Athena

Athena is a single semester project started in December of 2024, it is an autonomous fixed-wing UAV designed around endurance. Our project has 3 aims: to bridge the gap between aerodynamic theory and UAV design, increase our team's operational experience and to test new project management techniques. Athena will also feature a fixed HD camera to take images of the ground below for surveying purposes.

With an MTOW of <1kg and a thrust to weight ratio of 0.1 it is vital that our wings are efficient and lightweight. In order to promote proper aerodynamic design across the team we have split into much smaller groups of 2-3. Each group will then design and manufacture their own set of wings with no design restrictions. These wings will then be fitted to the fuselage and flown, we will then use blackbox data to confirm which set of wings is the most efficient.