Amateurs Win ARCAA UAV Competition Flying 30-Year-Old R/C Kit

Sun, 26 Oct '08

"Team Telemaster" Bests Engineering Students' Entries
Aaron Donaldson and Simeon O'Neill entered and won the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation 2008 UAV Outback Rescue Challenge in Queensland, Australia last month with a Hobby-Lobby Senior Telemaster kit purchased over 30 years ago by Aaron's dad.



Converted from gas- to electric-power, Team Telemaster's plane featured a fully articulating belly-mounted camera. Their ground-based control displayed airspeed, altimeter, artificial horizon, the plane's GPS coordinates, and included an autopilot system and a video screen.

The two other entrants, both university-sponsored teams spending four times as much on their projects as Team Telemaster, crashed their planes. "Everyone [else] was aerospace engineers," Donaldson said. "Simeon and I didn't finish more than a semester of engineering."

The 2008 UAV Challenge, a direct outcome of "The Future of UAVs -- Challenges and Applications in the Asia Pacific Region" workshop ARCAA conducted in 2005, was held from September 23 to 25, 2008 at Kingaroy airport in Queensland, Australia. Kingaroy is the site for a new UAV test and training center being used by Boeing Australia and ARCAA.

The goal of the Outback Rescue competition was to rescue "Outback Joe," who is lost in the Australian outback and desperately in need of assistance. "A total time of one hour is allowed for the mission. This includes all time for set up, launch, mission, landing and recovery," ARCAA rules stated.

"Your system must be capable of searching an area of at least 2nm x 2nm, up to 5nm from the aerodrome. The target for your search will be a human (or dummy) wearing light khaki clothes and an Akubra hat. The target will not be moving and will be positioned in a typical resting pose in a rural setting.

"The GPS coordinates representing the four corners of the search area will be provided in the days leading up to the competition. The air vehicle must not travel outside of the search area or transit lane, for its flight will be terminated if it does so. The search area will be not more that 5nm from the aerodrome.

"Over a 60 minute period, teams must deploy their air vehicle systems and conduct the search. Once the search has been conducted a decision must be made as to where Outback Joe is located. A GPS coordinate, representing Outback Joe's location, must be provided to the judges.

"Once Joe has been located with the judges' approval, the air vehicle must be tasked with delivering its emergency package. The emergency package will contain 500ml of 'life saving' water. The package must be dropped as closely as possible to Outback Joe, without landing on him. The UAV will then return to the Kingaroy airport for recovery."

Though they failed to complete the challenge after a loose wiring plug forced them to land, Team Telemaster still walked off with top honors and a $5,000 AU prize.

"The entire team at Hobby-Lobby is thrilled to see our classic Telemaster take on the big guys and win," said Hobby-Lobby President Jay Graves. "The Telemaster has been a consistently great plane for R/C pilots looking for easy flying characteristics combined with a simple assembly process."

Hobby-Lobby International is a 43-year-old, Tennessee-based company manufacturing R/C airplanes, helicopters and boats. The high-wing Telemaster comes in a variety of sizes from micro to a version with a 12-foot wingspan. Assembly options include kits, which are built piece by piece, or "Almost Ready to Fly" (ARF) planes that only require the addition of an engine and electronics.

Submarine launchable UAV

Perhaps off topic from Philippines Aviation slightly, this video grabbed my attention. This morphing UAV is the next step. It smacks of Star Wars technology and actually reminds me of a scene right out of the Terminator. A formidable if not somewhat frightening concept. Nevertheless awsome video of a concept probably not far off. It had me until the under water robot started reeling in the cable...

Silver Fox UAV Flies In The Philippines

The Silver Fox UAV.
by Cpl. Kamran Sadaghiani
31st MEUFort Magsaysay, Philippines (AFNS) Nov 05, 2007

Providing a forward set of eyes from above, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, III Marine Expeditionary Force, launched the Silver Fox unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time to conduct an operational evaluation here, Oct. 19, during Amphibious Landing Exercise '08.
"The Silver Fox UAV system was provided to the 31st MEU by Advanced Ceramics Research based out of Tucson, Az. and the Office of Naval Research, in order to conduct an extended user evaluation of the system in support of 31st MEU operations," said Maj. Brendon Harper, the MEU's intelligence officer. "This week of operations was certainly an important and successful beginning to the continuing evaluation of the system to support MEU operations throughout the Asia-Pacific region."

Throughout a week-long assessment of the Silver Fox's capabilities to support the MEU's operations, the four-man operator team comprised of Marines from the MEU's intelligence section, conducted many successful flights and supported the actions of the MEU's Battalion Landing Team at Fort Magsaysay, said Capt. Jude Shell, the MEU's assistant intelligence officer.
"Essentially, the (Silver Fox) has primarily been used in desert environments where the terrain and vegetation are rather benign," said Shell, a native of Anderson, Ind. "However, the MEU's area of operation in the Asia-Pacific is completely opposite from the desert," explained Shell.
"The environment here consists of weather that is less than favorable, and there are additional planning considerations with terrain and vegetation that typically are not encountered in locations such as Iraq." said the native of Anderson, Ind. "These aspects can affect flight and the ability of the sensor to operate properly. Ensuring that the Silver Fox UAV's abilities suit the 31st MEU is an important part of this extended user evaluation," Shell added.
Flying the Silver Fox UAV in an "all weather environment" with heavy rain and high humidity provided very valuable learning experiences for the pilots who were trained in the dry, arid desert of Tucson, Az. "This is a piece of equipment we can use in the forward battle space. As a forward deployed unit, we typically operate in a self-sufficient environment and anything that is a force-multiplier becomes a valuable tool for us," said Shell.

Weighing 25 pounds with a wing-span of eight feet, the Silver Fox is a small, lightweight, rapidly deployable short-range Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance system designed to provide commanders with day and night surveillance capabilities, said Cpl. Jesse Urban, an intelligence specialist and a Silver Fox Flight operator with the MEU.

"This is an important asset for us because the Silver Fox can support a wide variety of missions, ranging anywhere from route reconnaissance, rear-area security, search and rescue, to battle-damage assessment," said Urban, a Minneapolis native.

Shell added that the Silver Fox provides the MEU information on intelligence gaps that other assets may not be able to provide in a time-sensitive fashion.
"Most importantly, as a maritime contingency force, the MEU requires a system that is quickly deployable, flexible, mobile and compact. The Silver Fox provides that," said Rafael Gaytan. Gaytan deployed to the Philippines with the MEU and is a Silver Fox instructor from Advanced Ceramics Research.

"I like the flexibility of the whole system and how easy it is to deploy. You can set it up on a Humvee and be completely mobile and miles away from the objective area, which makes it a great (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) asset."