A team of six students in the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria’s lightweight construction and composite materials course worked with eight industrial partners to design and build a camera drone over an 18-month period. The project is part of the Lightweight Design and Composite Materials degree program, which FACC launched in cooperation with the Upper Austrian University of Applied Sciences in Wels in 2018. The lightweight camera drone recent successfully completed its maiden flight.
Hexcel Neumarkt provided the HexPly M901 and HexPly M78.1 carbon fiber prepreg materials used for the landing gear and the fuselage of the drone. The prepregs were used in combination with woven and unidirectional carbon fiber reinforcements for the fuselage, which was cured in an autoclave, while the landing gear was laid-up and cured in a press. The use of composite materials allowed the team to reduce the structural mass of the camera drone by 42%.
