An experimental study on the transient thermal response of an electronic equipment box for UAV remote sensing applications

An experimental study of the thermal behavior of an electronic equipment box under transient conditions is presented. The box consists of a cabinet designed to contain electronic devices (such as infrared and visible cameras, hyperspectral sensors, etc.) carried on UAV systems and thermal control has to be assured only for the short duration (15-20 mins) of each flight. Different cooling systems have been considered, including forced convection of external ambient air and use of storage units (cold gel packs) inside the box. The best cooling solution was obtained by a mixed active/passive technique consisting in placing cold gel packs inside the box in combination with the internal ventilation, without any air exchange with external environment.