The University of British Columbia Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UBC UAS) team is a multidisciplinary group of students from various faculties, including Engineering, Science, and Business, united by a passion for advancing unmanned aviation technologies. They work on a broad spectrum of applications, collaborating with industry experts. The team provides members with hands-on experience in areas such as aircraft design, network communications, and image processing. Members also benefit from flight training and ground school and have opportunities to work closely with faculty, industry experts, and government representatives.
Competitions: UBC UAS participates in prestigious competitions such as the Aerial Evolution Association of Canada (AEAC) and the Student Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) competition.
Aerial Evolution Association of Canada (AEAC)
The AEAC competition is a prominent event that challenges teams to design and operate uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) in complex real-world scenarios. It focuses on demonstrating the practical applications of UAS in urban environments and other demanding settings. Teams are typically tasked with missions like safely transporting passengers and cargo, showcasing their UAS’s performance over long distances, and performing precise instrument approaches to challenging landing sites. The mission last year required the UAS to reach an altitude of 75ft AGL within 10 minutes of the mission start, followed by completing waypoint laps, identifying drop-off locations, and delivering payloads to matching targets.
Student Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS)
The SUAS competition encourages student teams to develop UAS capable of performing a series of timed and highly specific tasks, simulating real-world missions. These tasks often include taking off within strict time limits, navigating waypoint routes, identifying payload delivery locations, and accurately dropping payloads to designated targets. The team competed last year with their VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft, Albatross, in an urban environment scenario, successfully transporting passengers and cargo while demonstrating superior performance in various tasks. They secured 3rd place overall in the competition.
Licensing and Operations: UBC UAS is fully licensed, with members holding Advanced class RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) licenses. The team is insured and authorized to conduct flight operations in Vancouver.
Active Aircraft: We create multiple fixed-wing and quadcopter aircraft during each season. Albatross, pictured here, was the team’s primary aircraft for the 2023-2024 season. It’s a modular VTOL system based on Dragonfly (our previous drone) allowing for easy payload swaps and disassembly. It continues to undergo improvements in flight performance.
UBC UAS continues to push the boundaries of unmanned aviation technology through both competition and collaboration, preparing its members for exciting careers in this rapidly growing field.
