for IARC Mission 9
Congratulations to a team from the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay for their simulation of their design that will compete in future IARC MISSION 9 events. The simulation allows the user to launch a hexicopter mothership carrying a quadcopter daughter ship with a special Communications Module gripper. The simulation allowed the user to set flight parameters such as wind speed, wind direction, sea state, and the endurance (stored energy) for each of the flight systems. Then simulation allowed the mothership carrying the daughter ship to traverse the course around the pylons, ultimately arriving at the mast with its Communications Module. The daughter ship would then launch from the mothership and attempt to remove the existing Communications Module from the mast and replace it with the new one carried in the gripper attached to the Daughter ship. Depending upon conditions and random factors associated with each run, the removal of the Communications Module was sometime successful and sometimes not. Likewise, the placement of the new Communications Module was sometimes successful or not before stored energy reserves were depleted. The simulation was credible and varied in successful completion of the mission based on the severity of the conditions (wind speed, sea state, energy, etc.) imposed upon each run.
The 2020 International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC) and the beginning of MISSION 9 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a way to allow teams to continue development of Mission 9 systems, the Organizers of the IARC created an online challenge to all registered Mission 9 teams to develop simulations of Mission 9 showing how their aerial robot will conduct the mission from beginning to end.
The top simulations were to be posted at the Official IARC website and these winning teams will have their entry fee waived for the next competition year.