Design and development of an hexacopter for air quality monitoring at high altitudes

Abstract

This paper describes the design of a hexacopter platform for air quality measurement purposes outfitted with gear that allows it to fly at altitudes up to 5000 meters above sea level (MASL). The multicopter is equipped with sensing technology to monitor the quality of the air, thus, presenting itself as a portable and easy-to-position in 3-dimensional environments alternative to high-cost static monitoring stations. Aside from the design considerations regarded to allow the aircraft to fly at high altitudes, a methodology is presented to describe the process concerning air quality data acquisition. This work features an analysis of the performance of the hexacopter by scrutinizing data from flight tests held at high-altitude and sea level locations and an analysis of results from the values obtained by the drone's low-cost sensors, which are compared against the data obtained from professional equipment certified by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency of United States) from SENAMHI, the local regulatory entity in Peru.