AE Freshmen LTA Design Soars
October 11, 2008 - It was a cool morning, with the sun just coming up, when ten enthusiastic and bright eyed students launched their Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) aircraft in the school gymnasium. The air is filled with the students’ excitement as they buzzed around making their final preparations – giant balloons are filled with helium, batteries and motors are checked, the control systems are tested. It is Race Day.
The LTA design is the freshmen’s introduction to Aerospace Engineering and Design. These future aerospace engineers spent the whole semester planning and working on their design. Divided into groups, they set out to outdo each other competing to have the best thought-out, best done aircraft. What seemed to be child’s play in the beginning turned serious as they discovered that payload, reliability of the structures and aesthetics are not meant to be together. The LTA design is limited to an overall weight of 1.75 kgs excluding the three 1-meter balloons. To complicate things further, the balsa wood structure must be constructed in a way that will minimize weight and strong enough to carry the engine, batteries and the control systems. And, that’s not the end of it; they must also find a way to make their designs pleasant to the eye.
The first problem they encountered during the race day was how to stabilize the aircraft. They solved it by turning trashes to gold. Rocks, wood chips, spare batteries were used as counterweights. With every group dealing with their own problems, the original course around the basketball court was reduced to a mere 25 meters dash. Flying the LTA’s was a cocktail of excitement, learning and sorrow. Like in every real world problem, some groups succeeded while some failed. All in all, it sure was a fun filled semester.
The activity allowed the future engineers to experience the intricacies of aircraft design and development the right aerospace engineer’s mindset early on in their studies. With their experience and lessons learned, they are on the right path to becoming the pillars of their countries’ own aerospace industries.
Watch video clip of the freshmen at work below.
The LTA design is the freshmen’s introduction to Aerospace Engineering and Design. These future aerospace engineers spent the whole semester planning and working on their design. Divided into groups, they set out to outdo each other competing to have the best thought-out, best done aircraft. What seemed to be child’s play in the beginning turned serious as they discovered that payload, reliability of the structures and aesthetics are not meant to be together. The LTA design is limited to an overall weight of 1.75 kgs excluding the three 1-meter balloons. To complicate things further, the balsa wood structure must be constructed in a way that will minimize weight and strong enough to carry the engine, batteries and the control systems. And, that’s not the end of it; they must also find a way to make their designs pleasant to the eye.
The first problem they encountered during the race day was how to stabilize the aircraft. They solved it by turning trashes to gold. Rocks, wood chips, spare batteries were used as counterweights. With every group dealing with their own problems, the original course around the basketball court was reduced to a mere 25 meters dash. Flying the LTA’s was a cocktail of excitement, learning and sorrow. Like in every real world problem, some groups succeeded while some failed. All in all, it sure was a fun filled semester.
The activity allowed the future engineers to experience the intricacies of aircraft design and development the right aerospace engineer’s mindset early on in their studies. With their experience and lessons learned, they are on the right path to becoming the pillars of their countries’ own aerospace industries.
Watch video clip of the freshmen at work below.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment