UNMANNED AIRCRAFT FLEET MANAGEMENT FOR AUTOMATED DATE POLLINATOR SYSTEM Team 18056
PROJECT GOAL To design a robust management system that allows for continuous communication with multiple unmanned aircraft through the use of a user-controlled graphical interface, supplemented with autonomous mapping and weather analysis. Date trees can grow to over 80 feet tall and, in their natural habitat, have only the wind to depend on for pollination. Traditionally, agricultural workers pollinate date trees using large, hose-like machines, sometimes in conjunction with a lift table or similar machine to get closer to the date flowers. The team developed an unmanned aircraft pollination approach to increase the efficiency of this process. Teams 18054 and 18055 developed the dispenser and ground control systems. This project focuses on the communication between the unmanned aircraft and the operator, using a new “internet of things� product, the Hologram Nova, to give the unmanned aircraft LTE, or long-term evolution, capabilities virtually anywhere in the United States. The team developed a web application to autonomously create paths for each unmanned aircraft, while giving users the ability to control the unmanned aircraft and view common analytics during and after the pollination process. The team added weather analysis to the system using a portable ambient weather station to calculate live wind offsets for the unmanned aircraft during pollination.
TEAM MEMBERS Thinnawat Bunwan Electrical & Computer Engineering Jackson Carlson Industrial Engineering Sarthak Singh Systems Engineering Jorge Armando Sugich Biosystems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Brandon Bass Electrical & Computer Engineering COLLEGE MENTOR Gregory E. Ogden SPONSOR MENTOR David Dillon
NAVAL DRONE RECOVERY SYSTEM Team 18057
PROJECT GOAL To design and demonstrate a system capable of safely recovering small fixed-wing unmanned aircraft on smaller naval vessels. There is currently no safe method for recovering a small fixed-wing unmanned aircraft while at sea on smaller naval vessels. The team created a system, deployable from small watercraft, that can capture a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft without the use of landing gear. The system is easily stowed and deployed, and able to weather the wide range of operating conditions typical of a maritime environment. The design uses a structural frame with nylon netting to safely arrest drones that fly into the netting. A frictional braking system attached to the net dissipates momentum to minimize potential damage to the drone. The system also includes lighting that allows unmanned aircraft pilots to detect and align with the capture net during night operations. A three-man crew can erect or stow the system in 15 minutes. The system was tested against International Organization for Standardization and military standards to ensure it met all of its requirements and could survive a wide range of operating environments.
TEAM MEMBERS Cole Feeney Systems Engineering Tyler Dean Mayberry Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Rebecca Mulligan Mechanical Engineering Axton Oliva Electrical & Computer Engineering William Michael Williams Electrical & Computer Engineering Jonathan Keating Mechanical Engineering COLLEGE MENTOR Steve Larimore SPONSOR MENTORS Christopher Meyer Ryan Wahl Huy Le
PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
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