Unmanned aircraft design contest kicks off

As many 93 teams from 25 domestic and overseas universities and colleges yesterday attended the 2013 Taiwan Innovative Unmanned Aircraft Design Competition held in Pingtung County, Southern Taiwan, according to organizers of the event.

The event was first organized by the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics of National Cheng Kung University and the Aeronautical & Astronautical Society of the Republic of China under the assistance of the Pingtung County Government in 2007, when the number of participating teams reached only 23.

This year, the competition is divided into several sections, including fundamental engine design, fundamental motor design, advanced design and navigation flight design, mainly to highlight the flight performance of unmanned aircraft systems designed by competitors.

The competitors included teams organized by Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China’s Beihang University and Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology.

Of them, Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University has participated in the event for three consecutive years. Last year, they won the championship in the fundamental loading design category after successfully having their unmanned aircraft system carry 16.9 kilograms.

This year, the Singapore team demonstrated a system that is light in weight, able to carry things, can be taken apart, and is easy to change parts. The team’s spokesman hoped to take a new award home.

At the opening ceremony, Align Machine Tool Co., a leading maker of remote-controlled helicopters in Taiwan, arranged a 3D dynamic flight of its latest remote-controlled helicopter.