Project PINAKA
Aim of the project was to replicate the ALOFT project and the Solar UAV design concept developed by Andre Noth at ETH Zurich. The ALOFT soarer in concept was meant to use wind thermals to support its flight automatically. The Solar UAV design however wass focused on creating a power grid on the aircraft using solar panels to power the onboard instruments throughout the night.
The PINAKA project was underaken by a team of 8 students at the Birls Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Goa Campus. The team worked on developing a laminar aerofoil based on a soarers design with a wide-wing to accomodate solar panels. The prototype was developed in 15 months, and received funds from the BITS Pilani university and, Boeing via Boeing BUILD. It consisted of a basic structure and wing made from light wight plastic polymers and an on-board computer which stored energy and flight data. The data was passed through a raspi mini portable computer, which optimised flight path. Short flights were possible with the prototype, however, further research on the material strength and an improved algorithm was required futher. The project was shutdown in September 2019.
Prototype images:
