High Endurance UAV Student Project Pedagogy as a Continuous Undergraduate Engineering Teaching Tool Article Swipe
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· 2024
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46045
· OA: W4399155279
This abstract is intended to be followed by a full paper. In the past decade, there has been a sharp rise in the popularity of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). UAVs are inherently limited by battery technology. The weight of commercially available batteries restricts the flight times of most UAVs to under 30 minutes. Project BANSHEE UAV (Battery as iNtegrated Structure High Endurance Experimental UAV) is a multidisciplinary team of students from aerospace, electrical, computer and mechanical engineering degree paths. Our mission is to increase the flight time of UAVs by utilizing solar power and wireless-charging via induction, carbon fiber structural-battery wing spars, and a system for the autonomous replacement of lithium-polymer batteries to compatible drones. BANSHEE has been a senior project on Cal Poly Pomona's campus for seven years, giving hundreds of students hands-on experience working on UAVs. Recently, it has expanded into a club, allowing high school and college students of any year to begin working in an organized team. The club's organizational structure also gives many students the opportunity to gain leadership experience. Within the last year, BANSHEE UAV has held open seminars in collaboration with local aerospace-related companies to further educate members. The club also plans to hold seminars teaching skills related to the project's sub-teams. Topics include, but are not limited to, flight automation software, composite structures, fabrication, and basics of radio control. Regardless of background, members of BANSHEE UAV are united by a devotion to the development of technologies that will improve the modern world.
