UCI Design Build Vertical Flight (DBVF) is a student-led engineering team that specializes in autonomous eVTOL aircrafts.
Each year, we design, manufacture, and test to compete in the Vertical Flight Society DBVF competition in Maryland during April.
For the 2026-2027 VFS competition, DBVF is focused on designing, manufacturing, and testing eVTOL aircrafts for a simulated rescue hiker mission with three objectives.
MISSION I: Fly through narrow terrain under vertical takeoff and landing control to establish search operations.
MISSION II: Precision drop emergency supplies from a 30 ft altitude onto designated landing zones.
MISSION III: Pick up payload from the field and race against the clock to complete the rescue mission.
Our sub-teams are structured by the following:
Aerodynamics: Focuses on fluid mechanics and vertical lift efficiency. They perform CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations, design the rotor/propeller geometry and wing airfoils, and analyze hover-to-forward flight dynamics to maximize lift and minimize drag.
Airframe: Responsible for the physical structural integrity and manufacturing of the aircraft. They handle CAD modeling, stress/FEA analysis, structural weight optimization, and hands-on composite manufacturing (carbon fiber, 3D printing) to ensure the plane is lightweight yet durable.
Hardware: Manages the physical assembly, power distribution, and mechanical integration. They handle motor sizing, electronic speed controllers (ESCs), high-voltage battery selection, wiring harnesses, and custom physical mounts for rotors and actuators.
Embedded: Bridges the gap between hardware and software. They program microcontrollers, manage sensor integration (IMUs, GPS, airspeed sensors), establish low-level communication protocols (CAN, I2C, SPI), and design custom PCBs for signal processing and power management.
Software: Develops high-level flight software, autonomous navigation, and control algorithms. They program autonomous mission logic, tune PID control loops for stable hover and transition flight, process telemetry data, and run software-in-the-loop (SITL) flight simulations.
