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Overall, Task 1 was not attempted and unsuccessful in reaching any waypoints. Icarus was initially flown in its full quadplane VTOL configuration with wings. The team elected to do a motor and hover test from a safe height above the ground to see if the aircraft would be able to sustain flight for long enough, safely, and to ensure motor efficacy since unpredictable motor behaviours were observed in previous tests. The first hover was performed for about 3 minutes, before the rear-right motor (4) failed, causing the drone to come down in a semi- hard landing from a height of about two meters above the ground.
The motor failure was due to overheating and from running the motor at high power for a prolonged period of time. The flight-line team thereafter removed the wings to reduce weight and tried running a hover-test again to test the motor again. Unfortunately, the same problem as before occurred and the rear-right motor gave way. Through more investigation and research into motor specifications, it was concluded that the desired flight profile was not achievable using the current motors, as these motors were intended to run at maximum current for three minutes at a time - not for sustained quad flight. The team concluded it would be unsafe to transition without further validation of the aircraft performance.
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The QR code being scanned, and the output for the process, is shown in the image images below:
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The QR-Code scanning technology for the initial waypoint sequence generator was tested and functional. Unfortunately, the system could not be used during Icarus’s attempt at Task 1 due to the persistent motor failure.
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Remove wings and mid-wing sections
Remove tail-section
Remove pusher motor and prop
Furthermore, the The datasheets for the quad motors were examined and it was seen that the motors were not optimized for continuous operation. Since they are VTOL motors, they are designed to be used at very high throttle for short periods of time before the aircraft transitions to fixed-wing operation, and not for continuous quad flight. This issues was further exacerbated by the lack of ventilation on the motors. Hence, it was determined that the motors would need to be changed to motors with lower power draw, increased efficiency and more appropriate duty cycle requirements. New motors, Titan T6015, were borrowed from another team and mounted on the aircraft. They were These motors are optimized for quadcopters, had have sufficient ventilation, and are rated for the thrust that was requiredrequired thrust of our aircraft.
Overall, various modifications were made and the quadplane airframe was essentially redesigned as a quadcopter with a much lighter superstructure, and more effective motors.
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