Vision

To place UNSW at the forefront of Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) related research and development within Australia by attracting the active participation of the best undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Objectives for 2009

An MAV that is able to be teleoperated in an indoor environment; A sensor-stabilised control system that reduces the required skill level to fly; and A reliable base station that is ready for speedy deployment in a range of situations.

Achievement in IMAV09

The MAVSTAR team was awarded third place in the indoor competition due to a very reliable platform which completed the basic requirements in style. The team also attained first place for the quality of their journal paper and first place for a presentation detailing the MAV at the workshop. Pictures from the event can be seen in the gallery here.

The IMAV09 competition was comprised of both an outdoor and an indoor event, each having several independent challenges. These challenges included pole racing, indoor exploration, wind gust resistance and perching on small platforms. The MAVSTAR team competed with a set of MAVs which were able to fly via manual control and attempted teleoperation on one of the challenges. The competition provided insight into the nature of cutting edge solutions to Micro Aerial Vehicle power sources, control and navigation and other critical research topics.

Achievement in MAV08

(1st US-Asian Demonstration and Assessment of Micro-Aerial and Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology)

MAVSTAR team proudly got "the best UGV performance" award in MAV08. Awards were given to only 6 international teams based on evaluated mission performance, technical paper review and static judging (see the list of meritorious teams). Additionally, our team is one of the 7 teams (out of 22 teams which submitted applications to MAV08) able to provide Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs), also known as Micro Air Vehicles, which could fit within a 30cm sphere and were able to fly in the MAV08 mission.

In the mission, one of our custom-made UGVs defused one simulated mine and went to the middle of the testing ground, while our MAVs were launched and hovered around the base station. Difficulties include illness, interference from unknown transmitters and problems from provided power sources meant the MAVs were unable to fly far away from the base station. The outstanding performance of our UGVs which were able to support MAVs and detect mines and obstacles won the UGV award.

In the static demonstration, the high lift force to size ratio, mechanical stability and low cost of our MAVs gained a lot of interest. Since the MAVs fully utilise the cross section of a 30cm sphere to generate lift force, they can generate up to 455g lift force. The top rotor features a weighted flybar that adds gyroscopic stability in roll and pitch, and the bottom rotor incorporates a precision swash-plate for roll and pitch control. All parts, except the shaft, are fully custom-made, allowing multiple MAV production at reasonable cost. See more in our technical paper and video taken in MAV08.