Angled Landing Gear

Designed the drone’s landing gear for the 2025 competition with the following features:

• Angled legs to ensure concentricity with a water retrieval bucket
• Parametric and modular design for two payload configurations
• Integration with existing machined components for cost and time efficiency
• Key features like angled portions, carbon fiber members, anti-tipping bars, and depth limiters

How: Created parametric models in SolidWorks accessible for team collaboration. Used hand calculations to validate angles, structural strength, and integrity.

Why: Leveraged parametric modeling and collaborative platforms for efficient design iterations. Implemented design choices like carbon fiber for rigidity, anti-tipping bars for stability, and depth limiters for precise bucket alignment.

Results: Fully manufactured landing gear demonstrated stability, concentricity with the bucket, and reliability during flight tests, with anti-tipping bars saving the drone from tipping in three out of four flights.