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Phoenix Project
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2005-2006
Official Website
The Phoenix project is a multidisciplinary senior design effort of LeTourneau University. This project incorporates the efforts of the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science disciples. The ultimate goal is the design and implementation of a fully autonomous helicopter vehicle to enter in the International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC). Sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), thirteen schools participated last summer.
The IARC is an ongoing competition, this is the fifth year it has been held, and LeTourneau's third year competing. Previous teams have done extensive development of the helicopter, hardware, software, and flight procedures. So far, our helicopter has not been flown in a competition setting, last year because of a faulty kill switch system. This year, it is the team's goal to fully integrate the existing systems and verify systematically that they operate reliably.
One of the biggest updates is our new flight platform and engine, which is now a wren turbine engine on the existing Bergen airframe. New this year will also be an updated kill switch system and research on collision avoidance hardware. Our biggest challenge to achieving level 1 of the competition, though, will be the full testing and debugging of the existing systems. This project is a tremendous undertaking, with many hurdles and challenges, but we are hopeful of steady progress this coming year.
For more information about the project and sponsorship opportunities, please contact:
Jordan Ornquist, CPO #232
Phoenix Project Manager
LeTourneau University
Longview, TX 75607-7001
Email:
JordanOrnquist@letu.edu
