Sponsors

We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support in pursuing our mission and realizing our vision. Their contributions and commitment to enrichment of the student experience are immensely valued and acknowledged by our team.
Interested in sponsoring us? Check out our Sponsorship Package!

Ocean Trailer is Western Canada’s trailer specialist. They provide a variety of trailers from dry vans to Super B Fuel Tankers. Their knowledgeable team is well equipped to match a trailer to your needs. They also provide servicing and operate in Delta, Edmonton, Calgary, Nanaimo, Winnipeg, Prince Rupert, and Mission. 

The Faculty of Engineering supports project groups through awards such as the Spirit of George Ford Endowment Fund, faculty members providing technical advising, and a projects team that helps navigate the challenges of running a club. It also provides us with the knowledge and skills to help us excel at competition!

Innov8tive Designs specialize in electric power systems for radio control aircraft. They have been a huge help by providing BadAss motors for our planes.

The ELKO Engineering Garage is where our team does all our manufacturing. No matter the time, the Elko Engineering Garage’s staff and machines are always there to help us soar. It’s doors are open to any University of Alberta student, so be sure to check them out!

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ANSYS is a software company that has developed simulation programs to push boundaries. Their products are used worldwide in every sector. To learn more about them, click here.

Tyto Robotics is at the forefront of electrical propulsion with their many different kinds of thrust stands. Thousands of companies including NASA and Airbus have used Tyto Robotics products and software. To learn more about them, click here. To learn how Tyto Robotics’ stand helped us, see below. 

TYTO ROBOTICS - SERIES 1580 TEST STAND

Figure 1: Series 1580 Test Stand with the motor and propeller installed in the wind tunnel - Front View
In our 2022-2023 design cycle for the SAE Aero Design competition, we decided to step outside our comfort zone and participate in the Micro Class design challenge for the very first time in our clubs 37-year history (historically our club has participated exclusively in Regular or Advanced classes). In the Micro Class, there were new challenges that demanded an optimized propulsion system such as a 450 W power limit, a 4s LiPo battery, an 8 ft maximum take-off distance, and a 36” maximum wingspan. With these requirements, we realized it was more important than ever to characterize the performance of our propulsion system in detail as every additional amount of thrust we can produce with our limited power can make a significant difference. In November of 2022, Tyto Robotics helped us achieve our goal by sponsoring our purchase of the Series 1580 Test Stand. The Series 1580 Test Stand was robust and easy to set up, allowing us to perform multiple static tests under different conditions with minimal downtime. The test stand came in a box with all the components required for its operation including the hardware, load cells, motor mounting plate, calibration tools, and electrical components.

Before receiving the test stand, a rigorous analysis of various propeller, motor, electronic speed controller (ESC), and battery combinations was performed in MATLAB to converge on a set of combinations that will maximize thrust within the available 450 W while operating near the motor’s peak efficiency.

The three main goals of the tests were to:

  1. Characterize each propeller’s thrust efficiency (thrust/electric power).
  2. Determine how the battery voltage, thrust, electrical power, and RPM changed over 90 seconds when drawing 450 W (a typical flight attempt is 60 seconds).
  3. Measure the motor efficiency at our expected operating points

To achieve the first goal, each propeller was tested at five 500 RPM increments up to its maximum RPM. The maximum RPM was set by an electrical power draw of 450 W. Using the continuous recording feature offered by the versatile and user-friendly RCBenchmark software, 500 samples were recorded at each testing condition, and the average values were calculated.

To accomplish the second goal, each propeller was held at 450 W for 90 seconds.

For the third goal, the test data showed that the motor was operating at around 76-80% efficiency for all the tested RPMs.

After performing these tests, we were able to refine and validate our selected propulsion system by:

  1. Determining the thrust each propeller generates when drawing 450W of power or less, and the maximum power each propeller draws at full throttle.
  2. Determining which propeller produced more thrust with the same electrical power input.
  3. Quantifying the decrease in battery voltage, power and thrust we can expect with time.
  4. Identifying the discrepancy between the propeller manufacturer’s reported values and the experimental results.
Figure 2: Series 1580 Test Stand with the motor and propeller installed in the wind tunnel - Side View
The Series 1580 Test Stand offered various other useful features such as the ability to measure the RPM of the propeller both electronically and by using an optical RPM probe. In addition to the parameters mentioned above, the test stand was able to measure motor torque as well as vibrations in 3 axes which provided valuable insight into the aircraft’s structural, stability and control considerations. Due to the difficulty in measuring these parameters, these factors may have been overlooked otherwise.
From our testing, we were able to validate our motor, propeller, and battery choice. Furthermore, we can now more accurately and reliably calculate our flight performance. A second series of tests were conducted in the Laboratory of Turbulent Flow’s wind tunnel to characterize the dynamic thrust to model the take-off and cruise performance more accurately. Aero Design would like to thank Tyto Robotics for their sponsorship, as it enabled us to purchase the Series 1580 thrust stand which is highly robust, accurate, and user friendly. It is perfect for conducting thrust tests in different conditions to validate a propulsion system and measure various parameters such as propeller thrust, propeller RPM, current, voltage, motor torque, and efficiency.

Deep Rajani – VP Finance & Aerodynamics Team Lead (Author)

Daniel Kichma – Propulsion Team Lead (Author)

Ejouan Agena – Senior Design Team Member

Mckenna Warawa – Design Team Member

Michael Caulfield – Design Team Member

SAE Aero Design Team