.png)
Humanitarian UAV Mission (HUM)
We have partnered with Air Serv International to provide them with a fixed-wing uncrewed aerial vehicle for them to
expand their reach in sub-Saharan
Africa. We were tasked to create
a vehicle that could carry as large of a
payload as possible, with a long range and
the ability to land on unpaved runways. This project
gives students the opportunity to design, build, and test an aircraft of their own making that has real-life applications.
This project runs through the full lifecycle of an aircraft, from manufacturing to certification, giving us a wide breadth of
skills and opportunities to contribute to a sustainable design.
About Air Serv International
AirServ International is a non-profit humanitarian relief organization based out of sub-Saharan Africa that provides aviation services. One of their key aviation services that M-SAAVE will be helping them with is the transportation of goods and medical supplies. AirServ currently uses Cessna 208 Caravans to transport these supplies, and we hope to widen their reach across the rural and disaster-afflicted areas by providing a smaller, unmanned aircraft that can land in areas that do not have paved runways. M-SAAVE HUM hopes to help AirServ to the best of our ability by providing a craft that can have the longest flight range possible, be able to takeoff in a small distance with no paved runway, and carry as heavy of a payload to drop in the current unreached areas. We are currently finishing the manufacturing and test of our initial design, and hope to provide AirServ with a final production design soon!
HUM Subsystems
Aerodynamics
Design and analysis of lifting and control surfaces such as wing, flaps, ailerons, tail, rudder, and elevators. Helps design landing gear, run simulation software (AVL, Star-CCM+), and verify control surface sizing through wind tunnel tests!
Lead: Elise VeCasey
Avionics
Configure all the electronics and software components including the radio communication, controlling servos & motors for manual and autonomous control, integrating sensors, using cameras for surveillance
and mapping. Focus a lot on testing and integrating components to accomplish flight!
Lead: Victoria Spencer
Payload Design & Delivery
Design and manufacture all parts of the modular payload system including the package delivery system and all parts (release mechanism, door opening mechanism, delivery box), and the surveillance system and all parts (gimbal and RGB camera, search and rescue, gimbal and IR camera).
Lead: Dan Fenton
Power & Propulsion
Ensure that all power system requirement are met for Propulsion, Payload, and Avionics components (motors and ESCs for propulsion, control surface servos & telemetry components, payload cameras and gimbals). Also in charge of determining flight trajectory and payload capacity. Conduct full system testing with Avionics and design the entire electrical system architecture for the aircraft.
Lead: Ashton Boichot
Design, test, and integrate electric propulsion system components such as brushless electric motors, carbon fiber propellers, electronic speed controllers (ESCs). Now working on optimizing propulsion configuration, full system testing with power/avionics, manufacturing structural components
Structures
Design and manufacture aircraft components including wing ribs, spars, fuselage, landing gear, tail, and internal mechanisms. Also conduct FEA on craft including on wing and tail spars and landing gear. Now manufacturing a test wing to put into the wind tunnel this year and will be manufacturing the full aircraft soon!
Leads: Celia Radke and Josh Zirin
