Project Hex 2017/18
In my first year of University, I signed up to join the Project Hex society. The project was to design and create an autonomous drone that could perform a set task set by the competition organisers (IMechE).
Leading on from the previous year of the competition, the leaders of the team who run the society wanted to implement some major changes to the previous year’s design. The main changes were that the frame was to be made of lightweight carbon-fibre, the power system was to be more efficient and the autonomous flight controller would be far more effective due to major barometer and compass issues.
The team was comprised of three main groups: structural, control and propulsion. I joined the power system group as it interests me the most and felt it was where my strengths lie.
Our group met regularly and in the first chunk of weeks, we learned the basics behind the propulsion of the quadcopter, the power system basics and some practical skills such as soldering. As the propulsion group, in later weeks we had to make sure that we were regularly achieving certain parts of the IMechE task. For instance, we had to write a report that showed our component selection process, our understanding of the propulsion system and our justification for each chosen part complete with necessary calculations and data sheet values.
Once it was approaching the deadline for the project, the drone was assembled and tested to prepare for the competition in Wales. I could not attend the final competition but our drone performed well. From the Project hex website, “We were proud to place 9th overall out of 22 teams this year, and achieved a faultless flight as well as an official flightworthiness specification before a lack of time cut short our second attempt at the course.” I thought the project was a great experience where I met some great people and learned many things, especially about the propulsion system and physics behind multirotor aircraft.
IMechE UAS challenge website:
http://www.imeche.org/events/challenges/uas-challenge
Project Hex Sheffield website:
http://www.projecthexsheffield.co.uk/
Leading on from the previous year of the competition, the leaders of the team who run the society wanted to implement some major changes to the previous year’s design. The main changes were that the frame was to be made of lightweight carbon-fibre, the power system was to be more efficient and the autonomous flight controller would be far more effective due to major barometer and compass issues.
The team was comprised of three main groups: structural, control and propulsion. I joined the power system group as it interests me the most and felt it was where my strengths lie.
Our group met regularly and in the first chunk of weeks, we learned the basics behind the propulsion of the quadcopter, the power system basics and some practical skills such as soldering. As the propulsion group, in later weeks we had to make sure that we were regularly achieving certain parts of the IMechE task. For instance, we had to write a report that showed our component selection process, our understanding of the propulsion system and our justification for each chosen part complete with necessary calculations and data sheet values.
Once it was approaching the deadline for the project, the drone was assembled and tested to prepare for the competition in Wales. I could not attend the final competition but our drone performed well. From the Project hex website, “We were proud to place 9th overall out of 22 teams this year, and achieved a faultless flight as well as an official flightworthiness specification before a lack of time cut short our second attempt at the course.” I thought the project was a great experience where I met some great people and learned many things, especially about the propulsion system and physics behind multirotor aircraft.
IMechE UAS challenge website:
http://www.imeche.org/events/challenges/uas-challenge
Project Hex Sheffield website:
http://www.projecthexsheffield.co.uk/