CSUN has a proud history of success at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ AeroDef Manufacturing Challenge, and the 2014 competition in February was no exception. The team responsible for “Toucan Sam,” a prototype of a plane capable of vertical takeoff and landing, took third place in the university category at the event.
“The team did a phenomenal job, from CAD design to product fabrication, electronic control and flight testing,” says Youping Gao, the adjunct faculty member who advised the team. “They wanted to create an aircraft that could take off and land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane. From project selection to finalizing everything, they had only three months. It was a very short time to create, design, produce and fly the aircraft.”
Gao was especially impressed with their ability to deploy a wide spectrum of manufacturing processes—complicated CNC machining, laser cutting, additive manufacturing, composite fabrication and assembly—all while utilizing advanced materials such as high-strength aluminum, titanium, nickel-based alloys and carbon fiber composites.
The five-member team based their aircraft on a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, and their aim was to convert it from a limited-function helicopter with a strict flying pattern into a viable multirole aircraft capable of flying both as airplane and as helicopter without sacrificing the performance in either role. They used 3D printing of metals in order to be able to produce parts quickly and worked with the CSUN photography department to document the project’s progress.
In garnering third prize, the plane, which was the senior design project for the five-member team, was judged on its manufacturability.
Team members included Andrew Freesh, who served as team leader; Jacob Smyles, Maxwell Tubbs, Narek Ohanyan and Pegah Fakhar.
