When its original landing gear design proved difficult to manufacture, University of Leicester AeroLabs changed course. Using the Carvera Air, the student team learned the software, redesigned the component and manufactured it in around four hours. The machine also helped them make foam winglets and carbon fibre spars for their competition aircraft.
“It genuinely saved our aircraft production.”
— An AeroLabs Team Member
Bringing Aircraft Manufacturing into the Student Workshop
For AeroLabs, developing an unmanned aircraft brings several engineering disciplines into one shared project. Based in the University of Leicester’s School of Engineering and supported by its Racing Garage platform, the team connects work in aerodynamics, structures, electronics, software and manufacturing.
Its aircraft was developed for the IMechE UAS Challenge, an international university engineering competition. For its second year of participation, AeroLabs was working on a second-generation UAV for an agricultural water-delivery task, with autonomous capabilities as a project objective.
Turning that design into a physical aircraft meant students had to work through the details of making and assembling its parts. When AeroLabs approached Makera, it had access to laser-cutting tools but no CNC milling equipment of its own. The team wanted to manufacture more components itself and give students practical machining experience.
Makera supported the project with a Carvera Air and accompanying equipment, including a dust collector. Once the machine was set up for university use, it became part of the team’s aircraft manufacturing work.
When the Original Landing Gear Design Could Not Be Made
The rear landing gear presented a specific problem. AeroLabs had planned to bend a single piece of aluminium into two legs, but the material it had already purchased proved too brittle for the intended bending method. Continuing with the original design was no longer practical.
An AeroLabs team member recalled the moment:
“The Carvera Air was a lifesaver. We had been experiencing difficulties manufacturing the aluminium landing gear, as the material we had chosen was not compatible with our original manufacturing method.”
The students needed a design that worked with the material they had. They replaced the bent, one-piece layout with two straight aluminium legs and a 3D-printed bracket. The bracket provided the required angle between the legs, so the metal no longer needed to be bent to create the assembly’s shape.
Combining CNC Machining and 3D Printing
The revised assembly gave each manufacturing process a clear job. The Carvera Air machined the aluminium sections, which the team then bonded into the printed bracket. CNC machining produced the metal parts, while 3D printing supplied the connecting geometry.
Adarsh Joju Maliakal, AeroLabs Projects Lead, explained:
“The original design used a single piece of aluminium bent to form the two rear landing gear legs. When this bending method did not work as intended, the design was changed to use two straight aluminium legs with a 3D-printed bracket providing the required angle between them.”
Having the machine available let students carry that revision through to manufacture themselves. According to the team member who described the process, the work moved quickly:
“We got to grips with the software, redesigned the component, and manufactured it all within about a four-hour period.”
That four-hour period covered learning the software, redesigning the component and manufacturing it. The experience gave students a direct connection between a material limitation, a design decision and the parts they could actually make.
From Aluminium Landing Gear to Foam and Carbon Fibre
The landing gear was one application of the Carvera Air within the project. AeroLabs also used the machine for parts in other materials, extending its use across several areas of the aircraft.
“We were able to cut our landing gear from 7000-series aluminium, make foam winglets, and cut out carbon spars.”
The supplied photos show foam winglet machining and finished winglet components. For the students, this was another opportunity to take a designed aircraft part into the workshop and work through its manufacture.
The team also cut carbon fibre spars on the Carvera Air. These parts sit deeper within the aircraft’s wing and fuselage connection areas, where they are less visible in a photograph of the complete aircraft. The machining footage documents that part of the manufacturing process.
Hands-On Manufacturing, Practical Engineering Lessons
The CNC-made parts were installed on the finished aircraft and used during the competition. AeroLabs was unable to complete a flight, so the team could not assess their performance in the air. It did, however, report that the CNC-machined landing gear components performed well during ground handling and testing.
For the students, the project also created a practical learning experience: choosing a manufacturing approach, finding its limitations, revising the structure and making the replacement components. Their assessment of that experience was direct:
“Getting hands-on with it has made us better engineers.”
With the machine now set up, AeroLabs hopes to build on that experience in future seasons. The rear landing gear provides a concrete example of what access to desktop CNC machining made possible: students could respond to a manufacturing problem by changing the design and producing the new parts in their own workshop.
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