Flying a drone in zero gravity... This is the project led by a team of engineering students from the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Lille, which has just won the CNES "Projet Parabole" competition. The prize: a flight in zero gravity!
Every year, the CNES (French National Center for Space Studies) launches various student competitions, including the "Parabole" project. This project, which is aimed at students, offers the opportunity to carry out a weightless experiment as a team.
In this context, engineering students Arts et Métiers have proposed a drone capable of flying in zero gravity aboard an Airbus ZeroG and are one of only three teams nationwide to have been selected! The engineering students began working on this project, which they have named THOR, in October 2018. It is a toric-shaped drone torus-shaped system propeller system inspired by those used in terrestrial quadcopter drones. A movable inner ring to which two cameras are attached. This allows for a maximum number of shots, such as zooms and tracking shots, which make for a pleasant viewing experience. The drone's shell will be printed using additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) , which allows for great flexibility in terms of its shape.
"This project called upon all of our technical skills and knowledge of fluid mechanics that we learned at Arts et Métiers. Thanks to our comprehensive, generalist training, we were able to juggle both the technical and managerial aspects of the project, from building the electrical circuits to managing crowdfunding (fundraising)," explains Théophile Lagraulet.
The THOR Project team is therefore preparing to take off aboard the Airbus Zero G on Wednesday, October 16. These flights, operated by Novespace, will create microgravity conditions by performing parabolas at the peak of which gravity is virtually zero.
Follow the adventure now on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=thor%20-%20projet%20parabole%202019&epa=SEARCH_BOX
