Auto-Pilot : Triton Unmanned Aerial Systems
The stakes are high for autonomous flight — putting an algorithm in control of a 22-pound aircraft with a 11-foot wingspan and max speeds of 56 mph may seem hazardous , but it ’ s all smooth sailing for the Triton Unmanned Aerial Systems team .
Each year more than 30 students design , build and program an autonomous plane to compete in the Student Unmanned Aerial Systems ( SUAS ) competition , a rigorous test of autonomous takeoff , landing and in-flight challenges like waypoint navigation , target identification and a payload drop .
FIRED UP : SEDS team members pose with mentor and sponsor Dan Hendricks ( far left ) of Open Source Maker Labs , and the Vulcan I rocket , the first successful undergraduate-built rocket powered by a 3-D printed engine .
Competition is tough , with up to 70 university teams from around the world putting forth their handiwork . Tritons snagged a top-10 finish in 2017 , coming in ninth with “ Fiber One ,” a plane made of fiberglass and carbon fiber .
EVOLUTION
In 2013 , UC San Diego ’ s SEDS group was the first collegiate team to successfully test a 3-D printed rocket engine with their Tri-D model , a 7-inch-tall engine made of cobalt chromium that could thrust with 250 pounds of force . SEDS ’ s subsequent printed engines , Ignus-I and II , can thrust with more than three times that force . Such hands-on experience in 3-D printing with metal helped launch the careers of alumni Alex Finch ’ 15 and Deepak Atyam ’ 15 , who went on to found the company Tri-D Dynamics soon after graduation .
WHAT I ' VE LEARNED
Surya Vorha , current SEDS president : “ SEDS is a great hands-on complement to the Jacobs School curriculum : a challenging but supportive environment where you can translate classroom concepts to actual aerospace settings . You get your hands dirty with real hardware from the minute you join the team and you never stop growing — as an engineer , leader and person .”
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SPEED RACING , DEEP DIVING , HIGH FLYING , WERE YOU A PART OF THESE GROUPS ?
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