This year, the Caltech Engineering Design Competition challenged five teams of 5 to design and build remote-controlled (R/C), semi-autonomous, lighter-than-air, 'airships' to compete in an aerial game they call "Quad Ball."
If you are a fan of the Harry Potter series, the rules of Airship Quad Ball may sound familiar. The school's website states, "Teams score points by intercepting neutrally buoyant, 15-in-diameter balloons and passing them through goals on their opponent's side of the field. Each team's mission is to score the most points during a 4.5-minute match while defending their goals before time runs out."
If that sounds like a high-tech version of Quidditch, it's because Michael Mello, class instructor of the engineering design laboratory, created Quad Ball with the high-flying fantasy game in mind.
He tells KNX News' Margaret Carrero that the airships are helium-filled and, therefore, have some buoyancy. Still, the key is to work within the limitations of what helium will provide, which is about a kilogram per cubic meter of helium.
"And so within those bounds, they've got to be able to suspend their electronics, their batteries, their motors, their propellers and remain neutrally buoyant," said Mello.
The students have been working on this for months, and Mello says it's been an extraordinary experience.
Mello said, "I can always count on the creativity, the ingenuity. I mean, these are exceptional students."
He feels this challenge is a wonderful opportunity for the students to get out of the conventional classroom and build something.
For more on the rules and everything about the Caltech engineering competition, click here.
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