Making a skeleton design via CATIA

Hi all

I'm back with a lot of questions this time, but for a new project.

With my school, we have a project, that of making an object that flies. (That was the basic name at the very beginning of the project). 

Now we know that we want to make a half-drone/half-aircraft machine, a bit like the osprey.

We already have a small drawing of what we would like (The same drawings as the concept cars, a beautiful drawing but without any information on it).

Most of the research concerning the shape of the wings, the types of tailplanes, fins, engine positioning etc... were carried out in preparatory work. (So that we can know what might best answer).

The specifications we have come from our teacher are not too crowded:

The drone must be able to fly at 50km/h, for 20 minutes, at a height of 1000 m and be able to carry a camera.

On the requests, work has already been done to find out if it was possible technologically speaking, but also in terms of the law. And for example flying at an altitude of 1000m is forbidden. Especially since we are lucky enough to be in the air corridors of the Dijon and Nancy air bases. (After that, he can try but he may have a little visit). The same goes for the camera, which is subject to many regulations.

So at this point, all the "pre-study" work has been done and we now want to move on to 3D design. Start creating the prototype in 3D, before being able to obtain manufacturing plans (minimum goal of the project) or even go to manufacturing (maximum goal of the project. But that's just a bonus).

Now that I have presented you with the context, let me  explain my problem.

I've heard of the "skeleton" design on CATIA, if I understood correctly it allows you to quickly modify an assembly without having to redefine the assembly constraints. The advantage of this type of design is that the parts we are going to create will support this skeleton.

But my knowledge ends there.

First question:

Do you have a tutorial to give me explaining how to create a "skeleton", or can someone explain the process to me? (I've already looked in the tutorial space). 

2nd question:

In a skeleton design, do we have to represent all the elements that will make up our device? (Here is the drone)

If so, can I modify the skeleton create  if I realized I forgot to include something? (For example, landing gear)

3rd question:

How do we know what elements we should include in the skeleton? That is to say, to define those who are important and must be present and those who are not.

For example, for the moment I have defined that the forms that will change a lot would be  the following:

The wings, (We know we want rhombohedral wings)

The drift, (We don't know its shape or number)

The empennage, (We do not know its shape or number)

The engines, (plus we still don't know where they will be located)

The propellers, (we do not know the number of blades and their dimensions)

The shape of the fuselage, (we don't know if it will be cylindrical, rectangular etc...)

The landing gear, (we don't know if we will put them, or just helicopter-type metal bars).

4th question:

When creating a skeleton, should we try to represent the object as faithfully as possible or just crudely? (For example, for the wing, should we already represent the curve of it that everyone knows or can we just make a line? Example 2: Do we have to represent the fuselage with 2 circles in order to show that we have a wall, or only one circle is enough or just a line for the representation?)

5th question:

In a skeleton everything must be parameterized or not? (The parameter can take place just on the part)

 

In general, we can summarize all my questions to: how do we create and use a "skeleton". How to define the elements that we need to represent in a skeleton.

 

In any case, I thank you very much for reading me and for devoting your time to me.

Thank you very much in advance for all your answers.

Kind regards

Ju"

 

Hello, a piece of advice, it's best to ask one question per question! It will be easier to choose a better answer, and there will probably be more contributions and contributors!

Hello

Okay if you say so.

But isn't it likely to bother me that I create 5 questions?

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Not the least in the world

On the contrary, there will be answers via a single question 

so + chance not to disorient or push back the possible answering machine

Personally, I'm quite perplexed by the shape of the wings

if it is indeed the general form that is in question or is it the structure 

The same goes for altitude, flight time, navigation management

the take-off and landing the GPS ref points ?

The inter com machine man?

lots of questions and problems to solve

@+ ;-))

Hello GT22,

I fully understand your reluctance about the shape of the wings.

At this stage, this type of wing is very theoretical and presents the problem of having no possible deformation, so the risk of breakage is significant.

But as said for the moment, it's only a project. We are only at the beginning (personally I would have gone on a high wing because it has very good characteristics for our project) After that we are just looking to "innovate" if I may say so. And sometimes you have to try folk stuff.

Regarding the altitude, don't worry as I said in my first post, 1000 m is forbidden. (Especially in a military air corridor) We are limited to a maximum of 50m.

The flight time is no problem, 20 minutes is achievable.

What do you mean by take-off landing? (How are we going to do these maneuvers?)

For everything related to communication management, navigation etc..... It is another group that is in charge of it.

There are 30 of us working on this project.

So there are several groups taking care of different parts of the project.

In my  case I just take care of  the 3D design, so in a very very rough way I will just represent the drone and after all the communication (if I use a phone, a cable or other I don't take care of it. It is the appropriate group that should deal with it)

That's why I'm looking for info on the skeleton design.

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