Boeing, IITs & RVCE presents
National Aeromodelling Competition 2023-24

About Boeing - IIT National Aeromodelling Competition:

Boeing - IIT National Aeromodelling Competition for students in India is sponsored by Boeing, and in collaboration with IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and RVCE. Logistics support for this event is provided by Skyfi Labs.
The competition is launched with the vision to provide a unified national platform for students interested in aerospace and related engineering disciplines - to demonstrate their aero-modeling expertise.

Certification by

• Boeing
• IITs (as applicable)
• RVCE

Merit Award recipients will receive additional Merit Certificates.

Prizes

Aeromodelling Workshops

Along with the competition, Boeing will also be sponsoring aero-modelling workshops to be conducted by the respective IITs. This will act as an additional platform where students who are interested in designing and building RC aircrafts, can get hands on experience in designing and building them. The dates for the workshops will be announced separately.

Format of the Competition:

The zonal events will be conducted in 4 IITs (East Zone: IIT Kharagpur, West Zone – IIT Bombay, North Zone – IIT Kanpur and South Zone – IIT Madras).
Participants can register at any of the four zonal competitions and bring their aircraft and all necessary equipment to participate.
Top 3 teams from each zonal round will be invited to the national finals at RVCE, Bengaluru.

Problem Statement for the Zonal Rounds:

Your team is responsible for designing and operating a commercial aircraft (more details on the aircraft specification in the Design Constraints Section). The goal of the aircraft is to carry as much payload as possible compared to its own weight. In addition, the aircraft should also be able to unload and reload the payload quickly to avoid downtime and airport charges. Points will be awarded for carrying the payload (based on how much is carried) and deducted for time spent on the ground for loading and unloading (for the costs incurred). The team that gets the highest points in one round trip wins.
The payload will be golf balls with a weight of 45 g and a diameter of 43 mm, which the organizers will supply during the competition.
The arena will be an open ground. There will be two rounds in the zonal competition.

1. Qualifier Round
2. Main Round

1. Qualifier Round

The qualifier round aims to select the top 30 teams for the Main Round.
Since the theme is to carry payload, the qualifier round’s objective is to select those teams who built aircraft with good payload-carrying capability and can fly safely while carrying the payloads.
The aircraft should carry the payload for a minimum of 30 seconds.
The payload should be mounted inside the aircraft and not exposed externally. Judges will examine the aircraft and allow take-off only when satisfied with the payload mounting mechanism.
A maximum time of 3 minutes will be given between the takeoff and the landing, and the aircraft should complete the round within the time limit.

Score = Weight of Payload Carried*100/ Weight of Aircraft without Payload

Those aircraft that cannot fly for 30 seconds with the payload will get a 0 score.
Each team will get 2 attempts, and the best of the two will be the team's final score.

The top 30 teams, based on the score, will qualify for the Main Round from the Qualifier Round.

Reimbursement: Along with qualification to the next round, qualifying teams will get a reimbursement of INR 5000 per team towards material costs for their models.
Only aircraft that demonstrate safe flying with payload will be allowed to participate in the main round.

2. Main Round

The team should perform one round trip of payload delivery (golf balls) and return to the point of origin.

Scoring mechanism:

• 10 points will be awarded for the successful delivery of each golf ball on each trip.
• 1 point will be deducted as cost per second on the ground.
• Net points earned by the team is the score of the team.

Round Details:
The following steps must be performed once the timer starts:

1. Load the aircraft at the point of origin:
   • Load the golf balls onto the aircraft while the aircraft is on the ground. The aircraft should be on the ground and not be touched by the team during this step. Only one team member can participate in this step, and the member should load without touching the aircraft. All the opening/closing of the doors/compartments to place the payload should be operated from the transmitter and not manually.
   • Cost of the step 1 = C1 = Time in seconds from the timer starting to the payload compartment closing.
2. Take off:
   • Once the aircraft payload compartment doors are closed, the aircraft should take off. The aircraft can be hand-launched in this step to avoid issues of a smooth runway as the competition is conducted in an open ground.
3. Fly for at least 30 seconds and Land at the point of destination:
   • The aircraft can land anywhere on the ground (to make it easier for the participants to achieve a safe landing). The landing point will be considered as the destination.
   • Earnings for the trip = E1 = 10 x number of golf balls carried.
4. Unload the aircraft completely at the destination:
   • Only one team member can participate in this step, and the member should unload the aircraft without touching it. All the opening/closing of the doors/compartments to place the payload should be operated from the transmitter and not manually.
5. Reload the aircraft at the destination:
   • as done in step 1
   • Cost of the steps 4 & 5 = C2 = Time in seconds from touchdown to the payload compartment closing after reloading.
6. Take off at the destination. The aircraft can be hand-launched in this step to avoid issues of a smooth runway as the competition is conducted in an open ground.
7. Land after a minimum flight time of 30 seconds:
   • The aircraft can land anywhere within the ground (to make it easier for the participants to achieve a safe landing)
   • Earnings for the trip = E2 = 10 x number of golf balls carried.
8. Unload the aircraft:
   • as done in step 4
   • Cost of the step 8 = C3 = Time in seconds from touchdown to the payload compartment closing after unloading

A maximum time of 3 minutes will be given for the entire mission.

Score = E1 + E2 – C1 – C2 – C3

Zonal Competition Winners

An overall score combining the Qualifier and Final round scores will be calculated. Teams with the highest overall score will be declared as winners.

Overall Score = Normalized Score in Qualifier Round * 0.25 + Normalized Score in Main Round * 0.75

If there is a tie, the winner will be decided by a separate round framed by the Judges on the spot. Judges' decisions would be considered final in all cases.
The top 3 teams will be invited to RVCE Bengaluru for the finals. The problem statement for the final round will be launched in Feb 2024.

Design Constraints:

Aircraft

1. The competition requires participants to design and fabricate an RC aircraft. Readymade models, like RTF, ARF, BNF etc., are not allowed.
2. T/W <=1 without payload (If excess thrust is measured, it will be neutralized by adding weight below the aircraft at center of gravity)
3. The aircraft should have a maximum weight of 1 Kg (without any payload being added)
4. Propeller diameter should not be greater than 13 inches.
5. Wingspan should be a maximum of 1.2 m.
6. Only electric motors are allowed. Using IC engines or any other means of providing thrust is prohibited.
7. Use of gyroscopes (gyros) and programming assistance in receivers is prohibited.
8. Programming for any step of the mission is not allowed.
9. Use of FPV or any other support for flying is not allowed.

Team structure:

1. Maximum Team Size: 4
2. Minimum Team Size: 2
3. An additional mentor can accompany the team but will not be allowed to help them during their participation.
4. Team members of a team may be from same college/school or different (School/UG/PG).
5. Any number of teams can participate from one college/school.
6. Only students can participate in this competition.
7. Participants must get a bona fide certificate signed by the respective HoD/Dean/Principal and their school/college ID Card.
8. A safety pilot might be available at the ground (provided by the organizers) and, if needed, have control on your aircraft in case of emergency. The participant can voluntarily take the safety pilot's help or fly independently. However, if the safety pilot feels that the participant's skills are inadequate, the pilot will take over considering the safety aspects. The final decision on this will be that of the safety pilot and judges, and the participant must adhere to the same.

Abstract Submission:

1. All participants must submit an abstract on their aircraft, which should be less than 15 pages (A4 size 1.5 line spacing) with standard formatting. The Abstract must document the basic design of the aircraft (dimensions, wing areas, velocity, etc.) and explain how the design suits the given problem.
2. Along with the abstract, participants must also send a zip file containing at least 5 and no more than 10 photographs of the aircraft while it is being built.
3. The Abstract must be submitted as per the standard format (you can download the standard format from the respective IIT websites)
4. The Abstract must be submitted 20 days in advance of the competition date.
5. The Abstract must be submitted as per the format mentioned by sending an email to:
6. The shortlisted teams based on the abstract to participate in the zonal rounds would be announced 15 days before the competition date.

General Guidelines

1. The same aircraft should be used in both rounds, and it should be the same one as in the abstract. In case of damages during the competition, teams can repair the same aircraft but are not allowed to use a replacement. The repaired aircraft should be ready in time for the turn.
2. Teams are suggested to carry additional components (motors, batteries, propellers, etc.) to avoid last-minute surprises at the venue. You will lose time/ attempt if you are not ready at your turn.
3. The use of 2.4 GHz radio is required for all aircraft competing. If the participants want to use any other frequency, they must inform the organizers in advance.
4. Receivers installed in the aircraft must be in 'receiver mode only'.
5. Metal propellers are not allowed.
6. Organizers will check all the systems (Servos, motors, etc.) for functionality before the competition. If found not working, teams will be dismissed from the competition.
7. Please do not share parts of your aircraft (motors, ESC, Battery etc.) with other teams. Each team is expected to carry all the equipment needed to participate in the competition.
8. The models can have powered take-off with landing gear or be launched manually by a person standing at ground level.
9. A team member cannot be a part of more than one team.
10. The timer will start after 30 seconds of the previous team completing their attempt. The participants must be prepared in time and launch without delay after entering the take-off zone. The teams would lose their turn if they were not ready in time.
11. To be eligible for the reimbursement, the qualifying team must share the bank account details that belong to one of the team members. The name on the bank account must match the registered participant's name. Reimbursement/ Prize money will not be transferred if there is a mismatch.
12. In view of stringent safety requirements, if a pilot flies out of the designated flying zone, which includes the overhead of the event organizing and control section, as mentioned at the venue, he/ she is disqualified. He/she must immediately turn back and land safely.

Participation in multiple zonal events/ finals

1. Teams can participate in only one zonal event of their choice.
2. The same team members participating in the zonal should participate in the final.

Revisions

Any revisions to the Scope of the Competition would be intimated to all the participants via registered email, and the same would be updated on the websites of the respective technical festivals

Contact Details

Please feel free to contact us incase of any queries.
Email: info@skyfilabs.com
Phone: 18001237177(Toll Free)