Assembly systems and methods for unmanned aerial vehicles

1. A method for assembling an Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV), comprising:

connecting a wing spar with boom carriers to form an H-frame, wherein the wing spar provides first mounting locations for securing horizontal propulsion units, and wherein the boom carriers provide second mounting locations for securing vertical propulsion units;

attaching a fuselage body to the wing spar;

attaching a pre-formed wing shell to the H-frame; and

attaching pre-formed boom shells to their corresponding boom carriers,

wherein the H-frame provides a structural frame for mounting the pre-formed wing shell and the pre-formed boom shells, and wherein the pre-formed wing shell includes grooves for housing the wing spar and the boom carriers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the boom carriers and the wing spar are connected with clamps.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-formed wing shell comprises:

a wing body;

an upper wing skin; and

a lower wing skin.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the upper and lower wing skins are permanently attached to the wing body by adhesion.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-formed wing shell comprises a wing body and an upper wing skin, the method further comprising:

attaching a lower wing skin to the wing body after attaching the pre-formed wing shell to the H-frame.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

after attaching the lower wing skin to the wing body, connecting the upper wing skin and the lower wing skin with a wing skin clip.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein attaching the pre-formed wing shell to the H-frame includes adhering the wing body to the wing spar.

8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

attaching at least one motor mount for horizontal propulsion units to the pre-formed wing shell.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein an individual motor mount for a horizontal propulsion unit comprises:

a 2-piece C-shell, and

a fastener protruding through the C-shell and through the wing spar.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein attaching the at least one motor mount comprises:

sliding the 2-piece C-shell over the upper and lower wing skins; and

clamping the 2-piece C-shell to the pre-formed wing shell by tightening the 2-piece C-shell.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

attaching one of the horizontal propulsion units to the at least one motor mount.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

attaching a plurality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) to the boom carriers.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the PCBs are attached with electrical cables to the fuselage.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

after attaching the PCBs to the boom carriers, attaching pre-formed boom shells to the boom carriers.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the pre-formed boom shells are adhered to their corresponding boom carriers.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the PCBs remain at least partially exposed after attaching the pre-formed boom shells to the boom carriers.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

attaching vertical motor mounts to the boom carriers; and

attaching vertical propulsion units to the vertical motor mounts.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

electrically connecting the vertical propulsion units to the PCBs; and

running electrical tests of the vertical propulsion units.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wing spar is a carbon fiber tube with pre-drilled holes.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the boom carriers are carbon fiber tubes with pre-drilled holes.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to attaching the fuselage body to the wing spar, testing electrical and/or mechanical components of the fuselage body.

22. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

replacing the fuselage body with another fuselage body while keeping the same H-frame.

23. A method for assembling an Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV), comprising:

connecting a wing spar with boom carriers to form an H-frame, wherein the wing spar provides first mounting locations for securing horizontal propulsion units, and wherein the boom carriers provide second mounting locations for securing vertical propulsion units;

attaching a fuselage body to the wing spar;

attaching a pre-formed wing shell to the H-frame;

attaching pre-formed boom shells to the boom carriers; and

attaching at least one motor mount for the horizontal propulsion units to the pre-formed wing shell, wherein an individual motor mount for a given one of the horizontal propulsion units comprises:

a 2-piece C-shell, and

a fastener protruding through the 2-piece C-shell and through the wing spar,

wherein the H-frame provides a structural frame for mounting the pre-formed wing shell and the pre-formed boom shells, wherein the pre-formed wing shell comprises:

a wing body;

an upper wing skin; and

a lower wing skin,

and wherein the upper and lower wing skins are permanently attached to the wing body by adhesion.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein attaching the at least one motor mount comprises:

sliding the 2-piece C-shell over the upper and lower wing skins; and

clamping the 2-piece C-shell to the pre-formed wing shell by tightening the 2-piece C-shell.

25. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

attaching a plurality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) to the boom carriers; and

after attaching PCBs to the boom carriers, attaching the pre-formed boom shells to the boom carriers.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the PCBs remain at least partially exposed after attaching the pre-formed boom shells to the boom carriers.