The VAMUdeS Team Crowned Champion of AUVSI SUAS 2018

The VAMUdeS Team Crowned Champion of AUVSI SUAS 2018

The 2018 SUAS Competition was held June 13th to June 16th, 2018. A total of 69 teams competed (35 domestic, 31 international), 63 submitted Technical Design papers, 51 presented Flight Readiness Reviews (FRR), 51 teams attended, and 47 were able to get airborne. A total of $70,700 was awarded to teams. This was the first year to have interop-only ODLC submission (no paper or USB drive).

The VAMUdeS team (Miniature Aerial Vehicle of the University of Sherbrooke) proudly sponsored by XOAR was crowned champion of the international competition AUVSI SUAS 2018. For a third consecutive year, a world premiere, VAMUdeS brings back the coveted trophy of the first position at the AUVSI-SUAS International Competition! With XOAR’s ultimate propulsion system, including XOAR Titan Brushless Drone Motors and XOAR PJP-T-L Carbon Fiber Precision Pair Drone Propellers, the VAMUdeS team flew fully autonomously and captured waypoints within a few feet, avoided obstacles in the shape of stationary cylinders and moving spheres, located roughly 1 m^2 targets in a search zone, most within 20 feet, and dropped a water bottle within 17 feet of a target location. The VAMUdeS team also won two awards, one of which being Best in Mission and the Cyber Security Award for fixing a bug in the automated scoring system.

VAMUdeS Team

Xoar propellers VAMUdeS Team

Xoar propulsion system VAMUdeS Team

XOAR congratulates the VAMUdeS team once again for an amazing performance and crowning champion of of the international competition AUVSI SUAS 2018.

Check out the VAMUdeS team on facebook.


About the Competition
The AUVSI SUAS Competition is designed to foster interest in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), stimulate interest in UAS technologies and careers, and to engage students in a challenging UAS mission. The competition requires students to design, integrate, report on, and demonstrate a UAS capable of autonomous flight and navigation, remote sensing via onboard payload sensors, and execution of a specific set of tasks. The competition has been held annually since 2002.

The competition is held at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station (NAS) Webster Field in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. This is the site of the UAS Test & Evaluation Directorate.

Autonomous Aerial Missions.
The competition focuses on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) performing autonomous missions. Many of the tasks require autonomy to be eligible, and others receive more points for autonomy.

Competition Components.
The competition has 3 major graded components: a Technical Journal Paper which describes the systems engineering approach and the UAS design, a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) where teams describe their mission readiness and what testing gives them confidence, and a Mission Demonstration where the team is evaluated on performance.

Mission Tasks. The competition has a series of tasks that should be completed by the UAS system built. The competition changes these tasks year-to-year to reflect the forefront of the UAS industry. The tasks are joined to form a simulated real-world mission. The 2017 competition mission is search-and-rescue of a lost hiker. Example tasks:

Interoperability. The UAS downloads mission details, uploads aircraft telemetry in real time, and uploads mission deliverables to an external judge-provided system.
Autonomous Flight. The UAS autonomously takes off, flies within boundaries, navigates a series of waypoints, and lands.

Obstacle Avoidance. The UAS autonomously avoids obstacles, which can be stationary or moving.
Object Detection, Classification, Localization. The UAS takes pictures of a search area, detect objects of interest, classifies its characteristics, and provides a GPS position.

Air Delivery. The UAS autonomously drops a payload object so that it lands undamaged at a provided GPS position.

EHang184 – World’s First Human-size Autonomous Aerial Vehicle

EHang184 – World’s First Human-size Autonomous Aerial Vehicle

World’s first electric human-size autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV), EHang184, was unveiled at CES 2016 at Las Vegas.

EHang184 is capable of carrying one passenger up to 220 pounds for up to 23 minutes at sea level with its 14.4-kWh battery pack, which takes four hours in triple mode or two hours in fast charge to a full charge. The whole vehicle weights 440 lb (200 kg), can carry up to 264 lb (120 kg), has a maximum speed of 62 mph (100 km/h) and can reach a maximum altitude of 11,480 ft (3,499 m).

It features a carbon fiber/epoxy composite body and an aerial aluminum alloy frame. Eight motors with eight carbon fiber propellers divided in four group of two, each pair mounted on the top and bottom of one of four foldable arms.

A 12-inch touchscreen tablet display is the main instrument in the cockpit which allows the passenger to select the flight destination. The drone has gull-wing doors and a trunk for small luggage.

Safety is key on EHang184 with its fail-safe system. Even with one propeller malfunctions, it can still land in the nearest possible area safely. EHang also claims a 24-7 flight control center monitors each flight and can intervene in emergency situations.

EHang184 is a great start to the future of autonomous aviation, but it will require the Government, FAA and the commercial manufacturers working together to set the future in the right direction.

ehang184-2

ehang184-3

Stark Aerospace “HoverLite”

Stark Aerospace “HoverLite”

Stark Aerospace, as part of a rapid research and development effort sponsored by the Combatting Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO), introduces the HoverLite tactical tethered hovering aerial ISR system. HoverLite provides exceptional asymmetric observation and surveillance capabilities supporting military, homeland security and civilian missions for pop-up surveillance, border patrol, crowd monitoring, and emergency rapid response missions.

Rising to a height of 165 ft. in ~ 15 seconds, HoverLite is secured by a tether providing power and bi-directional signals to and from the aerial platform and its sensor(s). HoverLite can be operated on the move and broadcasts ISR products to users on the network or local with no signature.

“We are excited to offer this new capability to the ISR market”, said Robert Foglesong, Chairman & CEO of Stark Aerospace. “The HoverLite serves a huge gap in fast reaction 360 degree situational awareness.”

The platform is capable of carrying any payload of up to 13.2 lbs. HoverLite is suitable for a wide range of small platforms including pick-up trucks, ATVs, UGVs/USVs (unmanned ground /surface vehicles), boats, communication vehicles, etc.

Technical Specifications

  • Maximum hover height: 165 ft
  • Deployment time: 15 seconds
  • Wind Limit: 25 Kt ~ 28.8 MPH
  • T-STAMP-ER Payload

T-STAMPER-ER electro-optical stabilized gimbal payload

  • Stabilization at the nadir by 3-gimbal system
  • GPS aided IMU on LOS provides target geo-location
  • Day Channel
  • Continuous optical zoom (X20)
  • Thermal Camera
  • FPA 640×512 pixels
  • Laser Pointer