

  • 1.5 m wingspan

  • Max takeoff weight = 5kg

  • 6S Battery Voltage

    • ~1.1kg of batteries

    • one 6S battery pack only

    • battery chemistry options: Li-ion, Li-Po, LiHv

  • Modular wings & fuselage

• Purpose, Quantity, & Timeline

  • High Level

    • Pursue the primary purpose for roughly a full year with this plane and then hand it off to other subteams for learning in the secondary purpose before decommissioning

  • Quantity

    • A single aircraft will be built (and maintained in the unlikely event of damage)

  • Primary purpose

    • learning how to design fixed wings → mechanical skills

    • learning how to operate fixed wings → ardupilot & pilot skills

  • Secondary purposes

    • Custom battery long term? Could be saved for VTOL depending on EE interest​

    • flight testing bench for EE and EFS new CAN architecture. ​

    • testing EFS milestones milestones​ M2 and M3

    • testing EE ZP3 hardware designs

• Budgeting

  • Will be less expensive than fancy composites

  • Will be more expensive than hacked together foam planes we’ve done in the past

Related Resources

• [DRAFT] S24 Fixed Wing Project Proposal mech’s initial proposal

• 2024-06-05 Big Fixed Wing Architecture Sync arch sync first one

Mechanical

All mechanical design documents can be found in Eclipse Mechanical Decisions Documentation.

more mechanical information is currently stored in Eclipse 2025 .

• Wings

  • A row of balsa ribs mounted on an aluminum box tube. The ribs are spaced by 3D printed leading edges

• Airframe Design

  • Main doc for airframe design. Main aluminum mounting plate which accommodates 90% of electronics, and the motor

  • Tail boom and wing spars attach to the main plate

• Fixed wing landing gear

  • Tail dragger design → 2 wheels at the front and 1 at the tail

  • Plan is to make the tail wheel steerable for yaw control on ground at low speeds

• Empennage Design

  • A conventional tail configuration with 1 servo each for elevator and rudder

Electrical

Electrical Components

• Flight controller: Pixhawk 6X

  • Mounted level in central location

  • Vibration dampened but robust mounting

  • Mounting holes are M2, but the dimensions are not in their diagram. You will have to look at the existing mount and/or measure the Pixhawk

  • All ports accessible

  • Useful Resources:

    • https://holybro.com/products/pixhawk-6x

    • Powering the Pixhawk — Copter documentation

• Power module: PM02D https://holybro.com/products/pm02d-power-module

  • Power leads and white JST port accessible

• ESC: APD 120 F3 120F3[X] — Advanced Power Drives or Flycolor 80A 12S https://www.team-blacksheep.com/products/product:4557

  • Case design already exists for APD ESC

    • This ESC is kinda overkill

    • This ESC is expensive asf.

    • Maybe we sub it with a cheaper one in the future.

  • Expose this to air for cooling if possible

• Motor: AT3530 580KV https://store.tmotor.com/product/at3530-long-shaft-fixed-wing-motor.html

• ELRS Receiver: https://rotorvillage.ca/happymodel-expresslrs-tcxo-ep1-dual-rx/

  • Antennas exposed, solder pads accessible

• Analog camera: https://rotorvillage.ca/caddx-baby-ratel-2-fpv-camera/

  • Facing forward, connector accessible

  • Max vin = 40V

• VTX: https://www.getfpv.com/fpv/video-transmitters/5-8ghz/xilo-stax-5-8ghz-fpv-video-transmitter-25-600mw.html

  • Should be relatively exposed for cooling

    • Only intended for use on takeoff and landing so while it will get warm it doesn't need super special considerations

  • How exposed depends on what Tx power and on time we wanna use on the VTX.

  • Max Vin = 36V

• Pitot Tube: https://rotorgeeks.com/matek-digital-airspeed-sensor-aspd-dlvr

  • Need to receive smooth airflow for most accurate data

  • Electronics mounted close enough to connect with tube

  • Has CAN passthrough capability

• Magnetometer: https://www.getfpv.com/holybro-dronecan-rm3100-professional-grade-compass.html

  • Mounted level (can be upside down too)

  • Away from metal and radios

  • Away from high current wires

    • do not mount near motors and batteries

• GPS: https://holybro.com/collections/dronecan-gps-module/products/dronecan-m9n-gps

  • Mounted level, away from metal and high current wires

  • Printed text on GPS facing air

  • Safety switch accessible

• Rangefinder: https://ca.robotshop.com/products/benewake-tf02-pro-lidar-led-rangefinder-ip65-40m

  • Mounted level, facing downwards

  • Unobstructed view of ground

• 6S Battery: 4500 mAh LiHV batteries in bay

  • we have 60 of them

  • Dimensions: 140 mm x 43 mm x 48 mm

  • Two in parallel.

• Servo module

  • Hoping to be able to use https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/EL/pages/2596929559/6S+Servo+Module?search_id=c3260b70-5085-4a1c-b8da-0c2765872da3

  • Backup: https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/EL/pages/2173960269/Servo+Module+12S?search_id=8095fbab-8b82-4b21-ae73-490aad03c35a or COTS alternative.

• Single Servo Driver

  • https://warg.365.altium.com/designs/DFA92F42-21FC-4CDF-83E5-0DB94E84ABC7#design

• CAN Splitter

  • https://warg.365.altium.com/designs/A3BFF15E-6855-48FA-B8A6-B31C2041AA33

  • https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ARCHS22/pages/2555904119

• Lighting PCBA

  • https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ARCHS22/pages/2555707500/Lighting+Integration+2025?search_id=9ae75e77-aa92-41bb-a598-6a70014a4919

• Raspberry Pi Adapter

  • https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/EL/pages/2561605642/RPi+Interface?search_id=5a3d4759-3838-4ee3-8202-4a807234f790

• Isolated HD Camera

  • Runcam Thumb

• Servos

  • https://hitecrcd.com/products/servos/analog/sport-2/hs-311/product

• Connectors: Eclipse Connector Research - Electrical - WARG

Electronics System Diagram

Electronics Harness Diagrams

Eclipse Harness.pdf · UWARG/hardware · GitHub

Electronics Placement Diagram

Open

Maiden Flight Electronics System Diagram