GoAERO Stage 1 Winner
Adam Lang, an engineer at LIFT Aircraft, the Austin-based company that manufactures electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that anyone can fly, is a proud alumnus of the University of Texas-Austin and its nationally recognized Texas Aerial Robotics (TAR) organization.
TAR teaches students concepts in software, hardware, and other skills critical to developing unmanned aerial systems. So, when LIFT was seeking a partner for its entry into the GoAERO global challenge to create a new generation of emergency response flying vehicles, Adam followed the sentiment first expressed by the ancient Roman naval commander Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79): “Home is where the heart is.”
Indeed, for Adam, TAR is just such a home. "We’ve collaborated with Dr. Maruthi Akella’s lab, the Controls Group for Distributed and Uncertain Systems, in the past on an Air Force STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) contract,” he relates, noting that Dr. Akella is also TAR’s faculty advisor. “So, it was only natural to reach out to TAR as a partner and take on this challenge together.”
Together, Adam and the current eight-member team are in the process of manufacturing HEXA Cargo, which he describes as a “highly modular 18-rotor eVTOL aircraft that utilizes distributed electronic propulsion and redundant flight controls to provide high-end system reliability.”
The aircraft is an outgrowth of LIFT’s HEXA, which was originally designed and operated as a piloted 14 CFR Part 103 (a set of Federal Aviation Regulations governing ultralight vehicles) “Ultralight” compliant aircraft.
HEXA Cargo takes features from that aircraft and modifies them. The goal is to allow for remotely piloted cargo transportation, particularly medicine and medical supplies that will be critically essential when responding to life-threatening situations, whether they arise from extreme weather conditions, remote or difficult terrain, ground transportation traffic snarls, or other problems that make access impossible for traditional emergency vehicles.
For Adam, who hails from California and knows full well the devastation wrought by wildfires that have long engulfed the state, this humanitarian aspect of the GoAERO mission “is so important to me, personally. The wildfires are only getting worse. The costs to human life, to people’s livelihoods, and to properties are only becoming more pronounced. So, we need a more effective and efficient answer. The GoAERO challenge allows us to expand the capabilities of our aircraft while also utilizing our technology to serve a noble cause.”
The team’s “answer” is already bearing fruit. It is one of 11 that have been named winners of Stage 1 in the competition.
The monetary prize that comes with this recognition will help “jumpstart our development to turn HEXA Cargo into an aircraft perfectly suited for emergency response,” Adam declares, adding that this means “developing new features for the platform, including autonomous functionality such as object avoidance and safe landing zone identification, as well as redesigns intended to decrease system deployment time.”
For the team’s student members, the Stage 1 prize offers an added benefit. “At TAR, we build autonomous vehicles for many different applications,” says Arjun Bhatia, a 20-year-old Sugar Land, TX native, UT-Austin junior majoring in aerospace engineering, and a vice president of the organization, for which he specializes hardware, frame design, and avionics. “This is a great way to apply the skills we are learning there and in class to have an impact on real-world issues.”
Fellow team member Shivansh Madan, also a UT-Austin junior and TAR vice president who hails from Ridgewood, NJ, agrees. He also says that extreme weather and other emergency situations present tremendous challenges, and “each requires an effective response. The algorithms, the engineering software and hardware need to adapt for that specific response. TAR provides a great foundation to develop the necessary skills while showing that autonomous drones like the one we’re building can be used for good.”
Ethan Chua, a 23-year-old sophomore from Singapore, where he served in the military, echoes these sentiments. He notes that ever since he was a kid and “saw the ‘Iron Man’ movie, I wanted to be an engineer.” He focused on aerial robotics because “it is interesting and challenging. With this (GoAERO), it’s even more challenging because of all the logistics that come into play with emergency response. Now I get to use all the skills I’ve been learning in school and apply them to something I really care about.”
Just as Ethan cites “Iron Man” as inspiration for his decision to pursue aerospace engineering, each team member has been influenced by prominent individuals both in “reel life” (films) and in real life. Shivansh says his favorite STEM-related movie is “Imitation Game” because it brought great and renewed public awareness and attention to Alan Turing, the British mathematician and codebreaker considered the foremost pioneer in the fields of computer science and AI but whose legacy was overshadowed by his personal life.
Arjun says his parents, both of whom are engineers, “drove my curiosity” and his dad’s love for both the original “Star Trek” TV show and “Star Wars” films were a big influence as well. But he adds that entrepreneurial drone manufacturing companies like LIFT and Zipline also “inspire me.”
The team members draw additional encouragement and motivation from the GoAERO webinars hosted by the leading experts in their respective aerospace and aviation fields. “We’re all inspired by people who have worked their whole life to develop cutting-edge technologies,” Adam says.
He hopes HEXA Cargo will live up to their example as the team strives to fulfill the challenges of GoAERO. With a proven track record of hundreds of flight hours and an operational payload of up to 400 lbs., “we believe HEXA Cargo will be able to redefine the emergency response sector. HEXA has already given hundreds of people the opportunity to experience flight, and now we hope to utilize our experiences to save lives.”