Application of 3D Printed and Composites Technology to UAS Development

Recent advances in the field of rapid prototyping, particularly with regard to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), offer exciting new opportunities for university research and academics. By leveraging the relative speed and inexpense of 3D printing and other rapid prototyping technologies, UAS represent a powerful emergent capability in satisfying a wide range of vital research needs, while simultaneously empowering students with tools to design platforms and payloads to accomplish these. This represents a significant shift in capability for research and education institutions to make impactful contributions. This paper provides details of UAS payloads and components fabricated using rapid prototyping technologies at the University of Alaska (UAF) Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) using a teamed approach with heavy participation by undergraduate and graduate engineering students. It discusses exciting new arctic research being supported through these efforts, how students from various academic forums are engaged in the prototyping process, as well as lessons learned and initiatives pushing this technology down to high school (HS) and middle school (MS) students.