The Daily O’Collegian

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A team of OSU aerospace engineering students have set two world records with their airplane, Pterosoar-B, which means winged creature that can fly with little or no effort. The plane operates without human control, using autopilot software once it is thrown.

Students work 16 hours a day during summer to create the Pterosoar-B

They started this project to set world records.

And now a team of OSU aerospace engineering students have done just that — twice.

They set two world records with their “autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle,” a plane that is entirely self-reliant.

This summer, the team will go after a third.

“We wanted to learn about the construction technology involved because unmanned planes can eventually do jobs that pilots are not needed for, such as border control and surveying,” Ryan Paul said.

The project started in 2005 when Andrew Arena, the adviser of the project, encouraged two students to design the first prototype, the Dragonfly.

Dustin Gamble, now a graduate student in the program, was the team leader in 2007 and is responsible for designing the original prototype.

“Dr. Arena likes to push the limits of flying,” Gamble said.

The Dragonfly was built to fly endurance missions using lithium polymer batteries with a ground pilot controlling it.

Ryan Paul became the team leader in 2008.

“The difference with our plane and the ones the other groups designed is that ours runs on an autopilot,” Paul said.

With an autopilot, there is no control from the ground on the airplane.

The autopilot is programmed to respond to disturbances the aircraft faces during flight.

“We had one of the PhD students, Joe Conner, help us with the autopilot,” Paul said.

“He is an autopilot expert and was a big help.”

A human launches the aircraft by throwing it.

Once it is thrown, the autopilot takes over.

“The aircraft moves very slowly,” Gamble said. “When it lands, it usually doesn’t cause harm to the aircraft, but Ryan put in reinforcements just in case.”

In the summer of 2008, Paul and two team members, Cody Pinkerman and Valentin Sanchez, started working 16 hours a day to build their airplane, Pterosoar-B, which means winged creature that can fly with little or no effort.

Team members spent the summer modifying the design, preparing to set the duration and closed course distance world records in the F8 category.

The team said they will attempt to set the world record in the straight line distance category this fall.

“We worked really hard,” Paul said.

“We are really excited to get the records we set ratified, which takes a few months at least.”

All records set in the aerospace field must be recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, or the FAI.

The team said they want to encourage other aerospace engineering students to get involved.

“Students must pursue this on their own,” Paul said. “We always need more aerospace engineering students to get involved.”