The Aerial Robotics Club at NC State (ARC) is an interdisciplinary student organization with the goal of designing, building, and testing an unmanned aerial system for participation in the annual SUAS competition. Each year, the specific mission requirements of this competition vary to ensure that teams continue to be challenged in unique ways. In previous years, the competition was meant to simulate search-and-rescue missions, however, this year's competition is meant to simulate a commercial package delivery. Teams are tasked with autonomously flying a 12-mile waypoint course, detecting, classifying, and localizing various targets, and then delivering 5 separate packages to the correct target. Each package is assigned to a specific target prior to takeoff, and delivery of the package is only considered successful if it is delivered without damage to the assigned target. Although it is not required that the UAS deliver all 5 packages in a single flight, each second of mission time deducts points from a team's overall score, making it incredibly advantageous for the UAS to be capable of carrying all packages at once. Outside of the mission requirements themselves, points are awarded for team cohesion, safety, and overall mission excellency. Additionally, the competition requires that each team submits the Technical Design and Flight Readiness Review presentation, a 20-minute video presentation in which teams must document and explain design choices, including the design process, overall system performance, and detailed analysis of alternative solutions considered. The club���s primary research and competition aircraft, Akela 3, is a fixed wing airplane capable of carrying a large payload while remaining light, compact, and maneuverable. Akela 3 has an 8-foot wingspan, a cruising speed of 54 knots, and a maximum takeoff weight of 48 pounds. Use of a DLE30 gas engine results in a flight endurance time of 90 minutes. The fuselage is designed to be modular in nature, allowing ARC to make changes to the payload design after testing subsystems without being forced to rebuild the entire fuselage. Within Akela 3, the payload subsystems include an open-source Pixhawk 2 flight controller, an Intel NUC flight computer, a mirrorless camera and gimbal, and an Arduino microcontroller used in the package management system. Akela 3 is currently capable of delivering two packages to designated drop locations, with a new package management system in development so that five packages can be delivered in a single flight. Although flight during competition is fully autonomous, the systems for autonomous flight in Akela 3 have been paired with a RadioMaster TX16S MAX transmitter and ImmersionRC Ghost receiver, allowing for manual flight when testing subsystems. To provide support for many of the aircraft���s autonomous functions, the club has outfitted a trailer to serve as the ground control station. Due to changes in competition rules, a portable ground control station is currently in development and will be in use during SUAS 2023. Workflow within the club is divided into four subteams: Airframe, Drop, Electrical, and Software. Members are encouraged to join multiple subteams, as the goal is to expose students to aspects of unmanned aerial systems that are both inside and outside their area of study. The Airframe subteam is responsible for the design and maintenance of the aircraft itself. This includes a multitude of tasks, such as fabrication of composite parts and fuselage redesigns to better suit specific competition missions. The Drop subteam is responsible for development of the Drop Bay within Akela 3, the package design, and safe delivery of the packages to the ground. Changes in mission requirements for this year���s competition have required a complete redesign of the pre-existing airdrop mechanism so that five packages can be carried and delivered simultaneously. The Electrical subteam is responsible for integration of electronic hardware into both the aircraft and the ground control station. Additionally, the subteam

The High-Powered Rocketry Club at NC State is competing in the 2022-2023 NASA Student Launch competition. The competition is scored using a point system that incorporates technical writing skills, website upkeep, participation in community outreach, a functional payload system, and altitude goals when determining the final score. The altitude goal for the full-scale rocket is a self-declared altitude, to be recorded using 2 onboard altimeters, and one point is lost for each foot over or under the goal altitude. There are also design requirements for the full-scale vehicle including, but not limited to: GPS trackers on all tethered components, fully recoverable and reusable airframe, assembly time of less than two hours, and a maximum impulse of 5,120 N-s at launch (L-class motor). To ensure a safe recovery, the launch vehicle must have a dual deployment recovery system which includes a drogue parachute to be deployed at apogee and a main parachute to be deployed during the final descent. In addition, the onboard payload must be capable, upon landing, of autonomously receiving RF commands and performing a series of tasks with an on-board camera system. In addition to the items described above, an aerodynamically similar subscale model of the full-scale vehicle must also be built and launched to confirm the vehicle design and flight qualities. Adequate documentation of the planning, design, and manufacturing processes is required to prove that progress is being made on the challenge. Participating in the NASA Student Launch program will provide the team with the opportunity to investigate the design challenges posed by future missions to Mars and beyond, as well as to follow the NASA design process that is now applied across the aerospace industry.

The Aerial Robotics Club (ARC) is a student organization in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at NC State University. ARC was founded in 2002 with the mission of building unmanned aerial systems to compete in international competitions. The Aerial Robotics Club currently competes in the annual Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The Club is the only team to have completed and flown in the SUAS competition every year since its inception, and consistently ranks among the top teams in the world. The Aerial Robotics Club will be competing in the 20th Annual AUVSI SUAS competition in Maryland on June 15-18, 2022. Competing with an all-new aircraft and fully renovated software systems, ARC expects to attempt and complete all mission objectives and once again prove our world-ranking reputation.

The High-Powered Rocketry Club at NC State is competing in the 2021-2022 NASA Student Launch competition. The competition is scored using a point system that incorporates technical writing skills, website upkeep, participation in community outreach, a functional payload system, and altitude goals when determining the final score. The altitude goal for the full-scale rocket is a self-declared altitude, to be recorded using 2 onboard altimeters, and one point is lost for each foot over or under the goal altitude. There are also design requirements for the full-scale vehicle including, but certainly not limited to: GPS trackers on all tethered components, fully recoverable and reusable airframe, assembly time of less than three hours, and a maximum impulse of 5,120 N-s at launch (L-class motor). To ensure a safe recovery, the launch vehicle must have a dual deployment recovery system which includes a drogue parachute to be deployed at apogee and a main parachute to be deployed during the final descent. In addition, the onboard payload must be able to autonomously locate the vehicle on a gridded field after touchdown without the use of a GPS system. In addition to the items described above, an aerodynamically similar subscale model of the full-scale vehicle must also be built and launched to confirm the vehicle design and flight qualities.

The High-Powered Rocketry Club at NC State is competing in the 2019-2020 NASA Student Launch competition. The competition is scored using a point system that incorporates technical writing skills, website upkeep, participation in community outreach, and altitude goals when determining the final score. The altitude goal for the full-scale rocket is a self-declared altitude, to be recorded using onboard altimeters, and one point is lost for each foot over or under the goal altitude. There are also design requirements for the full-scale vehicle including, but certainly not limited to: GPS trackers on all tethered components, fully recoverable and reusable airframe, assembly time of less than three hours, and a maximum impulse of 5,120 Ns at launch (L-class). To ensure a safe recovery, the launch vehicle must have a dual deployment recovery system which includes a drogue parachute to be deployed at apogee and a main parachute to be deployed during the final descent. In addition, the full-scale vehicle must include a scientific payload capable of recovering a simulated lunar ice sample from an unknown location on the launch field. Our team has decided to pursue a two-wheel rover payload mounted with our collection system. In addition to the items described above, a subscale model of the full-scale rocket must also be built and launched to confirm the rocket design and flight qualities. Adequate documentation of the planning, design, and manufacturing processes is required to prove that progress is being made on the challenge. The team will also benefit from experience with deploying payloads during descent from the previous year������������������s experiment which had the same rail system being used this year. Participating in NASA Student Launch will provide the team with the opportunity to investigate the design challenges posed by future missions to Mars and beyond, as well as to follow the NASA design process that is now applied across the aerospace industry.

The Aerial Robotics Club designs and builds aircraft from scratch to accomplish the goals of the SUAS competition, which simulate real-world applications of unmanned aircraft. The primary objective of the competition is full autonomous flight while acquiring aerial imagery of targets scattered on a large tract of land, and then autonomously localizing and identifying the targets. In addition, the aircraft must search for a delivery address using imagery and last known location, and then deliver a package to the customer. One of the most challenging objectives in the competition is to autonomously avoid virtual moving obstacles, simulating other aircraft within the same airspace. ARC divides its workflow into several sub teams: Airframe, Electrical, anad Software. Members are free to join any sub team and also work across teams, with the goal of exposing students to various aspects of UAV systems, both in and outside their areas of study. The airframe team is responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of the aircraft. This year, the airframe team is working on improving and upgrading the design of our current aircraft, Akela. The team will be constructing a completely new airframe. The new aircraft, Akela II, will be more refined and robust to allow a more rigorous flight testing schedule. The aircraft is being designed and constructed simultaneously with the goal of finishing construction by the end of the year. The electrical team integrates the electronic hardware such as networking, control, and imaging systems into both the aircraft and ground stations. The software team is responsible for writing software to interface with the autopilot to support autonomous obstacle avoidance, as well as software to support the image capture and classification systems.

The High-Powered Rocketry Club at NC State is competing in the 2019-2020 NASA Student Launch competition. The competition is scored using a point system that incorporates technical writing skills, website upkeep, participation in community outreach, and altitude goals when determining the final score. The altitude goal for the full-scale rocket is a self-declared altitude, to be recorded using onboard altimeters, and one point is lost for each foot over or under the goal altitude. There are also design requirements for the full-scale vehicle including, but certainly not limited to: GPS trackers on all tethered components, fully recoverable and reusable airframe, assembly time of less than three hours, and a maximum impulse of 5,120 Ns at launch (L-class). To ensure a safe recovery, the launch vehicle must have a dual deployment recovery system which includes a drogue parachute to be deployed at apogee and a main parachute to be deployed during the final descent. In addition, the full-scale vehicle must include a scientific payload capable of recovering a simulated lunar ice sample from an unknown location on the launch field. Our team has decided to pursue a two-wheel rover payload mounted with our collection system. In addition to the items described above, a subscale model of the full-scale rocket must also be built and launched to confirm the rocket design and flight qualities. Adequate documentation of the planning, design, and manufacturing processes is required to prove that progress is being made on the challenge. The team will also benefit from experience with deploying payloads during descent from the previous year������������������s experiment which had the same rail system being used this year. Participating in NASA Student Launch will provide the team with the opportunity to investigate the design challenges posed by future missions to Mars and beyond, as well as to follow the NASA design process that is now applied across the aerospace industry.

The Aerial Robotics Club designs and builds aircraft from scratch to accomplish the goals of the SUAS competition, which simulate real-world applications of unmanned aircraft. The primary objective of the competition is full autonomous flight while acquiring aerial imagery of targets scattered on a large tract of land, and then autonomously localizing and identifying the targets. In addition, the aircraft must search for a delivery address using imagery and last known location, and then deliver a package to the customer. One of the most challenging objectives in the competition is to autonomously avoid virtual moving obstacles, simulating other aircraft within the same airspace. ARC divides its workflow into several sub teams: Airframe, Electrical, anad Software. Members are free to join any sub team and also work across teams, with the goal of exposing students to various aspects of UAV systems, both in and outside their areas of study. The airframe team is responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of the aircraft. This year, the airframe team is working on improving and upgrading the design of our current aircraft, Akela. The team will be constructing a completely new airframe. The new aircraft, Akela II, will be more refined and robust to allow a more rigorous flight testing schedule. The aircraft is being designed and constructed simultaneously with the goal of finishing construction by the end of the year. The electrical team integrates the electronic hardware such as networking, control, and imaging systems into both the aircraft and ground stations. The software team is responsible for writing software to interface with the autopilot to support autonomous obstacle avoidance, as well as software to support the image capture and classification systems.

The purpose of this project is to concept other ways the boom locks can be actuated, besides using a cable.