Ingenious engineering takes 2009 IRL prize

Media Release
27 October 2009

Ingenious engineering takes 2009 IRL prize

The 2009 IRL prize for the best demonstration in robotics or automation has been awarded to final-year Auckland University Mechanical Engineering students Dzulfadli Ibrahim and Luqman Kamarudin for their project, "Propeller prototyping for an unmanned aerial vehicle".

The students' project was an integrated method of taking blade profiles and converting them into a machined fan ready to test in the rig they had built without going through the sometimes laborious task of designing the fan in an engineering design package such as SolidWorks; then converting this file into g-code (or similar code that controls the NC machine).

As the judge, IRL Engineering Innovations manager Geoff Bates says that the choice of the winner was a significant challenge, given the high standard of the aspiring young engineers.

"This year’s winning project was chosen because it displayed a clear approach to the problem of optimising the relationship between theoretical design and the production of prototypes to test performance.

“The students demonstrated understanding and competence with aerodynamics, software, machine control, prototyping techniques and test evaluation, conveying an impression of well-rounded practical engineers eminently suited to the challenges to come."

ENDS