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They discuss their achievements to date, challenges encountered and the lessons they have learnt in their quest to design and build an aircraft that could operate in a humanitarian aid mission.
Q: Could you briefly tell us about your team – any interesting facts or background information?
Team WHIF (TW): The team consists of eight international students from Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Lithuania. Except our supervisor, there is no Welsh team member despite us representing a Welsh university.
All team members have industrial experience in manufacturing, engineering or a related subject which was seen as a big advantage in some aspects of the project especially from the German and Swiss team members due to their apprenticeship and further technical education experience before entering university.
Despite of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team managed to work together from all over Europe towards the Dragons Den presentation. After a very short period of stagnation, as we had to leave only one week before our first test flight, all team members were quickly highly motivated again and everyone is doing their part to push the project forward.
Strath UA (SU): Formed as part of a fifth year Masters project, our team consists of four members studying at the University of Strathclyde. This was the first entry into the competition by the University of Strathclyde.
CAD model of Strath UA’s UAS Challenge 2020 project
Q: Could you tell us about the design and innovation aspect of your aircraft?
TW: We decided on a high aspect ratio fixed wing design consisting of a lightweight structure that allows us to use a glider modification after dropping the payload. This is a major advantage for the efficiency of the UAV
For the fuselage-wing connection we used quick connectors from the German company FESTO, which enables a safe, quick and easy assembly and disassembly of the UAV for transportation. Also, the V-Tail can be assembled by a simple securing screw.
Due to the modular design of the UAV, the cargo section can easily be exchanged in to modify the UAV with respect to the mission requirements. The payload container consists completely of folded cardboard. This not only is biodegradable, the foldable design also allows an easy assembly from just 2 pieces of cardboard which can be transported to the destination and folded there to save space during transportation.
A parachute, self-made from jute string and corn starch is used to ensure full biodegradability of the cargo system. The transport box designed can be used as a ground station also, by folding the top cover. This is especially beneficial for emergency missions in remote areas.
SU: As this was our first entry into the competition, we chose to keep our design relatively simple. The design was a quadcopter drone as this provided stability and superior manoeuvrability compared to a fixed wing aircraft. The software enabled the drone to fly autonomously along predetermined GPS waypoints before locating a target and releasing the payload onto the target. This was done using ArduPilot running on a Pixhawk and a Raspberry Pi running image recognition software.
Q: How could your UAV be used to help vulnerable people and fight against COVID-19?
TW: The UAV is suitable for providing regions with poor infrastructure with masks and test kits. The UAVs can be operated from some sort of distribution centre. This method can later also be used for supplying vaccines to these areas
Using UAVs for medical supply deliveries is not only beneficial for remote regions, it can also be used in more urban areas, or at least areas where the infrastructure is not so poor. Pharmacies and hospitals for example could be reached by such supply chains. This saves a lot of important time and prevents unnecessary social contact between suppliers and recipients.
At this point we would like to distance ourselves from control flights with drones, which are intended to monitor contact restrictions between individuals. This practice, which is or has been used in some countries, is an extreme interference in the liberty of the people. However, this method can be used to anticipate crowd movement’s at large events. In this way, authorities or organisers can take early action to avoid too many people gathering in one place.
SU: Although the drone can only carry a payload of 2kg, it could be used to deliver small payloads (such as medication) to vulnerable people in isolation. It could also be used to scan parks using its image recognition software and alert the police to large gatherings where people are not social distancing.
Q: What are the key skills you learnt from this project and what were the challenges you faced?
TW: With the team being made up of international team members, the importance of correct and clear communication became apparent. Therefore, standards and channels of communication should be defined right at the beginning of such a project.
Also, at the beginning you should always pay attention to precise project planning. Even if this takes a little more time at the beginning, it will pay off over the course of the project. Transparency for all members is also an important aspect here.
It was initially difficult for us to set priorities and objectives adequately, as estimating the workload requires experience that is not readily available in a student team. As such, we put ourselves under pressure to fulfil the very ambitious goals we set ourselves. However, you should not set your goals too low, because otherwise you will not being able to fulfil your full potential.
By and large, the project was very good preparation for later working life, where good communication and teamwork are also important.
SU: The team did not have much experience with coding, so this was the most challenging part of the project. We had to overcome this to enable the drone to fly autonomously. We also learned about the full engineering design process as we progressed through the project. It also gave us the opportunity to work with external suppliers and internal lab technicians.
Due to the closure of the university we never got to build our final drone so only have pictures of the test drone or the CAD model of the final competition drone.
To recognise teamwork done to date, the UAS Challenge organising committee has agreed to host a virtual awards ceremony taking place at 2:30pm on 19 June 2020 to present teams with the following awards:
- Design Award
- Highest Placed New Entrant Award
- Innovation Award
- Business Proposition Award
- Safety Award
- Media & Engagement Award.