Mission Log
The team is going to be back testing soon, trimming rotors and adjusting the structure prior to full flight tests!
Since Battle Mountain and Mythbusters, we've been laying the groundwork for our next steps in preparation for a return to flying Atlas. We plan to be flight-testing the full helicopter again by the first week of November. Some of the key concerns at the conclusion of our first testing session were:
Shortly after the flight of the Snowbird Human-Powered Ornithopter in 2010, I started working with the Peak Centre for Human Performance. Since then, I’ve raised my functional threshold power (the power you can sustain for 1 hour) from 273 Watts to 344 Watts, and my one-minute power from 678 Watts to 773 Watts.
Immediately after an intense week of racing (and repairing) our bikes in Battle Mountain, we drove to San Francisco to join the Jamie, Adam and the rest of the MythBusters team for an upcoming shoot.
After two weeks of intense flight testing several members of the Atlas team switched gears, travelling to Battle Mountain, Nevada for the 2012 World Human-Powered Speed Challenge! The WHPSC is an annual event where competitors in high-tech streamlined bikes try to break the human-powered land speed record. The record is currently held by Sam Whittingham and the Varna team of British Columbia, Canada, at 133.2 Km/h (82.8 MPH).
CSR has generously donated a great deal of Vectran rope to the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter, always with the best customer service we've seen and often with very little notice! Vectran is a liquid-crystal polymer (LCP) fiber with high-strength, high-stiffness, and nearly zero creep under long-term loading. This has been crucial for the helicopter's various uses, which include:
In case you missed it, the Daily Planet did an extended feature on the Atlas project which aired on October 2nd. You can watch the entire episode online at watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip775569 (our segment starts about 8 minutes into the program). You can also watch an extended version of the construction footage at www.discoverychannel.ca/Article.aspx?aid=46352.
Thanks to Shelley and the rest of the film crew! You've done a great job, and it was great working with you.
Hi Everyone!
The AeroVelo team has finished up their first round of testing on the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter.
During this round of testing, Atlas achieved max flights of 15 seconds, during tests evaluating the controls.
We are going to keep working on the control surfaces and will be back testing soon. We will keep everyone updated on our progress.
Thanks again for your continued support.
The AeroVelo Team
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, we had been working around the clock to get Atlas finished, so that we could start flight testing.
We moved the components from the barn to the Soccer Centre in Vaughan, ON, on August 21st. It is a large indoor soccer facility that has the height and space to test Atlas.
Hi Everyone!
We are in the final stages of construction on the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter and we need your help!
A number of unforeseen expenses have occurred in these final stages of construction, which have completly depleted our remaining funds.
Aerovelo would like to thank Cervélo, this week’s featured sponsor! This awesome Canadian-based bike company has donated an R5ca bike frame to the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter Project. The lightest production road frame in the World, the R5ca will form the foundation of Atlas’ drivetrain and control system.
Over the past two weeks we will have produced nearly 1200 feet of carbon fibre tubes, with a total weight of only 30 pounds. The tubes will be used for the massive truss structure that connects the rotors to the pilot.
The final quad structure design has been recently finalized! The quad structure is the truss work which spans the space between the 4 rotors and supports the pilot in the middle.
Upon starting construction of Atlas, it was determined that a structure composed of simple, single span beams would be able to support regular flight loads. This was not a very efficient structure but it demonstrated that a structure could be constructed at a feasible weight.
While the rotors are done, we need a structure to hold the whole assembly together. Parts of it will be made using tapered carbon tubes to maximize weight efficiency.
As we did with the rotors, we had to make from scratch a mandrel to cook the carbon in the proper shape. Since these members are much thinner we used an acid bath technique. In theory, if a section of tube is removed from an acid bath at a constant rate the tube will be thinner at the bottom and thicker at the top.
