Solution
Preliminary UAV design
From an operational need to a sized fixed-wing concept - battery-electric or piston, conventional take-off or lift+cruise VTOL - with every assumption visible.
Use cases
Where MADETOOL fits in your programme
Size to a mission
Give endurance and/or range with payload, speeds and altitudes. MADETOOL floats MTOW until the energy or fuel needed for the most demanding mission case fits (sizing mode SIZE_TO_MISSION).
Check a fixed MTOW
Hold MTOW at your limit and evaluate what the aircraft can do (FIXED_MTOW): endurance, range, ceiling and speeds against your requirements.
Trade one design choice
Sweep a numeric design choice such as aspect ratio and compare MTOW, empty mass, endurance, range or energy across the points.
Screen requirements early
Find contradictory or incomplete requirements before any analysis: missing references, payload above MTOW, cruise above ceiling and more.
Supported aircraft
Two families, analysed end-to-end
Pick the one that matches your concept when you create a project. The website builds the requirements file from MADETOOL’s own example for that configuration.
Battery-electric lift+cruise VTOL
Separate lift rotors for take-off and landing, cruise propeller for wing-borne flight, shared battery. Hover, transition, reserves and hover control are part of the analysis.
Piston-propeller, runway
Piston engine and propeller with fuel sizing, warm-up, take-off and landing distances on a stated runway surface.
Typical inputs
What to have ready
- Payload: maximum and normal mass, average electrical power.
- Mission: endurance and/or range, cruise and maximum speed (with TAS/EAS), cruise and maximum altitude (with AGL/MSL).
- Limits: maximum take-off mass, wingspan, length.
- Operating site: elevation and hot-day ISA deviation, wind.
- Component data: battery or fuel and engine, airfoil, avionics - or start from MADETOOL’s example data and replace it later.
Engineering disclaimer. MADETOOL produces conceptual/preliminary design estimates. Results are not validated, certified, or flight-ready and do not replace detailed engineering analysis, testing, or certification. Read the full disclaimer.