Singapore bags top prizes in international UAV design competition

 SINGAPORE: Singapore has bagged top prizes in two categories in an international Unmanned Aerial Vehicle design contest.

Two teams from Nanyang Technological University faced competition from over 90 groups hailing from China and Taiwan.

They were placed first in the "Best Navigational Flight Design" and "Best Fundamental Design (Motor)" categories.

The annual contest is organized by Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University.

The Singapore-developed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 'AE-3' can snap clear pictures in difficult situations, thanks to a self-stabilising feature.

It's the brainchild of aerospace engineering students from Nanyang Technological University.

"Unmanned Aerial Vehicles out there that cost between S$30,000 to S$40,000. Now, given S$1,000, our team can actually build one of similar capability in less than three days. This is because we are using open-source hardware," said Low Hsien Meng, one of the students who participated in the contest.

The second plane, called 'the Plane', can carry loads more than twice its weight, thanks to its specially-designed wings which can produce significantly more lift.

Abdul Hanif, who led the team that made 'the Plane', said: "We are all beginners in this area, so we had to look up information on how to build the plane and where to get the materials."

The cost to build the two flying machines is about S$4,000 and this means the potential for commercialization is there, said Assistant Professor Yongki Go, who supervised the projects.

He said: "By having it mass market product, many people or many organizations can purchase it for various applications, whether it is something that's for everyday application, like monitoring traffic and so on, or more complex tasks such as search and rescue mission in a difficult area."

Singapore seems poised to take on the growing Asia Pacific Unmanned Aerial Vehicle market which is expected to be worth US$11.5 billion in annual spending over the next decade.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com