Hello Everyone!
We are UBC Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) a multidisciplinary student team at the University of British Columbia, with team members across many faculties ranging from engineering, to science, to business. Every year, we work together to design an innovative autonomous aircraft and associated payloads for two annual competitions.
This past year, using CubePilot’s Cube Orange and Here4, we were able to design a VTOL airplane, Albatross. The attachment system for the payload is fully modular, meaning Albatross can be used for a wide variety of missions; Albatross flew in two different competitions last year! For our first competition, AEAC National Student UAV Competition, we designed a scaled-down human transport vehicle using a full wet-layup carbon fibre shell with luxury beds and fully magnetic doors. This fuselage was then mounted below the fixed wing of the aircraft to go on a 10 km flight around the boundary, reaching maximum speeds of 60 km/hr. With the help of the Cube, which supports both vertical and horizontal flight for this mission, we placed 2nd for phase I, and 3rd for phase II! For our second competition, SUAS, we designed a self-guiding parachute to deliver water bottles to specific targets. This task would not have been possible without the use of the dual mounted Here4’s and the RTK base station that is able to provide centimetre-level accuracy. Our system also involved an extensive software suite that is connected through MissionPlanner to send commands to the cube.
Our experience working with CubePilot has been nothing short of incredible. We rely extensively on CubePilot’s Cube Orange and the Here4 GPS system to control and navigate our aircraft. Utilising the open source ArduPilot firmware, we were able to program safety procedures to the aircraft in case of failure. We are grateful for the extensive support from CubePilot’s team and we look forward to continuing to use their products in our drones!
Below are some photos for those interested!