Tern Evtol

Solar Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Ultralight Aircraft for Overlanding Adventures

2023 Capstone Project

Go Anywhere | No Obstacles | Any Terrain

Travel Indefinitely

Weekend Trips or Cross country Expeditions , this solar powered aircraft gives adventurers the ability to generate their own power for complete self reliance and indefinite travel.

Fly | Camp | Solar-Charge | Repeat

Research

User Identity

They enjoy camping, backpacking, world travel, modding and Self reliance. They care about environmental stewardship

Eager to develop adventure skills such as:

navigation
survival
electrical mechanical
operations
piloting
emergency and problem solving

Process Work

Initial Ideation

I'v had many ideas for VTOL aircraft configurations over the years. Many things informed this evolving project from my industrial design education to my pilot training. Through conversations with my flight instructor, and a better understanding of aviation my ideas became more realistic

Summer 2022 EVTOL Design Competition

An especially grounding experience was the EVTOL design competition I won in 2022, where I optimized existing technologies to calculate an efficient and convenient design with good range and met ultralight legal requirements. This design competition formed the foundation for the aircraft that became my capstone project.

User Experience Storyboard

identifying vehicle requirements through envisioning circumstances.

Tent Ideation

Brainstorming on how the interior transforms from a flying space to a sleeping space

Weight And Balance

The lifting forces must all be equal so when added together they are focused on the center of gravity. otherwise one propeller or wing would be doing more work than the others- decreasing efficiency. I determined to place the passenger seat over the C of G as well so that the craft is always perfectly balanced regardless of load. It was a challenging to design a craft that would be theoretically stable in both horizontal and vertical flight.

Gravity Sketch VR Design Mockup

Interconnected system

A large part of this project was figuring out all the interrelated parts fit together. Batteries, Storage, Tent, landing gear, Bed, seats, Aerodynamic considerations, VR was really useful for bringing all these interrelated parts together into one whole.

Design Refinement

Aerodynamic Considerations

Interior Design

Interface and Controls

Determining the look and feel: I created an inspiration board of examples of flowing organic designs, drawing from these forms to bring the smooth exterior surfacing into the interior.

Seat Design

I began by generating ideas with AI, then picking the best features I began drawing a lightweight frame and mesh char. the initial angular form was rounded to better match the look and feel of the exterior.

Flight Mode

Camp Mode

Sleep Mode

Mixed Reality Prototyping Techniques - Half Scale Tent

Using the 3d model I created In Gravity Sketch VR, I was able to look through my headset to trace the geometry onto foam core and cloth. I cut out these shapes, stitched and glued them together to make a prototype to test the feasibility of the concentric folding pop up tent design. This proved to be a simple design that was easily collapsible, and could store in a tight location.

Form Development

Visual Language

The design language was unified by focusing on form and features of arctic creatures. the feet wings and beak of Arctic Terns and Puffins, and the forms and patterns of the Orca.