UAARG team members Brian Hinrichsen, Rijesh Augustine, Jorge Marin, Dat Nguyen and Dylan Ma are competing in the Unmanned Systems Canada 2016 Student AUV Competition.
(Edmonton) A team of U of A engineering students is taking flight in a national competition of unmanned vehicles, applying their engineering know-how to solve real-world challenges.
Team leader Rijesh Augustine, who has just completed his studies in the engineering physics program, says the teams are being asked to use their autonomous aircraft in a crop-inspection simulation.
"One thing about the Canadian competition is you are always give a very specific task," he said. "Last year it was a train derailment simulation that we were to fly over and take photos. This year we're using our aircraft to inspect crops."
You can follow the team's progress on the UAARG blog.
The teams are given a defined area to fly over and photograph, proving that the technology can be used in the agricultural sector.
The U of A Aerial Robotics Group team's single-propeller airplane is launched manually, with one team member operating a remote control box and another releasing the airplane. On-board devices transmit information about the airplane-where it is, how well it is operating and so forth, to a ground based "flight centre." Once the aircraft is out of visual contact, it runs on autopilot to complete its task. However, a second "pilot" can take control of the airplane, sending commands over radio.
The airplane transmits photos to the flight centre in real time but there can be a delay as images are downloaded. The flight centre pilot can instruct the plane to fly in a holding pattern until the team is satisfied with the images. If more photos are required, the pilot can send the airplane back for a second round.The airplane is light-weight-about three kg-and has a wingspan of 1.8 metres. It is capable of flying missions up to 40 minutes and is capable of reaching altitudes of more than 300 metres. (Regulations governing the flight of such aircraft in Canada restrict them to no more than 300 metres.) The team's safety officer Brian Hinrichsen, is studying urban planning and says his work as the team's safety officer is helping him understand and appreciate national regulations on unmanned aircraft.
It sounds simple on paper but the team members require knowledge of a huge spectrum of engineering areas, from aerodynamics to electronics-and they need to meet safety and regulatory regulations while carrying out their tasks.
This year, electrical engineering graduate student Jorge Marin joined the group to help connect the autopilot, power system, radio transmitters and GPS systems into one integrated electronics system.
Dat Nguyen and Dylan Ma, first-year engineering students who played an active role on the team, say that volunteering with the team has given them a better appreciation for what engineering is about.
In engineering classes, students are required to complete assignments with very precise answers. But Nguyen discovered things change when you're working on a project.
"What surprised me was the fact that here, working on the airplane, you get things as close as you can," he said. "A lot of the work is trial and error."
The team is confident that they'll perform well at this week's Unmanned Systems Canada competition, running April 29 - May 1 in Southport, Manitoba.
Last year, the team's airplane suffered two setbacks: once, just moments after take-off, a decal fell off the fuselage and the pilot killed power to the plane-unaware of what part had fallen off the plane. After some minor repairs the plane "went down hard" during a practice flight and on a third flight the "autopilot failed, to a degree," said Augustine.
"But we were well prepared as a team," he added. "We had setbacks but were able to make the repairs we needed to. As a team, we performed very well."