Inspired by a DARPA project, UAV Forge is a aircraft design project revolving around the ability to takeoff vertically and fly to designated locations for surveillance. The aircraft must also be small enough to be carried by backpack. In addition to the aircraft design, a design of the ground control station as onboard guidance, control, and navigation is paramount to the project. Once completed, the aircraft will takeoff and fly autonomously with the ground station providing waypoints to fly to. While in flight, the aircraft will map the topography of the surroundings and onboard systems will provide guidance and collision avoidance.

UAV Forge is meant to be a channel for students to apply analytical knowledge taught in class to real life applications. Fluid mechanics, structures of materials, programming, guidance, control, and navigation, aircraft controls, electrical engineering, computer networking, computer-aided design, and more are utilized in the design process of the airplane. The project also provides the opportunity for students to learn information usually not taught inside the classroom. This includes mechanism design, composite fabrication, iterative design processes, aircraft assembly, and documentation. Students are given more hands-on and practical experience, compared to the theoretical and conceptual focus of the engineering curriculum.

Max Uzoukwu
ouzoukwu@uci.edu