A/Upakandee
R26 quad tilt-rotor VTOL UAV designed by Autsadawut Upakandee

■ B.Eng. Aerospace · KMUTNB · class of 2027

Autsadawut Upakandee

I design UAVs, build them with my hands, and make them fly.

Email me Resume PDF See the work ↓
40KB-5E UAVs integrated for the Royal Thai Air Force at TAI
1STAAVC 2026, national autonomous UAV challenge, as team technician
73parts in my R26 SolidWorks assembly, clash-checked
2.04Mwingspan VTOL, taken from first sizing to CNC-ready parts

01  Senior project · 2026 – now

R26 Quad Tilt-Rotor VTOL

It takes off and lands like a drone, then tilts all four rotors level to cruise on the wing like an airplane. Design is closed and the team is building it now.

■ Scroll to take it apart

  1. The airframe2.04 m span, high wing, Y-tail. A blended wing-body skinned over a slotted plate skeleton.
  2. Taken apartWing-body, booms, four tilt pods, tail and gear. The full SolidWorks assembly has 73 parts.
  3. Tilt to hoverAll four pods rotate 90°, so the same rotors lift it vertically and push it in cruise.
  4. CheckedInterference-checked in SolidWorks: zero clashes above 1 mm³ at rev v84.
SolidWorks model of the R26
Blueprint line drawing of the R26 from below Render of the R26 from below BLUEPRINTRENDER ◀ DRAG ▶
Underside view, rev v84. Span over winglets, mm. Drag to compare.
My part
Sizing and weight budget, the structure, and the complete SolidWorks assembly
Config
Quad tilt-rotor VTOL, high wing, Y-tail
Mass
6.63 kg take-off, on a 6S 17 Ah battery
Bench test
2.43 kg thrust per rotor measured at 77 % throttle
Structure
2 mm foam core with carbon faces, cut as plates that slot together
Checks
73 parts, zero clashes above 1 mm³ at rev v84
Tools
OpenVSP, XFLR5, Python, SolidWorks
Open the full 3D assembly, wiring and layup ↗
Scene from the R26 build film showing wing ribs

The R26 build film

3D animated · about 13 min · Thai narration · assembly, wiring, pre-flight, mission, stowage

▶ Play film
3D assemblyStep-by-step build, exploded view and folding sequence Part detailsEvery part and how it fits WiringPower and signal routing through the airframe LayupFoam and carbon structure, plate by plate

Inside the airframe

Equipment layout inside the fuselage
Equipment layout inside the fuselage (earlier revision)
SolidWorks model with parts in colour
SolidWorks model, parts in colour (earlier revision)
  1. Size itConstraint diagram to pick the design point, then a weight budget for every part.
  2. Shape itAirfoil, tail and control surfaces sized around that point.
  3. Structure itCarbon-faced foam plates that lock into each other, so the airframe lines itself up.
  4. Assemble & checkFull SolidWorks assembly, interference-checked, exported for CNC.

From concept to R26

Early concept in OpenVSP
Concept, OpenVSP
Second iteration
Iteration
Blended body iteration
Blended body
R23 in SolidWorks
R23, SolidWorks
Final R26
R26, final

Engineering behind it

Constraint diagram used to choose the design point
Constraint diagram (earlier revision)
Static thrust bench test charts
Static thrust bench runs (early test)
Mass budget by subsystem
Mass budget (earlier revision)
Layout and centre of gravity charts
Layout and CG study (earlier revision)
Fuselage cross-sections compared between revisions
Fuselage sections, R22 vs R23

02  Award · Aug 2026 · IAAI, KMITL

Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Challenge 2026

The winning team on stage with the AAVC 2026 trophy
My role · team technician

I soldered and wired the drone's electrical system, and fixed problems on the spot when things broke during the competition.

AAVC is Thailand's inter-university UAV competition, run by the Consortium of Aerospace Engineering since 1997. Our team took first place.

2026 mission · no pilot input

  1. Carry a raw egg into the search area
  2. Find the right pad by its marker, using the camera
  3. Land and release the egg without breaking it
  4. Take off again and fly home

03  Internship · Apr – May 2026 · Thai Aviation Industries

UAV Integration Engineer, Intern

On the production team that delivered 40 KB-5E UAVs to the Royal Thai Air Force. My work on each aircraft:

Airframe Power Avionics Controls Handover
  1. AirframeHardware fastened to spec, propellers fitted
  2. PowerESC power wiring and connectors soldered
  3. AvionicsInstalled and wired, routed to a clean layout
  4. ControlsServo movement and direction checked
  5. HandoverPitot covers made, aircraft ready for delivery
PHOTOS WITHHELD

Defence programme, so the drawing above is a simplified schematic of the layout: flying wing, motor at the rear. Also at TAI: Diamond DA42 familiarisation, aircraft towing and engine ground runs.

04  Personal startup project · Oct 2026 – now

VerseStarTrack

A 6DOF head tracker for flight simulators. Turn your head and the cockpit view follows: an ESP32 IMU on the headset is fused with webcam face tracking, so the view stays fast and does not drift.

F-16 cockpit from one of my DCS World flights Try it: move or drag here
HEAD 0°VIEW 0°

A small head turn becomes a big view turn. This demo pans a still from my flight; the clip on the left shows the real tracker.

  • Started with market research: webcam-only trackers lag about 50–80 ms behind your head. Fusing an IMU closes that gap.
  • Built the hardware, the tracking software in Python and a Windows desktop app, then tested it in the DCS World flight simulator.
  • Designed a 3D-printed sensor pod that clips onto a headset.
  • ESP32-S3
  • IMU sensor fusion
  • Python
  • Computer vision
  • 3D printing
Sensor pod render
Sensor pod
Exploded view of the pod
Exploded
Pod on a headset
On headset

05  Personal projects · 2026

Drones, control & tools

Building now

KESTREL-4 autonomous quadcopter

My own ArduPilot quadcopter on a ducted, 3D-printed frame I designed. Goal: GPS position hold and autonomous waypoint flight, as a test bed for flight control.

  • ArduPilot
  • H743 flight controller
  • GPS
  • 3D printing
KESTREL-4 frame with prop guards KESTREL-4 frame plan drawing
Flight control

ESP32 quad PID tuning

Tuned the attitude PID loops of an ESP32 quadcopter running a custom flight controller, then read the flight log: target against actual for roll, pitch and altitude.

Flight log chart of target and actual roll, pitch and altitude
Team course project

Maximum-range glider

Hand or catapult launched, 1.49 m span and under 400 g. Slim, high-aspect wing, with aerodynamics compared across OpenVSP, AVL and XFLR5.

3D render of the gliderTop view of the glider
CAD automation

Wing rib generator

A SolidWorks add-in I am building: OpenVSP wing in, ribs with spar slots and lightening holes out, as DXF for laser cutting.

Electronics

Sim control box

Built a button-box controller for flight simulators with Arduino.

Since 2023

Aeroptix Club

Design, build and fly drones and gliders with the club team, using OpenVSP, SolidWorks and XFLR5.

Side builds

Tools for flying

A live F10-style DCS map on iPad, a drift-fix app for my X52 Pro HOTAS, and 19 camo liveries printed for a Flite Test Spitfire.

Outreach

University Open House

Explain aircraft controls and aerodynamics to visitors in a flight simulator with head tracking.

06  Toolbox

Systems I work with

Design & CAD

  • SolidWorks
  • OpenVSP
  • Composite structures
  • Technical drawing

Analysis

  • ANSYS, Abaqus FEA
  • XFLR5 / Flow5
  • MATLAB / Simulink
  • Python

Build & test

  • UAV assembly
  • Avionics integration
  • Soldering, wiring
  • 3D printing, CNC
  • Flight testing

Flight control

  • PID tuning
  • ArduPilot
  • ESP32 / Arduino
  • Aircraft dynamics