The Wright Design

[Last updated on 4th September, 2009.. Updates highlighted..!]

Problem Statement:

Design an RC electric glider with the following constraints that could have maximum time of flight after just 30 seconds of powered flight carrying a payload of 100grams. You can hand-launch your glider.

1. The whole glider should completely fit inside a box of dimensions 110cm x 110cm x 35cm
2. It should carry a payload of 100grams,which will be provided by us during the event
3. It should have its static thrust to weight ratio (including the payload) less than 3:4. In case the ratio is higher than specified, then additional payload will be added by us until it meets the above mentioned ratio. Details on the simple experimental setup, which will be used to test your glider during the event, will be put up on web few days before the event
   
4. During the run, it should have powered flight duration of 30 seconds after which the motor has to be stopped. The non-powered time of flight, measured after that, is the winning criterion.

More details on payload:
 

   The main casing of the payload can basically be assumed as a glue stick casing, which has a screw that runs along its axis. The weights added inside are steel cylindrical pieces with a through hole along its axis that are fabricated for fixed predetermined weights.

    The number of steel pieces or the sizes of these pieces that we will be adding during the event depends on the static thrust to weight ratio of the glider, and the availablility of standard weights with us.

    But more mass will be added till the ratio comes below 3:4. If your ratio is less than 3:4 initially, then only 80 gram piece will be added inside the casing, which is actually 20 grams by itself...

The different units of the steel pieces kept inside the casing will be kept together with the help of two "NUT like things" that run along the screw of the casing - one from the bottom and the other from the top. The steel cylinders will be kept in between the two and bolted tightly. This facility is provided to prevent vibrations of the individual weights and thereby making sure that they stay fixed.

The participants "might be" facilitated to adjust the centre of mass of the total payload unit to some extent by rotating the yellow "knob" in the bottom of the casing.

Note that the centre of mass of the total unit may not lie in its geometric centre.

Note:

If static thrust to weight ratio is less than 3:4, then only 100g payload will be used ie., 80g(steel cylinder) + 20g(Casing). If its more, then more weight will be added to bring down the ratio.

The maximum mass of the cylinder that exaclty fits inside the casing is approximately 190g. So if your ratio is such that it requires more than 210grams, then two casings will be used. No cribs later will be entertained.

You can make any sort of arrangements that you feel is required, anywhere in your glider to mount the payload. You can either conceal it inside the fuselage or just tie it around the fuselage's exterior using cable-ties/tie-wraps or any other means... Just make sure that you have some kind of arrangement.

Dimensions of a sinlge Casing:

Length = 11.3 cm

Diameter = 3 cm

More pictures of the payload units:

REGISTRATION FOR THE EVENT HAS BEEN CLOSED..!

EVENT FORMAT:

Design Write-ups:

The design write-ups submitted along with the registration forms will be reviewed and the entries will be judged based on the individuality and innovation in design and fabrication. Please note that the entries which are adjudged to lack originality or shown evidence of professional intervention are liable to rejection.
[This will just be an elimination round and you do not get any scores in this round]

The write up should contain few diagrams explaining your design clearly and should also contain the general specifications about your glider and also some details on your motor, battery, etc if you have decided about them.. (better have them decided)
And also mainly explain any uniqueness or innovations that you have in your design or methods of fabrication or others..


Pre-Qualifying Details:

Each team will have to send us few pictures of your model
Besides, also mail us atleast 1 minute long video of the flyer of the team flying any plane
Both these must be mailed to us before the deadline specified, without which you cannot take part in the event...
[This one also doesn’t give any scores to you...]



The "Big Day":

This will be held in the IIT-Madras’s Athletics Stadium.

1. Design Evaluation: The design will be evaluated by the coordinators during the event to check whether they follow the specifications and rules of the event. (like design constraints, glider safety, measuring thrust- weight ratio, adding suitable payloads, etc)
2. Test Run: As mentioned in problem statement – 30 seconds of powered flight and maximum time of flight will be measured. There will be two trials for each team. The best run recorded will be declared as the winner
   

If there are many teams in top ‘X’% of the time of flight recorded, the winner will be decided based on an additional round conducted or based on the design aspects.
[Please do come with enough number of charged batteries that you think you will require.]



Presentations:

Every team has to give an oral presentation for a maximum of 3 minutes on the day of the event explaining about your design to the judges. If the teams need to show anything to the judges like simulation results or anything else, they may bring print outs of the same in not more than 5 A4 sheets.
These are evaluated to give away a prize purely based on design for a team which may or may not have had the best performance in the test runs. Make sure that you impress the judge(s) to win your prize for the design.

[your model should also fly and satisfy all the conditions given in the problem statement to claim this prize]



Important Dates:

Last date for the submission of registration form and the write-up                  : 13th September, 2009
Last date by which you will receive confirmation                                          : 14th September, 2009
Last date to mail us the photos and video                                                   : 27th September, 2009
THE WRIGHT DESIGN event                                                                     : 3rd October, 2009
Buffer Day for the event (in case of rain or such interventions)                       : 4th October, 2009

 [These rules were last updated on 4th September, 2009.. Updates Highlighted..!]

General Rules:

1. The team cannot have more than 4 students including the flyer. Suppose the team doesnot have a flyer, then the team can ask a flyer of an another team to fly their glider purely under their own risk.. The coordinators of the event will not interfere here in any regard.


2. The team members need not be from the same institute but everyone should provide a valid institute ID proof on the day of event.


3. The transmitter of all the teams will be safely secured by the coordinators during the event to prevent frequency clashes. Further details about this will be given to the participants during the event.


4. At any point of time if the glider is found unsafe to fly, the team will be disqualified. Coordinators' decision is final and binding in this respect


5. If the glider crashes or loses its airworthiness during/after the flight, the team will be disqualfied


6. Potential difference across any two terminals of the glider must be less than 12.5V


7. The glider should be able to fly and should satisfy all the conditions given in the problem statement to claim the prize for the best design, which will be given away based on your presentation.


8. If the glider remains stationary at a point (above ground, say in situations like where the glider gets stuck in a tree/wire/.../just becomes stationary in air. Of course these are least probable to happen) for more than about 3 seconds, then the glide time for that run is stopped at that particular moment itself and not until it touches ground.


9. If any team which is not present by the time allotted for a particular trial, then the glide time for that particular run will be taken as zero


10. The wind conditions are uncontrollable by the coordinators, so any complaints of unfair advantage/disadvantage will not be entertained


11. Electric sockets will be provided in the stadium for battery chargers, These would be standard AC mains. You are expected to bring all the supporting equipments for your glider. No cribs later will be entertained in this regard.


12. You are expected to bring your own battery chargers.


13. Since this event is a powered glider design, build and fly event, the use of parachutes, balloons or any aircraft lighter than air would result in disqualification.


14. The thrust source has to be electrical motors. Any other means of propulsion is not allowed.


15. The flyer should have the control over switching on and off the thrust at any point of the test run.


16. The use of Ready-to-fly (RTF) and Almost-Ready-to-Fly (ARF) kits is not allowed. The participants must be able justify the design parameters and fabrication followed for their aircraft. We do not expect strong theoretical backing but any sign of professional involvement would mean disqualification.


17. Participants can feel free to use any kind of ready made actuators, servos, speed controllers, batteries, motors, control linkages, remote controls and propellers. However, making any of these components yourself or any innovation in this aspect will fetch a lot of points for the prize for design.


18. If a team is found to have indulged in any unfair means to gain advantage by tampering with their aircraft or the procedures adopted for checking the design constraints during/after the design evaluation by the coordinators, this would result in disqualification. The coordinators' decision is final and binding in this respect.


19. The organisers reserve the rights to change any or all of the above rules as they deem fit. Change in rules, if any will be highlighted on the website and notified to the registered participants

    20. The teams have to provide an extra ESC wire so that we can use our own tranmitters when we check the static thrust of the glider

Write-ups:

        All the write-ups will be used strictly for the elimination purpose. SHAASTRA takes the responsibility that no information will be made available to any third party. Please pay adequate attention to the write-up. It is meant to assess the efforts put in by participants and their capability in design and fabrication.


Pre-Qualifying Round:

        It does not matter if you haven’t completed fabricating the whole glider within the specified time. This is just a check on whether the participants are still active and also to ensure that you could present your model at SHAASTRA. This means that even if your glider is incomplete, please send us some photos rather not sending them or requesting permission for sending them late.


Payload loading:

        The 100grams payload that will be provided by us is the minimum payload. If the thrust-weight ratio is more than 3:4 with this payload, then additional payload will be added till the limit ratio is obtained.

[Last updated on 4th September, 2009]

The first 4 attachments given below have some content that will be useful in the course of your design and fabrication. You can download and have a look at them if interested...

You can also find a jpg attachment which shows a panoramic view of the venue..
(The stadium will be cleaned much before the event and will not look like as its shown in the picture..)

The next attachment is a pdf file that contains all the Frequently Asked Questions about the event.

Attachments:
(The second file, walk_thru.zip is a zipped .pdf file)

Attachment	Size
walk thru.ppt	1.33 MB
walk thru.zip	1.96 MB
more fundaes.doc	1.09 MB
more fundaes.pdf	314.39 KB
panaromic view of stadium.jpg	1.36 MB
TWD FAQs.pdf	60.51 KB

FAQs: [Last updated on 4th September, 2009]

Q: Is the registration before the event necessary?
A: Yes.. It is compulsary to register for the event on or before the mentioned date with a brief writeup on your design.

Q: Who can participate?
A: Anyone who is a student of any college or university from any place can participate.

Q: How can I register my team for the event?
A: Registration for Shaastra has to be done through Shaastra User Portal. You can see a tab "User portal" in top of every page in Shaastra..

Click on this "User Portal" tab..
Next you'll be asked to create an account for yourself in Shaastra. (if you have already created one, then just login..) So give your details and create an account..  All your team mates will have to create their own account..

Next you'll have to form a team..
Click on team event registration tab in the left of the User portal page, where you'll find two links - "Create your own team" and "join an existing team" and also the list of teams that you have already joined/created..
Now one of the team members will have to create a team and the others can just join it.

Every team gets its own team name and password (both of your choice) while the first member creates the team by clicking on "Create you own team" and filling in the form that appears..
The other members can join the same team by clicking on "join an existing team" from their own profile and then entering the team name and password given by the first member

Now after creating the team, its sufficient if one of the team member registers for a particular event..
So, now click on your team name in the bottom of the page that comes after you click "Team Event Registration" tab, after which you will be asked to choose the team event which you would like to register for..

Click on the The Wright Design tab.. and then you'll be asked few questions.. answer them, upload the write-up file  and save it.. and lock it when you feel that you have no more changes to make..
thats all your registration will be done for the event..

If you have trouble with uploading your write up file in the User Portal, then finish the registration in User Portal without the writeup and mail us the write-up at wright.design@shaastra.org with the subject as your Team name.

If you have any doubts during registration...... you can also see a tab in the right of the User portal - "Instructions" Click on "Event Registration" / "User Registration" under this.. You'll get detailed instructions on how to register for the event / the user (yourself).

Q: I am having some trouble with uploading the write-up in the User Portal.. What do I do?
A: If this is the case, then as mentioned in previous question, finish the registration in User Portal without the writeup and mail us the write-up at wright.design@shaastra.org with the subject as your Team name.

Q: Can I use any ready made kits?
A: No..! The focus of the competition is design and fabrication, Ready to Fly kits (RTF) or Almost Ready to Fly kits (ARF) are not allowed.

Q: Can I just take part in the presentation event if i am not able to finish fabricating my model by the time of SHAASTRA?
A: No..! You will have to build one to prove your design. And it must also fly during the event and meet all the requirements of the problem statement.

Q: Can the glider be smaller than the dimensions specified?
A: Yes.. It can be smaller also. The glider should be such that it can be kept inside a box of dimensions 110 X 110 X 35cm

Q: In the writeup that is to be sent with the registration form, is it that we should send only 3-D diagrams like CAD designs?
A: No.. It can be 2-D diagrams also. But they should show all the necessary details clearly.

Q: Can I get more details on the tie-up round (the one if there are many teams in top 'x'% of glide time)? And what is 'x'?
A: More details on this round and value of 'x' will be informed to participants only at the time of event.

Q: How can i measure Static thrust of my plane?
A: The following is a simple set up that can be used to measure static thrust
Once your model is ready, put it on a horizontal table and tie a strong rope to the glider. Then run the rope over a pulley, already fitted in one of the table's edges and hang some weights to the loose end of the rope and start the engine. Keep adding weights to the hanging end of the rope (with maximum thrust on your engine) until the glider becomes stationary...
The total weight that you have added which compensates the maximum thrust from your aircraft is the maximum static thrust of your glider approximately..
(you can also just measure the static thrust of your engine alone with propellers with similar arrangements)
Make sure you have some good safety measures when you do this test..You can Google and find many such methods which are better and more widely used than this..
And we will very soon update the web with the exact set up with which we will be measuring the static thrust of participants' gliders on site the venue.

Q: Are there any possibilities that the rules mentioned in the web may be changed later?
A: Yes. We advice you to keep an eye on this page now and then.

Q: I have some queries which are not given here... How can I contact you?
A: Mail us at wright.design@shaastra.org
Any doubts whatever it maybe, mail us beforehand and get them cleared. No cribs during the event will be entertained..

Please feel free to contact us for any details about the event.

You can reach us through our Shaastra email id:  wright.design@shaastra.org
or our personal contact numbers:

Chakradar
+919962363564

Dhinesh
+919444660177

Shivaram
+919884517624

You can contact these persons in the respective cities for assistance and buying of required materials.

1)Mr. Ramesh Tandon

Trikut Metmin Pvt. Ltd

C-13, 22 Godown Industrial Estate,

Jaipur 302006, INDIA

0141-2210859

r.tandon@trikut.com

 

2) Mr. Nishant Garodia

Inter Trade (India)

153, Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar(E),

Mumbai - 400 077, India

Tel :- 91 - 022 - 2506 1133

 

3) Mr. Manish Borikar

29, Shikshan society, Near Rohan gas godown,

 Jaitala Road, Nagpur - 440016. (Maharastra)

 

4) Lotus Corporation

Mr. Probir Ganguly

303 , Umiya Shopping Ct.,Satellite Rd.,

Ahmedabad-15

Ph: 079 – 26731693

 

5) E.N.R. Model Aircraft      

35, Lady curzon road                                                             

bangalore-560001

Karnataka India

9886030388

 

6) Mr. Shanker

Anwar Models                       

76, New Part Street, Park Circus,

Kolkata-700 017, India                      

anwarmodels@hotmail.com

9830168747

           

7) Mr. Pinto

National Model Manufacturing                     

A6 St. Pius E Society

Lourdes Villa Street

Mulund(W),Mumbai-400080

Ph-(022)25616421

 

8) Mr.Gupta                                                                           

 Innovative and Innovators                

No 7,Car Street

Chennai, India

9444368516   

 

9) Mr. Amardeep Singh

Multitherm India

A 21/24, Naraina Industrial Area

Phase 2, New Delhi – 110028

www.modelpilot.com

 

10) IAC Virar                                                            

 Verma Brothers

Vartak Road, Virar W           

Maharashtra-India

sales@iacvirar.com

rakeshiac@rediffmail.com

www.iacvirar.com

 

11)Sharma Model                  

Sharma Model Aero Engines & Propellers             

  Jai Narayan Building, Ratanada Road                                

  Jodhpur (Raj)-342001, India,

  Tel : 91-0291-2513519

  Tel : 91-0291-2513719

  http://www.sharmamodelaero.com

  info@sharmamodelaero.com

 

12) Mr. Rajiv Jain                                                                                          

Radical Works

D-20 Connaght Place

New Delhi 110001; India

radicalworks@hotmail.com

 

13) Growel Sports & Hobbies                       

Growel House, Akurli Road,

Kandivli (East), Mumbai 400 101, India

sales@growel.com

 

14) Mr. Shah                                                                                      

Hobby Shack India    

# 4/2B & C 20th A Main Road

8th Block, Koramangala

Bangalore – 560095

www.hobbyshackindia.com

 

15) India Hobby Center         

1-A , Russell Street

Calcutta - 700 071

 

16) Kadet Models                  

25/1, Rowland Road,

Kolkata 700 020, India                                              

www.kadetmodels

 

17) Mr. Nilesh Doshi 

 Sphere Hobbies

306/B Harekrishna Complex Pritam Nagar,  

Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad – 380006

 

18) Aurora Model Mfg   Co.

      16,Shakespear Sarani, Calcutta, India

 

19) Multitherm                                   

A-21/24,Phase-2,Naraina Ind. Area

New Delhi -110028 India                  

Tel: 0091-11-5701967

FAX:0091-11-5709126

 

 

20) Kadet Model Products                

34, Ganesh Chandra Avenue

Calcutta - 700 013

India

The following teams are qualified for the Wright Design event at Shaastra:

1. Dynamex
2. Team_Aeolus
3. Mad_Eagles
4. Wandering_Albatross
5. Sankalp
6. Auk
7. CompositeX
8. Flyer1
9. Raptors
10. The_Wright_Team
11. Octaspanners
12. Fawkes
13. Pilani_Prodigies
14. Team_Xtreme
15. Aerofreaks
16. iTeamz
17. Tagorians
18. Mysoreans
19. Dynamic_Soarers
20. Highfliers
21. Sac
22. Dragonflies
23. Flyingmachines
24. Flyboys
25. MetallicWolves
26. Born To Fly
27. Avian
28. Aeromasons
29. Akashya
30. Skywards
31. Nimbus2009
32. The_Right_Brothers
33. Reddevil
34. Horus
35. Claudius
36. Aviateurz
37. DeccanFlyers
38. V-Fly

We congratulate all these teams for getting through the elimination round.

If you have not got any confirmation mail from us, please do contact us..

All these teams are expected to submit the pictures and the required video by the 27th of September.

All The Best..!