BLUE CAT: A student design challenge

Funding is requested to support the 2011-2012 Boundary Layer UAV for Experimental Characterization of Turbulence (BLUE CAT) design challenge. This project seeks to provide undergraduate students with hands-on experience applying analytical principles, problem solving ability and design skills towards designing, building and flying an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of meeting specific set of design requirements. The mission objective for 2011-2012 is to produce an autonomous platform capable of conducting scientific measurements of atmospheric turbulence. The challenge will culminate in a measurement campaign coordinated with UK's Space Systems Laboratory to conduct weather balloon and UAV data acquisition of simultaneous wind velocity data in both the upper and lower atmosphere.