<aside> 🏁 Heli was successfully spun up to full throttle as seen below. The drivetrain however failed, when the main belt driving the rotors snapped (seen at 00:58 of the video). The drivetrain thus had to be re-designed to accommodate for stronger driving belts and pulleys and to include a one-way bearing to eliminate the breaking force of the motor as well as allowing for autorotation so that the helicopter can glide safely to landing in case of a motor failure.
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2022-06-29 Isometric View MAX.mp4
<aside> 🏁 The video below compiles all the steps that were taken to achieve the final mission flight. After a successful indoor test with the re-designed drivetrain (0:04), the helicopter went through final checks and calibration (0:48) and then took off for the first time (0:55). During the first flights, the tail was overcorrecting, hence the PID tuning was changed to better characterise the system and a fully working flight was performed (2:04). Prior to that, the payload drop system was tested up to the maximum possible weight of 5 kilograms (1:55). Next step was to utilize the GPS to utilize the positioning in Loiter mode, where the helicopter remained in place without any inputs from the pilot (5:53). Lastly, the helicopter was tested for its autonomous flight with some minor issues at take-off and landing (6:06)
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<aside> 🏁 At the final competition event, the helicopter carried 4 kilograms of payload, making the take-off weight of the vehicle 9 kilograms. The helicopter took off and landed manually, however the rest of the mission, including navigation through 20 waypoints around a 5 kilometre circuit and dropping the payload at the specified location was carried out autonomously, ****governed by the Cube Orange, the world’s most advanced autopilot for open autonomous unmanned vehicles. ****
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws2ejckXWHY&ab_channel=UASTeamNova
<aside> ⏭️ Having a working baseline vehicle, the helicopter will be optimized in the coming year. It’s autonomous controls will be improved to allow for a fully autonomous operational envelope. Further improvements will be made to ensure higher durability of the helicopter by modifying its drivetrain and developing an aeroshell that will protect the components from potential extreme environments.
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