IMechE UAS Challenge 2021
-RUNNER-UP and SAFETY AWARDS
WON by team NUST AIRWORKS in
UNITED KINGDOM’S INTERNATIONAL
IMechE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM (UAS) CHALLENGE 2021
INTRODUCTION OF COMPETITION:
Held every year in the U.K by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the UAS Challenge sees university teams design, build, test and fly an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) over a 9-month project cycle culminating in a live fly-off event held in the summer. The fly-off event was replaced with an X-Plane model simulation for teams competing virtually this year.
The Challenge presents teams with a simulation of a natural disaster scenario, where relief aid packages must be delivered to areas inaccessible by humans. Teams must choose an aircraft configuration best suited to competition’s missions that include a fully autonomous flight from take-off to landing, navigating the route according to ground markers and dropping the payload package accurately.
PARTICIPANTS:
Over 30 international teams from Bangladesh, Denmark, Greece, India, Pakistan, Netherlands, Russia, Sri Lanka and the U.K took part in this year’s competition.
INTRODUCTION OF TEAM:
NUST Airworks an undergraduate student team based at NUST- Pakistan Navy Engineering College (PNEC), Karachi. The team comprises twenty-five electrical and mechanical engineering undergraduates from 1st to 4th year.
DETAIL OF ACHIEVEMENTS:
Team NUST Airworks had the second-highest cumulative score based on its submitted reports and X-Plane model across all virtual participants leading to it receiving the Runner Up Award. It also won the Safety Award, with the judges commenting that the team “gave an excellent explanation of their general approach and a good hazard table with clear consequences of concern, preventative and corrective measures.”
TEAM’S AIRCRAFT:
The team developed a tailless blended wing body aircraft, Zephyr, whose main structure was composed of a fibre-glass shell with carbon fibre spars and plywood ribs internally.
AWARDS WON:
- Runner-up Award
- Safety Award