Newsletter No. 407

No. 407, 19.11.2012 5 一 具小巧的飛行儀器，在參加工程學院暑期實習研 究計劃的四十多項設計中，脫穎而出，榮膺最佳作 品之一。外觀如直升機的骨架，是機械與自動化工程學系 葉俊華 的設計，控制程式則由同系的 翁顯揚 編寫。 高空偵測好幫手 選取材料花了葉俊華不少時間，「製作這飛行器的材料要 堅硬輕巧，以提升載重量和飛行時間，同時要防震，確保 攝錄影像清晰。」經過資料搜集和測試，他發現碳纖維和 蜂巢板這些常用於航天、飛機和賽車上的物料，是理想 素材。 碳纖維堅硬度高但容易 彎曲，於是他將碳纖維 鋪在蜂巢板的底和面，成 為三文治式物料，以提升 抗彎能力，再按照模具切割， 製成約重一百克的骨架，裝上馬 達、螺旋槳和電池後，整架飛行器 只重約一千克，可連續飛行半小時。 程式設計由零開始 翁顯揚則以Android編寫控制程式，這全是他自學的成 果。他最初對Android一無所知，故購買了大量書籍參考， 又四出求教，最後編寫整個介面，並成功將訊號與直升機 連接，令他欣喜莫名。 翁顯揚介紹說，只需操控如平板電腦或手機等部件，就能 使飛行器移動。系統裝有自動導航系統，在Google地圖上 點選目的地，系統即能提供飛行航道。 他們希望這套裝置能應用於監察及救援工作，例如飛行器 在自動導航下定期定點監察郊外環境，遇有山火可立即通 知有關當局，又或接得通報後協助搜救遠足失蹤人士。 《晨光下的冲古寺》 入學及學生資助處助理主任陳敬航 作品，攝於四川亞丁。 Chonggu Lamasery under the Morning Sun Photo taken in Yading, Sichuan, by Chan King-hong, Executive Officer I, Office of Admissions and Financial Aid Y ip Chun-wa and Yung Hin-yeung from the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering jointly developed an unmanned aerial vehicle with Chun-wa designing the vehicle mainframe while Hin-yeung was responsible for the user control interface. Their novel idea outshone some 40 candidates and became one of the best projects in the Summer Research Project Internship Scheme of the Faculty of Engineering. Aerial Surveillance To build the aircraft, Chun-wa spent much time on material selection. He said, ‘A light but strong material is needed to increase its loading capacity and flight time. Moreover, it should be vibration-proof so that clear images can be captured by the camera.’ After conducting research and doing experiments, he found that carbon fibre combined with honeycomb paper, both commonly found in aerospace travel, airplanes and race cars, is an excellent material for his aircraft. Carbon fibre can provide a lot of strength but it bends easily. Chun-wa covered the honeycomb paper with carbon fibre to make a sandwich structure that can help to withstand bending. It was then moulded to form a 100g aircraft skeleton which rose to about 1kg after installing motors, propellers and battery. Its flight time can last for about half an hour. A Program from Scratch Hin-yeung developed the user control interface which runs on Android though he had known nothing about the program language required at first. After reading a lot of reference books and consulting others, he wrote the entire program himself and was happy that signals can be transmitted to the aircraft. He explained that the aircraft can be controlled simply by moving a control device, which could be a tablet PC or a smartphone, because the control interface can read the orientations of the device. With automatic pilot, the program can suggest flying routes after the destination is specified on Google Map. The students hope their design can be used for monitoring and relief work. For example, aircrafts can use auto-pilot to monitor rural environments regularly, and report to the relevant authorities when there is a fire. The system can also help to locate and rescue hikers who have lost their way or gone missing. 無人駕駛飛行器 Unmanned Aircraft 碳纖維 Carbon fibre 葉俊華（左）和翁顯揚（右）與無人駕駛飛行器及操控用的平板 電腦 Yip Chun-wa (left) and Yung Hin-yeung (right) holding the unmanned aircraft and a tablet PC 蜂巢板 Honeycomb paper