In the fall of 2019, Dassault--the parent company of Solidworks the CAD program that we use--hosted a design competition for FRC teams to see who could come up with the best design for a personal aircraft. The Gearheads, who were runners up in the 2018 design challenge by Solidworks jumped at the opportunity to enter another innovative design. The design challenge was announced in November and the team had until early December to complete their design using the new 3DExperience cloud design platform X-Design and X-Shape to collaboratively design their personal flying machine. Their sketches from the first design team meeting, shown above called for the following design elements. Propulsion provided by a LARGE jet turbine underneath an airfoil wing, skiboot style mounting for the occupant to clamp themselves to the wing, flight yoke for controlling the flight, and for vertical lift and emergency egress -- the piece de resistence, the propeller beanie cap. And it's name would be Gerrald. Besides completing the naming of the device, they had their work cut out for them. 3DExperience is a platform for collaborative design that let's design teams design from nearly any computer that can connect to the internet. Using just a plain computer and an internet browser, the team was able to design their flying machine without the usual burden of a highpower CAD workstation and it's usually expensive GPU (graphics processing unit). The platform also has tools for community sharing, private and public workspaces, and is globally accessible. On January 4th, Solidworks announced the winners of the contest. The Gearheads we're pleased to find that their entry was recognized among the 20+ entries as being the 3rd place design. Making them eligible for a $3000 prize from Solidworks. Gerrald is a Winner!
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AuthorWe are the crazy, amazing, ingenious Gearheads! Archives
March 2020
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