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.
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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!
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.
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:
- Characterize each propeller’s thrust efficiency (thrust/electric power).
- 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).
- 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:
- Determining the thrust each propeller generates when drawing 450W of power or less, and the maximum power each propeller draws at full throttle.
- Determining which propeller produced more thrust with the same electrical power input.
- Quantifying the decrease in battery voltage, power and thrust we can expect with time.
- Identifying the discrepancy between the propeller manufacturer’s reported values and the experimental results.
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