08/29/2026
Earlier this month seniors Collin Faucheux, Andres Gonzalez, Logan Leger, Logan Livaudais, and Cameron Strother participated in the Heavy Lift Challenge hosted by DARPA at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Their goal was to design and build an aircraft as light as possible that can carry as much weight as possible all while traveling 4 nautical miles loaded and 1 nautical mile unloaded. Oh, and they had less than 6 months to do it all (flashback to the many nights this summer spent in the lab and machine shop).
Over 480 teams from academia, startups, small businesses, and independent inventors applied for the challenge, 132 teams were invited to compete, 62 teams cleared safety checks, and our team ranked 19th!! The challenge required teams to push their designs to the limits resulting in many crashes and impressively epic lithium-ion fires. Fortunately our team held up until near the end and were able to make it on the list of chasers at a 1.31:1 payload-to-weight ratio until resonant frequency got the best of the drone.
Extra special shout-out to Livaudais Electrical & Construction for sponsoring the project, Aeromodelers of Acadiana for providing a practice facility and support, and finally the Phoenix Drone and Xtreme Arial teams for all their help and advice at the competition!
