Zephyr 2012

Introduction

When tragedy strikes in air, when fuel is over ,propulsive system fails, we are left with an unpowered aircraft gliding through layers of air with most people praying for it to maximize range and its time of flight.

Prizes worth INR 5,000 to be won.

Task

Design and build an unpowered aircraft that glides in air with the objective of traversing maximum distance and stays in air for maximum time. There are separate awards for best design ,maximum range and maximum time of flight.

Rules

Following rules are to be followed...
1. Glider must be made from single Balsa Wood sheet of size 100mmX915mm
2. It must be unpowered with no power source mounted on aircraft
3. It must be chucked to launch. No other launching mechanism must be used.
4. You will be given two chances to compete.
5. Glider must be handmade and should not be readymade.

Judging Criterion

1. Range is the displacement between the point of launch and the point where rocket hits the ground.
2. Endurance is defined as the time from which the rocket is launched from the launcher till the time it touches the ground.
3. The glider will be judged for any creativity in the design or the principle used in making the glider and judgment will be final and unquestionable.

Zephyr presents two space design challenge this year:

1. Commercial Space Transportation

Space has become ubiquitous, touching all aspects of human life from communications to agriculture, weather forecasting, disaster relief, travel, science and humanities excitement of exploring the unknown. The high cost of space access and limits of existing launch vehicles dampen the growth of space to further influence our lives. Increasing demand for space travel can increase the number of flights to orbit and significantly reduce cost per flight. One potentially large market to orbit for future Earth-to-orbit (ETO) vehicles is the transport of paying passengers to orbit for research and tourism.

Challenge is to design an economically viable model which can transport people in 2050.

2. Space Settlement

Future space exploration programs may include human deep space missions to the asteroids and/or moons of Mars that do not require planetary entry, landing and ascent with their associated restrictions and penalties. However, they will entail microgravity missions outside of the Earth’s protective magnetic field lasting a year or more.

Major challenges facing the developers of such a mission include:

1. Providing radiation protection from both sustained, low level galactic cosmic rays and acute solar storms;
2. Managing crew bone loss, muscle atrophy and cardio-vascular deconditioning for prolonged weightlessness;
3. Limiting the mass and volume of consumable resources (air, water, food, expendable supplies);
4. Ensuring the reliability and/or repair of critical mission systems in the absence of resupply opportunities;
5. Maintaining crew nutrition levels (both nutritional value and palatability / appeal of foods with no resupply over the mission length);
6. Supporting mission operations and logistics to enable efficient crew access to required supplies, tools, spare parts, and equipment that may need to be repaired;
7. Providing habitable living arrangements that support the crew’s ability to deal with prolonged isolation and confinement.

This design competition will seek an integrated architecture and conceptual design that addresses these challenges in 2050.

PRESENTATION

You will be given a small stall with two plug points to present whatever you want to show of your project. You can have some model or paper presentation or a power point presentation, etc.

Judging Criterion

1. Technical Content (25 points)

This concerns the correctness of theory, validity of reasoning used, apparent understanding and grasp of the subject, etc. Are all major factors considered and a reasonably accurate evaluation of these factors presented?

2. Organization and presentation (25 points)

The description of the design as an instrument of communication is a strong factor on judging. Organization of written design, clarity, and inclusion of pertinent information are major factors.

3. Originality (25 points)

The design proposal should avoid standard textbook information, and should show the independence of thinking or a fresh approach to the project. Does the method and treatment of the problem show imagination? Does the method show an adaptation or creation of automated design tools.

4. Practical Feasibility(25 points)

The proposal should present conclusions or recommendations that are feasible and practical (convince they will be feasible after 40 odd years) , and not merely lead the evaluators into further difficult or insolvable problems.

Introduction

On-the-spot event
This is your chance to prove your mettle as the quick-thinking, resourceful innovator of tomorrow! As the name suggests, the Aero-race is an impromptu challenge to build your own flying machine using simple aerospace concepts to a problem statement given away on the spot. Race against time and your competition, to build the fastest machine and take home victory!

Note: The problem statement and the tools and apparatus will be provided on the spot!

Introduction

Problem statement: download here

P.S. :
Send your doubts at nishantkhanduja@gmail.com or akshaybatwara@gmail.com
Language no bar! Code in any language you are fluent in. Necessary Aero concepts will be provided on the spot.

Introduction

On-the-spot event
Zephyr’s flagship quiz event is back with a bang! Do you think you are an Aerospace know-it-all? Do you spend hours passionately following the latest aircrafts, trends and technology? Then the Aero-tainment quiz is just for you. A light-hearted quiz to pit your knowledge of trivia and lateral thinking ability against teams from colleges across the country, Aero-tainment quiz promises to be packed with challenging questions and innovative rounds.