For my senior design project, our group of 4 students chose to design and build a UAV for the 2014 ASME Design Competition. The objective was to carry a cargo through two gates, drop a payload, and return back through the gates to the starting point.
The ASME competition scoring was determined primarily by the maximum cargo carried by the UAV. We therefore designed the propulsion and control systems to achieve maximum possible lift. While these design objectives drove us to create a high-thrust octocopter capable of lifting twenty pounds on top of its own weight, they did create unique problems that prevented us from competing in the design competition.
This project taught me a great amount about electrical engineering, trusting manufacturers and allowing for component error. Although two catastrophes caused us to miss the competition, we flew a mock course on our own campus and completed it within the acceptable time.
