Amount of funding awarded
11400
Budget Report
View budget report.
How the program has supported you
PAF funding enabled the purchase of necessary resources for building the quad plane, named Beetle. Due to the nature of drone delivery and surveying, we needed to ensure that we had a high-speed system, a sufficiently long range, and an extensible system for cargo-type payloads. We designed the entire frame in-house, using balsa and carbon fiber for the semi-monocoque, wings, stabilizers, and fuselage as well as carbon fiber for the main boom and wing spars, which allowed us to iterate as necessary and see great weight reductions. Iterations of various mounts for onboard electronics were 3D-printed and designed to optimize strength for weight. We were also able to build a custom motor testing rig that enabled us to validate and select our desired motors to ensure our drone performs as expected, minimizing the risk of losing our aircraft during testing.
Outcomes
Unfortunately, our system was not competition ready on time, despite all the hard work of the team, the risks of losing our first fixed-wing aircraft outweighed the benefits and potential rewards. We instead used a previous flight-ready aircraft to go for the competition where we placed 15th out of about 70 teams internationally.
Beetle helped 19 mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, integrated engineering, and science students develop various technical and soft skills. There was an emphasis on the aerodynamics of the fixed-winged design this year, alongside designing electromechanical systems, building, and testing prototypes, performing simulations, designing PCBs, soldering and assembling components, writing efficient code in different languages, and conducting documented quality checks.
Members developed skills in a professional team environment, communicating efficiently in an online setting, problem-solving, networking, and team organization- all crucial for members and their careers in all disciplines.
