2023/24: Orange Hornet

P1

ASIA-PACIFIC

P1

AUSTRALIA

P2

INTERNATIONAL

P10

OVERALL

ORANGE HORNET

Orange Hornet was the USYD DBF Team’s second entry into the DBF Competition, building on the strong first entry from the previous year. Going into the season, the team committed to improving results, taking risks and proving the capabilities of the Australian UAV industry to the world. Orange Hornet is a testament to the dedicate of the 40 engineers that contributed to it.

competition rules

The 28th Annual AIAA DBF Competition was organised by Textron Aviation, focusing on civilian applications with the theme of Urban Air Mobility. As a result, the competition focused on Short Take-Off Capabilities, and maximising payload carrying capacity. Aligned with the Urban Air Mobility theme, the aircraft had to be engineered to be capable of efficient transportation of ‘medical supplies’ and ‘passengers’ per competition requirements.

The following constraints were enforced:

20ft. (~6m) max take-off distance
5ft. (~1.5m) max wingspan
2.5ft. (0.75m) wide parking space that the aircraft had to be configured to fit in
5 minute time limit on parking to flight transition and payload installation for all missions

The competition missions were as follows:
Mission 1

Delivery Flight
Complete 3 laps in 5 minute flight window
Pass/Fail score

Mission 2

Medical Transport Flight
Complete 3 laps as quick as possible
Carry as much weight as possible inside aircraft
Score was a function of the weight carried and the time taken to complete 3 laps

Misson 3

Urban Taxi Flight
Complete as many laps as possible in 5 minutes
Carry as many passengers (wooden craft dolls) as possible
Score was a function of the passenger carried, laps completed, and the battery capacity

Ground Mission

Configuration Demonstration
Timed transition of aircraft from parking to flight configuration
Score was dependent

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

1.5 metre wingspan

2.0 metre fuselage length

3.5 Aspect Ratio

120N Static Thrust

HIGH LIFT DEVICE: Slotted Brown flaps

PARKING: Swivel wing mechanism

STALL SPEED: 40 KM/HR

TOP SPEED: 140 KM/HR

design

Orange Hornet is a high-wing conventional body aircraft designed for short ground-rolling take-off and capable of accommodating high payload capacity. To produce the 14kg target thrust, the propulsion system utilises a tractor configuration with twin motors mounted on the wing. With a wingspan of 1.5m and aspect ratio of 3.5, the rectangular wing incorporates slotted flaps for an enhanced lift coefficient at take-off. The design also features a T-tail empennage to maximise the elevator effectiveness and a tricycle undercarriage configuration for maximum take-off and landing stability. An efficient wing swivelling mechanism has been engineered to enable the aircraft to rapidly transition between flight configuration and a parking configuration that fits within a 2.5ft parking spot.