University of Kentucky's Design/Build/Fly

This proposal seeks to enable participation in the annual DesignlBuildIFly (DBF) competition by undergraduate students of the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Kentucky. This competition is coordinated by CessnalRaytheon Missile Systems in conjunction with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). It is designed to provide a realworld technical problem as an opportunity to apply analytical principles learned in the classroom, and to challenge ingenuity, design skills, and problem solving abilities. The general challenge of the competition is to design, build, and ultimately flight test an unmanned, batterypowered, radio-controlled aircraft that fulfills a set of specified mission objectives. The 2010111 competition will be held in Tuscon, AZ April 15-17 2011; the challenge is to design a Soldier Portable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (DAV) capable of fitting within a commercially produced suitcase meeting airline carry-on standards of 45 linear inches. This UA V must be a fully functioning aircraft capable of flying at least three laps on a predetermined course. The aircraft is to be of an original student design, launched by hand without the use of a launch assist device, and cannot include the use of rotary wing or lighter-than-air configurations. The power supply weight for the aircraft is not to exceed % pound, and must be "over-thecounter" NiCad or NiMH batteries (20 Amp current draw by means of a 20 Amp fuse per battery pack). The aircraft must carry a team-selected steel bar payload (minimum 3" width and 4" length) to simulate an ammo-resupply run, and a quantity of golf balls to simulate a medical supply run. The competition is evaluated by judges who issue numerical scores based on flight performance and a design report that documents and justifies the aircraft design based on mission requirements, feasibility, and financial constraints. In addition to the technical experience acquired, involvement in the DBF competition also provides a unique opportunity to work as a part of an interdisciplinary team. For this year's competition, the University of Kentucky's Mechanical Engineering Department has a group of 16 senior engineering students divided into four sub-teams focusing on different aspects of aircraft design: structural design, propulsion, aerodynamics, and systems integration. Each subteam will be headed by a team leader, with one student acting as the overall leader for the entire four sub-teams. The team leaders will be responsible for managing the schedules for each member in their sub-team, ensuring that goals created by the group are met, and deadlines on design work are enforced.