Unmanned Aerial Systems

Flight Operations

The Flight Operations team is responsible for the development of flight strategies, mission planning and risk analysis to ensure successful operations during the competition. We are directly involved in the actual flight of the aircraft and the management of all the operational tasks on-site. Throughout the year, the team works closely with other subsystems to organize test flights through which we try to optimize the flight process and improve its efficiency.

In addition, the Flight-Ops team is also responsible for ensuring a safe operation in compliance with the Canadian UAV/RPAS regulatory framework. Examples of tasks include training members to obtain pilot licenses, registering our UAV in the government portal, and obtaining the Manufacturer’s Safety Assurance Declaration for our drones to fly legally in controlled airspace.

AEAC

The AEAC sub-team of UAS is focused on competing for the Aerial Evolution Association of Canada (AEAC) Student UAS competition held annually in May in Alma, Québec. Aerial Evolution Association of Canada / Association pour l’Évolution Aérienne du Canada (formerly Unmanned Systems Canada / Systèmes Télécommandés Canada USC-STC) is led by representatives of entrepreneurs, businesses, industry, and government organizations working in the aerial, remotely-piloted and unmanned vehicle systems sector. The competition includes executing autonomous tasks using a flying vehicle with mechanical, software, and electrical challenges. This subteam mostly consists of undergraduate students. Each year, students design, manufacture, and test an autonomous multirotor from scratch.

Sub-systems

Airframe: The airframe subsystem designs and manufactures the frame of the drone: the physical base on which the other subsystems are built. Airframe members design and manufacture a drone by analyzing stresses, calculating masses, using CAD (SolidWorks, ANSYS), 3D-printing components, performing carbon fibre layups, and using machine tools to make custom parts.

Mechanical: The mechanical subsystem focuses on the drone’s robotic systems needed to complete the competition objectives. This subsystem works closely with the airframe, electrical, and software subteams to design and build systems such as an unmanned ground vehicle with a garage, or a robotic arm with a gripping mechanism used to transport packages.

Electrical: The electrical subsystem is vital to giving power, control and communication to the drone. This subteam tests and integrates electrical components like the flight controller, batteries, compass, lidar, electronic speed controllers (ESCs), transmitters and receivers. Members gain hands-on experience with soldering, RF link design, cable management, actuation, and propulsion selection.

Software: The software subteam is responsible for making programs for tasks involving computer vision, automated data processing, interoperability, navigation, or path planning. Depending on the competition requirements, specific software is needed to give the drone instructions to make it autonomous.

Flight Dynamics: The flight dynamics subsystem deals with getting the drone off the ground and keeping it in the air safely. This involves PID tuning for the drone using software-in-the-loop simulations and physical test data, managing the drone’s communication systems, and planning flight tests.

SAE

The SAE team designs and builds an electric, autonomous aircraft for the SAE Aero Design (Advanced Class) competition. Imitating a package delivery and capture mission, the objective is to design and build a hybrid V/STOL aircraft that takes off conventionally, but transitions to vertical flight to deliver and retrieve payloads. Since teams earn more points for each additional payload weight delivered, the competition focuses heavily on optimization and R&D to achieve the best performance within the constraints. Our membership ranges from first-year undergrad to PhD students, and each year we carry out a clean-sheet design and construction of our competition aircraft!

Sub-systems

Aerodynamics: Lifting a heavy payload requires designing an efficient wing, which is the primary goal of the Aerodynamics subteam. Analyses are conducted using a variety of in-house and commercial codes, and the resulting performance is validated in test flights.
Projects: Performance estimation, aerodynamic modelling, shape optimization, wing CAD and manufacturing

Software: The Software subteam is responsible for programming the systems that enable the aircraft to complete its mission with precision and robustness. Various open-source tools used in aerospace and robotics industries are employed and modified to suit our goals and requirements.

Projects: Flight simulation and control, mission planning and execution, computer vision

Electrical: The selection and integration of complex sensors and computers on our vehicles is the primary role of the Electrical subteam. The tradeoffs of size, weight, and power must be balanced, including other constraints unique to aircraft design.
Projects: Motor-propeller matching, sensor selection, circuit design and integration

Flight Dynamics: A plane cannot fly, let alone complete a complex mission, without careful consideration for its stability and control characteristics. The Flight Dynamics subteam achieves this using a variety of simulation models which must be validated in test flights.
Projects: Stability analysis, mass estimation and balance, test flight characterization, empennage CAD and manufacturing

Structures: Extreme weight savings are especially beneficial in aircraft design. The Structures subteam utilizes a host of numerical models and lightweight materials to design an impressively light airframe.
Projects: Structural sizing and optimization, FEA, composite layups, fuselage CAD and manufacturing

Prototyping: This subteam designs and builds “X-Planes”, or prototype vehicles which can be rapidly iterated and tested. The tasks are more hands-on, and the lessons learned from tests contribute to speeding up the development of our mission systems. 

Projects: Aircraft wing and tail design, airframe CAD and manufacturing.