Project Dolphin
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr. Johann Dorfling, Dr. Richard Mangum
Format Preference
Poster
Abstract
Project DOLPHIN is designing, fabricating, and testing an eVTOL aircraft to participate in the Design Build Vertical Fly (DBVF) competition in Maryland on April 7 – 10, 2026. The competition context is autonomous wildfire fighting. The aircraft will complete one ground mission and then three flight missions consecutively within a 10-minute flight window. The team is required to fly a 500 foot flight path and drop payloads from the aircraft onto simulated fires. Sandbags filled with at least 0.5 lb. of sand represent the payload and will be dropped from an altitude of 30 feet AGL.
The aircraft is a hexacopter with six motor and propellers and is constructed with carbon fiber booms sandwiched between two carbon fiber plates. The motors are attached to the boom by motor mounts and the ESCs are inside the motor mounts. The aircraft is 54.64 in. wide, 16.01 in. tall and supports our payload canister of 2.8 lb. The aircraft weighs 13.2 lb. on its own and can produce a maximum thrust of 39.68 lb. The propellers are 16 in. in diameter making the aircraft’s disc loading 1.91 psf and a thrust to weight ratio of roughly 2.5.
The aircraft retrieves and delivers payloads by using a winch system. Five payloads are bundled in the canister shown. The winch system is located between the landing gear of the aircraft and the cable from the winch has a wire that powers an electromagnet at the end of the cable allowing the aircraft to pick up and drop payloads during flight.
Project Dolphin
Project DOLPHIN is designing, fabricating, and testing an eVTOL aircraft to participate in the Design Build Vertical Fly (DBVF) competition in Maryland on April 7 – 10, 2026. The competition context is autonomous wildfire fighting. The aircraft will complete one ground mission and then three flight missions consecutively within a 10-minute flight window. The team is required to fly a 500 foot flight path and drop payloads from the aircraft onto simulated fires. Sandbags filled with at least 0.5 lb. of sand represent the payload and will be dropped from an altitude of 30 feet AGL.
The aircraft is a hexacopter with six motor and propellers and is constructed with carbon fiber booms sandwiched between two carbon fiber plates. The motors are attached to the boom by motor mounts and the ESCs are inside the motor mounts. The aircraft is 54.64 in. wide, 16.01 in. tall and supports our payload canister of 2.8 lb. The aircraft weighs 13.2 lb. on its own and can produce a maximum thrust of 39.68 lb. The propellers are 16 in. in diameter making the aircraft’s disc loading 1.91 psf and a thrust to weight ratio of roughly 2.5.
The aircraft retrieves and delivers payloads by using a winch system. Five payloads are bundled in the canister shown. The winch system is located between the landing gear of the aircraft and the cable from the winch has a wire that powers an electromagnet at the end of the cable allowing the aircraft to pick up and drop payloads during flight.