The Aerial Systems Club OU team competed successfully at the 2009 AUVSI Student Aerial Systems Competition in Webster Field, MD last weekend.
The OU quadrotor (a.k.a. Microraptor) performed beautifully in a test run at the morning of the competition. It autonomously took off and followed navigation commands from the ground station before landing again. During the actual competition, however, something went wrong and the team is still investigating. The vehicle took off and at about 15 feet started oscillating until it flipped over and crashed. The team scrambled to get the vehicle back together for another attempt but ran out of time. After the competition, a thunderstorm moved it and prevented the team from performing a flight demonstration with the restored vehicle.
The OU entry was again the focus of attention at the competition due to its uniqueness compared to the 17 other entries which were all traditional fixed-wing vehicles and one commercial helicopter. Our team has presented OU well and is determined to perfect the quadrotor for next year's competition.
We received the "Best Design Innovation Award" and the "Outstanding Effort Award," which translated to a cash prize of $1,500.
Congratulations to the team!