Institution news
For more information about Manufacturing & Engineering Week and to book your free place to access all four events in one place, visit www.mandeweek.co.uk
With innovation at the heart of the Engineering Expo event, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is delighted to support and be a part of the latest technologies on show, represented by the Coventry University’s UAS Challenge team and Formula Student AI team.
The event will be the public debut of Coventry University’s new Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) ahead of the full UAS Challenge competition in July. Taking place every year, the competition tasks university students with designing, building and running a fully autonomous flying drone to undertake a series of tasks designed to mimic humanitarian aid and disaster recovery scenarios. The flying event requires the drone to perform movement, image recognition and accurate payload drops, as well and landing and taking off without operator intervention.
The student team have been working hard on a new design for their 2022 UAS, combining aspects of a quadcopter and bi-plane in their design to maximise manoeuvrability and simplify take-off and landing procedures. With these and other advantages, the team are targeting high places in the finals of the competition, which will see them compete against nearly 30 teams from around the world.
Meanwhile, Coventry’s FS-AI team will be joining them with their Autonomous Driving Systems Drone Vehicle (ADS-DV). A bespoke platform for the Institution’s well-established Formula Student competition, the ADS-DV enables teams to develop the software routines, sensor scanning and systems integration for teams to run a fully autonomous vehicle through a series of events designed to mimic real-world driving scenarios. With the competition having only started in 2018, Coventry University have already distinguished themselves among their peers with a raft of awards and look to continue their success at the next Formula Student event at Silverstone in July.
Both competitions enable the next generation of young engineers to get hands-on with a real-world engineering project and competitors graduate with the practical skills and experiences that employers are looking for in their graduate and entry level positions.
“Events like Manufacturing & Engineering Week serve to inform and inspire the wider engineering community by presenting the latest advances across all industry sectors and we are delighted that our Formula Student and UAS Challenge competitions are a part of this year’s event by showcasing the next generation of engineering talent,” said Daniel Anglin, Commercial Partnerships Manager for the IMechE.
Coventry University’s student teams will be joined in the Innovation Zone by the world’s first Methane-powered tractor by New Holland, as well as an Aston Martin Formula 1 racing car simulator, alongside dozens of engineering manufacturers and suppliers on the show floor.
Manufacturing & Engineering Week incorporates Manufacturing Expo, Engineering Expo, Design Engineering Expo & Maintec – to book your place simply visit www.mandeweek.co.uk to access all the events, meet with dozens of manufacturers and solution providers, see new technologies in action with live demonstrations and learn how they could be put into practice in your own engineering environment.