Design course students create aircraft prototypes for combat and prevention of violence

It is not news to Brazilians that public security currently faces a problem at a national level, a fact that is also reflected within university campuses. In this context, the main victims are women.
According to a survey carried out in 2015 by the Avon Institute, with 1,823 students from the five regions of the country, 67% of women have already suffered some type of violence in the university environment.
Motivated by the need to propose ideas for combating and preventing violence at universities, students on the Bachelor's degree in Design at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) developed an aircraft prototype project to accompany women who circulate on the university campus.
The idea is that the person downloads an application and when they feel the need to use the aircraft, activate it. "The drone would come to her location and accompany her on her journey. The idea is that there would also be a control center monitoring these images", explains Gabriela Flor, a Design student.
The name of the project is Aedes, an acronym for Social Defense Aircraft. The project was developed over a semester by 36 students from the Product Design V course, whose theme is Aerospace Design. Divided into teams, they developed 10 aircraft prototypes.
Among the prototypes developed, one of them is the Manta Ray aircraft, designed by students Gabriela Flor, Larissa Alves, Luísa Castim and Marina Amaral. According to them, the concern was to develop an aircraft that can operate without human supervision and that has anti-collision sensors and identification lighting, so that the student who requested it can easily recognize its presence.
To compose the prototype design, they are based on the anatomy of stingrays, following the concept of Biomimetics, an area of ​​science that studies biological structures to assist in the conception of engineering and design projects.
"The final part of the design had a cyberpunk concept to deviate from the norm, to attract more attention and to scare. This is combined with the idea of ​​Aedes, which is to protect students and scare the harasser or thief. The prototype also uses red lamps, and this can intimidate the aggressor around them", describes Mariana Amaral, a student on the Design course.
The Challenge
For many students in the discipline, participating in the project provided their first contact with aerospace technology. "Many people don't associate the Design course with an aircraft prototype. The interesting thing about this subject is to show that design is a project, and that we will contribute with more technological developments and issues to be applied in society", highlights Marina.
For professor Dino Lincoln Figueirôa, who is heading the project, even with the little time the students had to familiarize themselves with the area and develop prototypes, the results were satisfactory.
"What I find most interesting is that, as a public institution, students are designing things that bring some return to society. What they did in practically three months is something exceptional. Eventually, as a project like this unfolds, very interesting things can come out", celebrates the professor.
Awards
The Social Defense Aircraft (Aedes) project was awarded at the VIII Barreira do Inferno Research and Innovation Forum, which took place from October 15th to 19th, as the best aerospace innovation work.
The Manta Ray prototype was selected to be presented at the 13th Design Research and Development Congress, the most relevant event in the area in the country, which takes place from November 5th to 8th, in the city of Curitiba. social. This year, the goal is to train 10 young people, including university and high school students.