T3 the Vertical Horizontal one

This one should be easy if you have any of the current crop of Kickstarter VTOL airframes, of course I will award less points so you might not win.

The task is simple.... (not)

Auto take off

Autonomous hover for at least 1 minute after take off

Transition to winged flight and fly no higher than 120m

Then circle radius 80m for as long as you can. (This makes the circle 500m a turn)

This of course points to the current delivery drone mania. To get noticed by Amazon try for greater than 24km about the distance their machine can deliver (apparently)

We will make this a six month contest as its hard. On the plus side its building time in the Northern Hemisphere.

For extra points some sort of silly cargo that makes me smile. Super bonus points added for an autonomous vertical landing as well. (All landings to be vertical)

If you can make a multirotor fly that far then all well and good, but I will be looking for the least amount of power used in event of a draw.

The longest distance wins.

Good luck, I look forward to May 2nd 2016 and the fruit of your labors.

Glittering prizes TBA

Let the pointing out of my Swiss cheese thinking commence...

Hey Rob buddy!

If everyone thinks one of your copters is the one to beat in this comp, maybe I should just wait until you post your results and then better it, on a windless Western Australian sunny day?! ;-)

As you can clearly see in my page 2 post of my previously built VTOL airframe/payload picture, that Gary has already accepted entry of, my payload will be a thong and balls. In my beach combing experience it's up to each man (or boy) to wear appropriate attire for their surroundings. Seeing I've only ever suffered the loss or damage of one thong, never two, and that thongs are the de-facto foot wear here in Oz and not Ugg boots like in chilly Canada, I think the payload is acceptable. It also only weighs some 150g... ;-)

Despite these "optimizations" I think I probably don't even have to go as far as a solar glider to beat a common, but more manly heli, seeing that it must be battery powered. Back of the envelope calculations indicate that whilst your heli is beating the air into aerodynamic submission using a brute force attack the whole way, my VTOL after the 1 minute hover will be gliding through the air like the silver surfer. No time limit also works in my favor as I can throttle back to gain range when using wings for lift.

In regards to the wind/weather issue I'm working on that aspect as well already as per my post here on Tridges quadplane thread that you're welcome to join. The idea is to feather into the wind automatically and use the pusher prop to maintain lateral stability into the wind, along with using a more dynamic approach to transitions which allows the aircraft to phase in and out of VTOL mode depending on airspeed. In the wind it will then be able to use the airfoils and pusher prop, as well as the quad setup for lift to hover in place more like a Hawk. As a result, and with some tuning, I'm hoping the airframe to handle wind speeds of up to those the airframe is aerodynamically capable of in horizontal flight, in this case around 100kmh. Gusty and turbulent conditions will make it more difficult, but provided the airframe has enough power reserves, and maybe even use reverse thrust on quad and pusher prop, it should be able to penetrate wind quite well.

On that basis what type of range are you expecting on your battery powered heli? Can yours do 70-80km? What's your optimum cruise speed?

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Moderator

Gary Mortimer December 6, 2015 at 7:46pm

I don't think we have ever had so much interest so early on in a T3 round.......
JB December 6, 2015 at 7:03pm

Hey Rob buddy!

If everyone thinks one of your copters is the one to beat in this comp, maybe I should just wait until you post your results and then better it, on a windless Western Australian sunny day?! ;-)

As you can clearly see in my page 2 post of my previously built VTOL airframe/payload picture, that Gary has already accepted entry of, my payload will be a thong and balls. In my beach combing experience it's up to each man (or boy) to wear appropriate attire for their surroundings. Seeing I've only ever suffered the loss or damage of one thong, never two, and that thongs are the de-facto foot wear here in Oz and not Ugg boots like in chilly Canada, I think the payload is acceptable. It also only weighs some 150g... ;-)

Despite these "optimizations" I think I probably don't even have to go as far as a solar glider to beat a common, but more manly heli, seeing that it must be battery powered. Back of the envelope calculations indicate that whilst your heli is beating the air into aerodynamic submission using a brute force attack the whole way, my VTOL after the 1 minute hover will be gliding through the air like the silver surfer. No time limit also works in my favor as I can throttle back to gain range when using wings for lift.

In regards to the wind/weather issue I'm working on that aspect as well already as per my post here on Tridges quadplane thread that you're welcome to join. The idea is to feather into the wind automatically and use the pusher prop to maintain lateral stability into the wind, along with using a more dynamic approach to transitions which allows the aircraft to phase in and out of VTOL mode depending on airspeed. In the wind it will then be able to use the airfoils and pusher prop, as well as the quad setup for lift to hover in place more like a Hawk. As a result, and with some tuning, I'm hoping the airframe to handle wind speeds of up to those the airframe is aerodynamically capable of in horizontal flight, in this case around 100kmh. Gusty and turbulent conditions will make it more difficult, but provided the airframe has enough power reserves, and maybe even use reverse thrust on quad and pusher prop, it should be able to penetrate wind quite well.

On that basis what type of range are you expecting on your battery powered heli? Can yours do 70-80km? What's your optimum cruise speed?
Coby December 6, 2015 at 7:41am

I have been struggling for a color scheme! Bucket of Chicken is on the list. Being from Fort Collins I was leaning towards can of microbrewery beer. But sadly I don't think the Flying Bucket would be a contender. And it's long since been cannabilized to support more crazy ideas. I am leaning towards a twin engine BBPlane with custom tail module that has stabilized skids. Will also need to move wings to vertical CG. Plenty of ideas; never enough time.
Moderator

Gary Mortimer December 6, 2015 at 7:03am

Not sure how we would be able to measure weather at points all around the world at random times. I know what you mean though Rob. Most VTOLS are hopeless in the wind. Will you be going for KFC deliveries Coby?
Rob_Lefebvre December 6, 2015 at 6:50am

JB, about your super efficient glider, you know you're supposed to be delivering some payload right? If you have a super efficient solar powered VTOL glider that can also lift some reasonable payload (I'd think a pair of shoes should be the minimum) then bring it on! :)

I think there should also be some requirement for reasonable weather tolerance too. That's what separates the men from the boys in this field. ;)
Coby December 5, 2015 at 2:52pm

Gary, I get no credit for having a Kickstarter and STILL freely sharing how we did it by making open source?

Just for that you will be subjected to the FLYING BUCKET OF DOOM...

YouTube
Moderator

Gary Mortimer December 3, 2015 at 6:27am

VTOL for the win
JB December 2, 2015 at 11:09pm

Aha now the coin has dropped!

Thx for the link.

So we have no time limit then? This could be interesting as slowing the whole thing down with a glider type airframe, potentially with solar, and on a good thermal day to boot could produce some fantastic results. Lifting 3kg airframe only requires about 300g of gear on our VTOL config, just need to find the right airframe to attach it to to get the extra range.

Once I've achieved the hover time can I eject the quad? Or do I need to land VTOL too?
Moderator

Gary Mortimer December 2, 2015 at 9:47pm

Hi JB, its online submissions like the ones that have gone before http://diydrones.com/notes/Contests

You don't need a kickstarter to enter, its my attempt at humour. It strikes me that ever idea these days has to be on kickstarter or its not real.

I hope people will develop their own airframes and freely share how they did it.
JB December 2, 2015 at 9:25pm

Lol that's funny :-)

So what's the time limit? Would be good to have a proper course instead of going around in circles though. Not really a spectator sport like that either. Also where will it be held or can we submit online flight logs with video proof for foreign entries? And finally does it really have to be a silly Kickstarter airframe? Geeez talk about making it hard! ;-)

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