By Kenneth Wong
On the outset, the challenge for the high school students seems straightforward: design “a UAS (unmanned aircraft system), which may have a fixed wing, rotorcraft, or hybrid design.” But this UAS needs to perform certain mission-critical tasks. It needs to fly over the cornfields of Iowa and pick out areas affected by a pest known as the European Corn Borer (in its lava stage, it can tunnel into the corn’s ear and feed on the plant). Oh, by the way, the project needs to stay within budget and come with a business plan.
Just as the challenge forces participants to confront a real-world problem, it also offers access to professional design tools, including PTC Creo (3D mechanical design), Mathcad Prime 2.0 (engineering calculation), and the Windchill (collaboration and data management). According to the competition organizers, “Every teacher that participates in the RWDC gets $1 million in professional engineering software along with training, curriculum materials, and access to mentors.”
[Ed -Here's a short video introduction to the Real World Design Challenge, including feedback from student teams from previous years.]
