Electrically Powered Ultra-light Aircraft

Introduction

This is an individual assignment that requires you to undertake key aspects of a systems design, demonstrate a grasp of systems engineering principles, standards and methods, and produce a professional-style report. Note that the word limit will constrain you to a smaller piece of work than the group report so you will need to consider how best to present your design evolution and concept in a concise fashion; this is a common requirement in an engineering environment. This assignment comprises 45% of the course assessment. The nominal size of the assignment is 2000 words.

Statement of Need

Farmers in remote areas of Australia have expressed the desire to have an ElectricallyPowered Ultra-light Aircraft (EPUA) for, principally, finding stock and, secondly, to monitor the presence of feral animals on their properties.

The following general needs have been advised:

1. Be electrically powered and rechargeable from 230v, 50Hz single phase power;

2. Have a flight time of 1 hour minimum;

3. Be transportable by a motor vehicle towed trailer with a tray not bigger than 2.4 metres long by 1.8 metres wide;

4. Have an assembly time prior to flight of less than 15 minutes from the commencement of unloading from the trailer to being ready for takeoff;

5. Have a disassembly time after flight of less than 15 minutes from the commencement of disassembly to being on the trailer and being ready to depart;

6. All activities associated with preparation for flight, flying and post flight (including trailer loading) to be practical for a single person.

The Task - Conceptual Design

The deliverable will comprise a skeleton conceptual design review data package comprising at least the following activities:

• A needs analysis based on the design brief, common knowledge of light aircraft and model aircraft, and your imagination that surfaces the stakeholders, system context, at least one design scenario and key stakeholder needs.

• A set of key requirements.

• Technical performance measures derived from the above two sets of information.

• A functional analysis and allocation for the EPUA system.

• Synthesis and generation of two candidate system concepts.

• A trade-off between the two candidate solutions to select the preferred concept.

• A brief description of the final conceptual design and a discussion on how well you expect it to address the user needs.