Strath UAV
About Strath UAV
The design and build of a fixed-wing autonomous air vehicle is being carried out by a team of 5th year Mechanical Engineering students. The task for the team is to successfully manage the project in order to deliver an autonomous fixed wing vehicle that will serve as the foundation for an entry into the IMechE’s UAS Challenge in 2016.
The project is part of the University’s Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) programme, therefore in addition to the 5th year members a number of additional members from a variety of disciplines are also involved in the development of the aircraft, its systems and the commercial aspects of the project funding and development.
About Competition
The project guidelines for developing the UAS are strongly based on the requirement for entry into the IMechE’s UAS challenge. The challenge models a humanitarian aid mission in which a natural disaster has occurred and autonomous aircraft are required to fly through pre-planned waypoints and deliver payloads to areas which are inaccessible by land and in need of supplies. The aircraft is expected to be capable of identifying the target area on the ground requiring aid via on-board image recognition. Click here to see the rules of the UAS Challenge.