Our Crowdfunding Groups
Hello everyone!
I am happy to announce the scores we've received for the 2018 Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) competition!
The overall team ranking is based on the three competition deliverables: the Technical Design Report, the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) video, and the Mission Demonstration at Maryland.
Out of 69 teams, UAV Forge was within the top 50 teams: UAV Forge placed 40th place!
In the Technical Design Report, we placed 16th.
In the FRR video, we placed 28th.
For Mission Demonstration, we received 41th to represent our efforts towards competition.
The 41th placing was the standard score for teams who did not participate in this section.
More information about the competition results can be found here: http://www.auvsi-suas.org/competitions/2018/
I am so proud of this team! We attempted all the competition tasks till the very end. Through all the challenges and obstacles, our students have learned and grown so much from this experience.
With the advice from the competition hosts and the work from last year, the next leaders of UAV Forge have a strong foundation to build from.
Thank you again for your time and support!
Sincerely,
Ariel Louie
Project Manager, UAV Forge
Mechanical Engineer at UCI
Hello everyone!
My sincere thank you to all who supported UAV Forge's journey from beginning to the end, without your support, this would not have been possible.
During our flight test on June 3rd, while practicing a mock Mission Demonstration and to making last minute improvements to the UAV system (the Aeroworks GT Trainer), we experienced technical difficulties that had left our system badly damaged during the landing sequence, which made our UAV no longer flightworthy.
We were able to find the cause of the system failure and the team worked diligently to get our back-up aircraft (SIG T Clips, our working prototype) up and running. Unfortunately, due to time constraint and many tasks to be done (design upgrades, buying replacement parts, reinstall and system retest), all to be completed around finals weeks and with many our competition team members graduating seniors, it was with great trepidation that the team made a decision not to travel to Maryland to participate in this year's AUVSI SUAS competition.
As the AUVSI SUAS competition is occurring today in Maryland, though we have chosen not to attend, it does not take away from our experiences and encounters (the joys, tears, sweat, frustration, triumphs, friendships, conflicts, fun, laughter, the late nights and many more!). We can all look back at lessons learned, mistakes, personal and technical growth, teamwork and collaboration. We had a great group of students who created a strong foundation and legacy for next year's team!
The money we've received though ZotFunder will be reserved for next-year's competition, and we have high expectations that it will be put to use! Thank you generous donors! As the UAV Forge outgoing Project Manager, I will help transition the next team to ensure the project will continue along a successful path. Please continue to follow our project's progress, feel free to contact me at uavforge.uci.sdp@gmail.com if you have any questions.
UAV Forge is defined by lessons learned, accomplishments and successes!
Sincerely,
Ariel Louie
Project Manager, UAV Forge
Mechanical Engineer at UCI
P.S. I've posted our Competition Team Promo video below. We also have Youtube videos on the Proof of Flight and Flight Readiness Review competition deliverables Feel free to watch them! Thank you again!
Hello everyone!
The UAV Forge ZotFunder campaign has closed for now and the UCI Foundation is currently processing all donations!
Thank you so much your contributions!
We have completed half of our goal and we have received 5 gifts!
These gifts are matching contributions for donors who want their associated company to donate with them.
For those 5 donors who wish to have matching contributions: please contact me (Ariel) at uavforge.uci.sdp@gmail and I will forward you more information on the matching contribution process while connecting you with the UC Irvine Foundation (matching-gifts@uci.edu or Address: 100 Theory Suite 250 Irvine CA 92617).
We hope that everyone’s donation can be processed quickly as the competition is approaching in less than 2 weeks.
Until all donations and gifts have been approved, we hope to arrange travel accommodations by June 4.
Also, I have already notified the anonymous donor of our success and will wait for a response.
In the past few weeks, the project has been busy finishing the Flight Readiness Review and Proof of Flight videos for the competition.
Please contact me if there are any questions with the post-processing period and the project updates.
Thank you for your time!
- Ariel Louie
UAV Forge, Project Manager
Hello everyone!
We are in the last stretch of UAV Forge's crowdfunding campaign!
There is less than 7 days left for your chance to support UAV Forge in our endeavor to compete at the SUAS competition in Maryland!
Thank you to those who have already donated to our cause!
Our students are currently working hard to complete competition deliverables such as preparing for weekend Flight Tests for data collection and optimizing autonomous control while also writing a Technical Report that will be published on the AUVSI SUAS website!
Check out this video clip of our a Flight Test of the competition air plane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytqFNC5GCis
We have conducted 2 Flight Tests (shown in the images) and we have a 3rd one planned soon!
As Project Manager, I have exciting news to share with everyone: I have received a notification of an anonymous donor who will donate a 1:1 matching amount to the funds raised through our ZotFunder campaign!
With that, please share our work to your friends, colleagues, and family!
UCI UAV Forge will be first time competitors this year and we would greatly appreciate any support and contributions you can make to our ZotFunder campaign.
Thank you for your time, and please feel free to reply to me with any questions you may have!
Sincerely,
Ariel Louie
UAV Forge, Project Manager
uavforge.uci.sdp@gmail.com
Learning and mastering engineering fundamentals is the key to producing a good product. Every bit of support counts! Thank you for donating!
Through hard work and dedication, our students are driving innovation in drone technology! Thank you for being a fellow supporter!
With this donation, you are a part of this journey with us and we can share our successful flight tests and accomplishments together!
This generous contribution will allow us to purchase high-tech equipment, including electronics, sensors, and propulsion components all which help us perform well in the competition. Thank you for your donation!
Like a captain of any aircraft, you have steered us towards our ultimate destination: representing UCI and all our hard work at the competition! Thank you so much for your generous support!
Soaring to the competition! This donation allows us to travel to Maryland and perform at the Flight Mission Demonstrations in the AUVSI SUAS Competition. Because you've helped steer us toward our ultimate goal, a decal with your name/company logo will be placed on our competition plane! We hold your generosity with the highest level of gratitude!
