VTOL aircraft combine the benefits of conventional fixed-wing aircraft (long endurance flight and a large payload capacity) with the benefits of multirotors (vertical takeoff and landing requiring small airfields). As part of this project, I aimed to design a mid-size UAV capable of carrying a 5kg payload while flying with an endurance of 1-2 hours.
As fun as it is flying radio-controlled planes inevitably you do crash, break a part and have your fun cut short by disappointment. Then you’re stuck waiting for replacement parts, or worse, might have to build a new plane from scratch!
As part of the 2017 AIAA DBF Challenge, we designed and constructed a tube-launched UAV that can fit inside an element-proof tube for transportation and storage, be quickly deployed on site and carry a large payload (over 12 hockey pucks).