A new low-cost and customized aircraft design that will recue animals from the aftermath

of tornados by retrieving and relocating to a facility that can give the animals the proper
medical Treatment.

I. Terrones

FSE 100, Introduction to Engineering

ASU

November 27th, 2023

Abstract

Tornados have been happening frequently in New Orleans; these tornados leave nothing
but casualties and destruction. After a tornado, rescue teams are deployed; these teams
are not equipped to take care of injured animals. Farmers have reportedly lost their
animals due to injury in cases where they could have been saved, given proper medical
treatment. The plane will have certified vets, animal first aid, and supplies to optimize
survivability of the animals. This plane is meant for fast rescue missions of livestock to
transport them to get medical care where they have the tools necessary to treat them. The
plane is also smaller to save both on fuel and fit in tight areas where the animals might
have wandered or been trapped in. This design has multiple cages for different livestock
such as horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and birds. There are multiple cages for each animal so
if multiple were found they will be able to fit on the plane and be saved. Through testing
and simulation, the most optimal wing and spar design was determined based on the
decision matrix. The plane’s frame and wings are made of fiberglass. The automated
system to close the animals cage will use a button and visual sensor to close the gate.
This allows the vet or helper to use their time for a more important task and making their
task easier. While also keeping them safe by keeping the vets/helpers from being kicked
by the animal.
1. Introduction

The tornados are injuring the livestock, and the rescue team doesn’t have the equipment
nor the experience to treat the animals. Since animals have different anatomy than
humans the medicine the rescue team has to administer may do more harm than good.
Because the animals can’t get the proper treatment soon enough, they die in situations
where they could have been saved had there been someone there to treat them. The
stakeholders are farmers that live in high traffic tornados in New Orleans, users rescue
staff, and payers’ disaster and relief company. They want us to transport the animals that
have been injured to a place that has the proper equipment. To best save the animals
while also being cost efficient the stakeholder provided a list of requirements to have an
aircraft built that suits all their needs and demands. Their requirements were
 • Be able to fly over survey area.
• Have a fixed wing design.
• Durable tires for ruble
• Automated features
• Carrying capacity that exceeds fuel, supplies, equipment, and animals combined.
• Opening cargo hold
• Separate animal compartments
• Hold enough fuel to make and leave its destination.
• Enough space for each animal
• Hold multiple animals
• Affordable

Criteria to consider for the design.

• Capacity- Have multiple cages for different animals

• Minimal crew- To prevent too many people on the plane
• Small enough to land on roads- To reach the animals that have been trapped or
moved in a difficult place
• Fuel efficiency- To use less fuel
• Weight- To decrease drag and fuel consumptions
• Cost- Easier to mass-produce

Table 1.1: AHP Table of criteria weight

The table shows a percentage of the criteria and how important they are to the design of
the aircraft. This was calculated by talking to the stakeholders and figuring out how each
criteria's weighted against each other. They emphasize they want the low cost so they can
have multiple planes that travel to the animals. Since the tornado throws a lot of debris in
the road the frame of the airplane has to be small in order to get to the animals that need
help. They also said that the aircraft need to be able to carry multiple and different
animals. Although the aircraft is meant for tornadoes with some adjustments it can be
used in the aftermath of wildfires, floods, and hurricanes to rescue animals.

2 Background
[1] Since the plane will be used in the aftermath of a tornado it would be necessary to
understand how a tornado works and the level of destruction it can cause. The
information would show what the plane would go through while flying to the animals.
The “National Weather Service” talks about how tornados are made and the level of
destruction they can cause. It also talks about the different levels of tornados and that
sometimes their wind speed can be up to 300 miles an hour and how far they can move an
object.
[2] It was important to research how to safely transport an animal by air as they might
freak out and hurt themselves or the vet. There are also special regulations on
transporting an animal by plane. The “Sky Brary” talked about the importance of the cage
being secured into the plane’s frame. The animals need to be secure during turbulence.
Also, cargo and animals should be kept separate during flight.
[3] In the article “AVMA” it talks about how many animals die because of natural
disasters and how it affects the economy. This gave insight into the stakeholders’
problem and why they want it fixed. In one situation a tornado hit a farm and they lost 8
million in cattle and 15 million in poultry.
[4] Another article that talks about the impact natural disasters do is “Nola Ready”. This
article talks about the habitation loss of animals in New Orleans due to natural disasters.
It also discussed how to handle them since they are wild animals, they can harm you.
This article helped me understand the importance of the aircraft being able to land in
rough areas in order to save the wildlife that were affected by the tornado.
[5] The “Tornadoes and disaster management,” talked about the rescue team process after
a natural disaster. This can be adjusted so that if there is an animal found by the rescue
team, they can communicate to the aircraft that they found an injured animal. This will
help us track down the missing animals and get them to a place where they can be helped.
While designing the aircraft, a few different missions considered were wildfires
hurricanes, and tornadoes. Since the aircraft is going after the natural disaster happened
the aircraft can fly over most of the debris. The airplane has cages that can fit most
animals and the vets will be trained to take care of the animals in that area.
There is not a current market for a quick animal air transportation plane, but the plane
will be able to save the livestock, helping to boost the economy and help the farmers.
3. Decision Overview
The aircraft was made for quick trips and to be able to land in debris while being able to
carry a heavy load of cargo. The plane also has an automatic cage closer that detects if
there is something blocking the cage from closing. The aircraft can be used in many
natural disaster situations such as tornados, wildfires, and hurricanes. These disasters
were chosen because they happen all around the world and drastically affect the animals.
Front View Figure 1

Side View Figure 2

 Top View Figure 3

The dimensions of the aircraft are 30 feet in length and 15 feet in height. It’s a dual
engine plane with a fiberglass frame. The wing of the plane is 21 meters or roughly 69
feet. This aircraft has an automated system that closes the gate on the animal cage so that
the vets or helpers can have time to do another task. This also protects the vet and helpers
by having them not be kicked by the animals. The system works by pressing a button that
will trigger an ultrasonic distance signal that if it senses any blockage then it will flash a
light indicating that there is a blockage. This will allow the vet/helpers to know if the
animal is fully in the cage and protect the animal from being pinched by the gate. There
were multiple tradeoffs when designing this project. One was the increasing of the speed
which then increased the drag of the plane and the fuel consumption. We made this
change because every second matters in a life and death scenario. Another trade off we
made was using fiber glass which is light but also durable. It’s a little more expensive
than aluminum but the fuel efficiency covers some of the cost.

4 Subsystem

4.1 Aircraft Performance

The demission's discussed in Decision Overview. The plane has a cargo door big enough
so animals can go into the plane easier. The body frame is six inches thick. The rear wing
wingspan is 9 meters or 30 feet. Although the airplane is based on the boing 737 the
height and length are different.

With the fiber glass the frame of the plane is stronger and weighs less, decreasing both
drag and fuel consumption. Increasing the speed of the plane makes it so we can respond
and rescue the animals quicker, increasing the survival rate.

4.2 Interior design

Three different missions were considered when designing the plane:

The plane will be used to transport the animals during the aftermath of a tornado. The
aircraft will be used to fly animals to a place where they can get the proper medical
treatment. There will be vets that will stabilize the animals' condition as they are in the
air. The plane will arrive quickly at the disasters cite and load the animals into the plane.

After wildfire disasters the aircraft will be used to transport animals. Similar to the
tornado disaster the plane will fly the animals to a place where they can get treated. The
plane’s frame needs to be heat proof in case the wildfires area is still hot.

In the event of the aftermath of a hurricane the plane will transport the animals to a place
where they can be treated. The plane will have blankets to dry the animals' heaters to
keep the animals warm.

Table 2: Decision matrix of mission combinations

The different missions have the same job of recuing animals and transporting them to a
place where they can get proper treatment. In table 2 it shows that the aircraft is more
suited for tornados but with some modifications it can be used for both hurricanes and
earthquakes. New Orleans gets more tornados than earthquakes and hurricanes thus it
makes sense to primary use it in the aftermath of tornados. Specialize payload listed in
Appendix A.

Figure 4 Internal design

While designing the interiors of the plane there needed to be a walkway in order for the
vets to get and attend to the different animals. Having different size cages allows for
different animals such as horses, cows, sheep, ducks, and chickens to be secure and safe
while flying. The cages protect both the animal and the crew of the plane by keeping the
animal secure and limits the possibility of the animal attacking the crew.

4.3 Wing Design

While designing the wing structure of the plane several tests were done in order to find the best
options for a final wing design.
 Figure 5. Chord to drag relationship

The graphs in Figure 5 shows that as the chord increases so does the drag of the plane
meaning more lift is needed. This slows down the plane and increases fuel consumption.

Figure 6 Camber to lift relationship

Figure 6 demonstrates that the more the wing cambers the more lift will be generated
during flight allowing for more drag. This may create more speed for the airplane as well,
so long as drag isn’t stronger than lift.
 Figure 7 Angle of attack to lift

Figure 7 represents the correlation between angle of attack. As the angle increases so
does the lift. At 15 degrees the lift correlation goes down and slowly caps out. A balance
of the angle of attack is needed because if it's too high it gains more drag than lift.

Figure 8 Final wing and spar design

To make the wing design the Zhukovsky Aerofoil simulation was used to make and test
several wing designs. The tests tested different wing designs to find the best lift to drag
ratio. The different wings were compared to their weight, cost and lift to drag ratio. Using
the information from Figure 5,6, and 7 the most optimal wing design was created for the
job of the plane. The test and information proved that this wing design was the most
optimal for the task the plane is meant to complete.

The spar design is a box beam made from fiberglass with a height of .33 meters, width of
.1 meters and a thickness of .01 meters. The simulation proved that the spar design will
be able to work told in the green text in figure 8.
4.4 Automation
The automated system is meant to close the gate on the animal cage so that the vets or
helpers can have time to do another task. This also protects the vet and helpers by having
them not be kicked by the animals. The system works by pressing a button that will
trigger an ultrasonic distance signal that if it senses any blockage then it will flash a light
indicating that there is a blockage.
This system was created to allow the vet/helpers to know if the animal is fully in the cage
and protect the animal from being pinched by the gate as well as preventing the vets to be
kicked by the animals. This allows the vet or helper to use their time for a more important
tasks and making their task easier. With time on the clock minutes can mean the life or
death for the animal.

Figure 9. UML diagram of automated system

There are five possible users' vets, animals, pilot, maintenance, and helpers all which will
use the automated system in a different way. The vet and helpers will use it to lock the
animal in place to keep both of them safe. The pilot will only use the machine in case of
an emergency. Lastly maintenance to keep the system repaired and clean.

Figure 10 Sequence diagram of automated system

This diagram is to show the sequence of events of the automated system. First the button
is pressed. Then the visual sensor senses if the animal is blocking the gate. Lastly the
motor closes the door keeping the animals in place.
 Figure 11. Activity diagram of automated system
The diagram is a representation of how the system will work. The code will register if the
button is pressed and run a visual sensor. Only when there is nothing blocking the door
can the door close. If not, the system will say “door is block” and flash a light.
 Figure 12. Screenshot of simulate circuit
The parts used in Figure 12 are a button, resistor, LED light and sensor connected to the
Arduino board. The system runs on five volts and the registers ohms are one Kila ohm.
The button and sensor are the inputs, and the LED is the output of the circuit only if the
sensor senses on object. The circuit should read if the button is pressed, then activate the
sensor which indicates if the light turns on or not. The code functions as it was meant to
function. The code can be found in Appendix C. All functions work as expected as
mentioned in the beginning of section 4.4.
5. Testing and Evaluation
Throughout the design process there was a lot of experimental testing done to meet the
stakeholders' requirements. There was testing to understand how the plane properties
would affect the lift and drag of the plane. The test was on chord, chamber and angle of
attack seen in figure 5, 6, and 7 in 4.3 by using the Zhukovsky Aerofoil simulator. By
testing these properties, it helped make a wing that would be best for the job of the
aircraft. Showing that changes to the wing properties can change both drag and lift or one
or the other. Also using the Zhukovsky Aerofoil simulator the most optimal spar was
found by comparing cost, weight, and lift to drag ratio to multiple spar design. The wing
and spar helped meet the criteria of the stakeholders allowing for a better product. The
procedures were done using FAT (Factory Acceptance Testing) to ensure the
requirements of the stakeholder are met. The procedure uses 5 of the requirements and
verification process to prove that the requirements were met. The requirements passed
and met the stakeholder requirement. Test is shown in appendix D.
6. Conclusion
The plane is small and is meant for animals of different types such as horses, cows,
sheep, ducks, and chickens. It’s also meant for quick there and back transportation. The
model of the plane can be seen in figure 1, 2, and 3 in Decision Overview. It’s a dual
engine system with a 21-meter wingspan and a box spar made from fiberglass. It's model
after a boeing 737 but with less height and length.

The airplane solves the stakeholders’ problem by saving the animals after a natural
disaster. It saves the animals by flying the animals to a place where they can get the
proper medical treatment as fast as possible. Having vets onboard that are trained in the
anatomy of the animals projected to be saved so that they can stabilize the animals'
condition. The aircraft meets the requirements listed in section 1. Introduction by having
a hanger door, a fixed wing design, separate compartments for different animals, and the
ability to hold multiple animals at a time. Its key feature is its cage door automatic system
it allows the animal and vet to be safe. By preventing the cage from pinching or hurting
the animal. It also prevents the vet from being kicked or hurt by the animal and saves
time allowing the vet to do something else to help the animals. The airplane is different
from other designs with its automated system and interior and exterior design that is
meant for the transportation of animals.

The plane design can be improved in multiple ways such as an added emergency door in
case the main door malfunctions. The plane nose can be changed to be more aerodynamic
by making it more pointier reducing drag. Running the plane through simulations to see if
any problems would show with the design. As well as looking into animal medicine and
tools that would be needed. The interior model can be more detailed and be a 3d model.
Looking into what type of engine would be best for the plane.

I have learned so much from this project and my understanding of engineering has
improved substantially. The project has taught me aerodynamics, physics and the parts of
an airplane that allow it to fly. I also learned the difference between criteria and
requirements and how to weigh criteria in a data table. I learned how to use the
Zhukovsky Aerofoil simulator. Revising coding and making a UML diagram to
understand who and how people would interact with the code improved my coding skills.
This course has made me a better entrepreneur and a better engineer.

Work Cited

1. National Weather Service, “Tornadoes FAQ”

https://www.weather.gov/lmk/tornadoesfaq (Sept 23, 2023)

2. Sky Brary, “Transporting Live Animals By Air”

https://skybrary.aero/articles/transporting-live-animals-air (Sept 23, 2023)

3. AVMA, “Loss of livestock reaches millions” https://www.avma.org/javma-

news/2005-11-01/loss-livestock-reaches-millions (Sept 23, 2023)
4. Nola Ready, “Tornado/Extreme Wind” https://ready.nola.gov/hazard-
mitigation/hazards/tornadoes/#:~:text=Vulnerability,calculated%20at%20approxi
mately%2030%25%20annually (November 25, 2023)

5. E. Weir, “Tornadoes and disaster management,” CMAJ : Canadian Medical

Association journal” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC80190/
(accessed Sep. 23, 2023)
Appendix A

Aircraft Payload
 Table 3: Payload weight and quantity listed

Appendix B

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS CALCULATIONS

Equation 1 outlines the method for determining the initial cost of the aircraft, where
OEW (operational empty weight) is set at 43.916 (kN), and 4.3 is the factor provided by
Sparky Aid Designs. Upon substituting and dividing the values, the initial cost is $10.21
billion.
InitialCost=OEW4.3InitialCost=4.3OEW
Equation 2 involves the calculation of the total duration the aircraft will be in operation
during the year, considering the number of disasters per type (#), the duration of each
disaster mission (t), and the total duration (w). For instance, for the wildfire mission, with
# as 10 and t as 1.5, the product of multiplication is 15 weeks. Similar calculations for the
hurricane and tornado missions result in 12 and 14 weeks, respectively. The total flying
time per year is determined by adding these durations, resulting in 41 weeks, which is
within the 48-week minimum.

The lifespan of the aircraft is computed in Equation 3 by considering the total distance it
will cover annually. The aircraft can undertake 15 trip per day, covering a range of 50 km
each time. The variables include the number of trips per day (#trip), the number of days
per week (7), and the weeks of operation for a particular disaster situation (w).

Equation 4 represents the aircraft's total lifespan calculation, where TD is the sum of the
T values from Equation 3 (1.56 million km), and 43.5 is the constant provided by Sparky
Aid Designs. The result for L, the aircraft's total lifespan, is 27.88 years.
Appendix C

ARDUINO CODE
APPENDIX D
FAT PROCEDURE
Test Title: Testing for 5 Different Requirements
Scope: This test verifies that 5 different requirements for the airplane have been met
given by the stakeholder.
The following requirements are included in this procedure:
1. Opening cargo hold

2. Hold multiple animals

3. Have a fixed wing design.

4. Automated features
5. Separate animal compartments

Name of Tester: Issac Terrones

Date of Test: 11/27/23
Prerequisites:
• The tester must have the 3d model aircraft open and looking at the side view.
• The tester must have correct knowledge of the automated system
• The tester must have the interior model of the aircraft open.
• The tester must have access to the wing design

Table 4: FAT testing procedure table