Frustum GrabCAD Challenge
Salva Serrano's lightweight quadcopter which won him first prize in the ‘Generative Quadcopter Challenge: A GrabCAD Challenge for Topology Optimization.’
Software specialist, Frustum has announced the winners of its ‘Generative Quadcopter Challenge: A GrabCAD Challenge for Topology Optimization.’
The challenge, hosted on Stratasys’ GrabCAD Community platform, invited participants to use Frustum’s cloud-based generative design and topology optimisation software, Generate, to design a lightweight quadcopter to be 3D-printed. Salva Serrano, from Alicante, Spain, was named in first place, with Carlos Fuentes, from the US, and Michael van der Bent, from the Netherlands following in second and third respectively.
Judging criteria included mass reduction from meta design space, payload delivery, take-off, flight for 50 metres and soft landing, flight time, ingenuity of design space, design aesthetics, and ingenuity of load case. The judges noted that Serrano’s design addressed all of these requirements, while integrating useful features such as legs and feet that aid in the quadcopter’s take-off and landing.
Salva Serrano
Frustum GrabCAD challenge
Salva Serrano's design in the Generate software
“I am incredibly honoured to be selected as the winner of this challenge,” said Serrano, who is the co-founder of Ootro Estudio, an Orihuela, Spain-based architectural and design studio specialising in 3D modelling and digital manufacturing. “With my proposal, I tried to explore the possibilities of Generate as a structural design tool. I focused on securing the entire frame utilising the topology optimisation process – from the landing feet to the arms that hold the motors. It was fun to watch the software sculpting the shape of the frame as a virtual Michelangelo.”
Carlos Fuentes’ design in second place impressed the judges with its rigidness and durability, as well as its futuristic design. Meanwhile, van der Bent’s third-placed design also received credit for its durability, as well as its balance between performance and airframe mass.
Frustum GrabCAD Challenge
Michael van der Bent's entry which earnt him third place in the ‘Generative Quadcopter Challenge.'
Van der Bent, an improvement engineer at Thyssenkrupp Accessibility, a stair lift manufacturer based in the Netherlands, reflected: “I had used Generate previously and the GrabCAD challenge gave me an opportunity to dive back into the software. [It] offers significant optimisation potential in material savings, product weight, and strength, all of which contribute to a better overall design. When using the topology optimisation, Generate allowed me to quickly see results and create multiple iterations faster than any other software I’ve used.”
Design submissions were evaluated by a panel of Frustum employees, including Jesse Blankenship, CEO and founder of Frustum; Robert Wilson, president of Aerospace Advisory Group and former president and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace; and a member of the GrabCAD software organisation. The winners received cash prizes of $2,500, $1,00 and $500 respectively, as well as free subscription to the Generate platform.
