UAV Systems Impress Judges at Engineering Design Day 2011
Unmanned aerial vehicle systems place first and second for best overall design at annual UA Engineering showcase.
Electrical engineer Elliott Liggett demonstrates the LAARK avionics system, which won the best overall design award. The glass dome contains dual gimbaled machine-vision cameras that can acquire 20-megapixel images at three frames per second. (Photos: Pete Brown)
The award for best overall design went to LAARK, or Low-Altitude Aerial Reconnaissance Kit, at this year's Engineering Design Day May 3.
The UA Aerial Robotics Club, or ARC, sponsored the project because it needed a comprehensive avionics system for its Avatar UAV. The LAARK design team consisted of aerospace and mechanical engineer Malcolm Gibson, electrical engineers Hans Hony and Elliott Liggett, systems engineer James Dianics, and optics engineer Michael Palmer.
ARC itself won the best engineering analysis award, sponsored by Raytheon, for its Avatar UAV. ARC will integrate the LAARK system into Avatar before it competes in the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International student UAS competition in June 2011.
ARC describes Avatar as its most advanced UAS airframe design yet, and says the integration of LAARK will create one of the most capable student-built avionics systems in the country.