Jason Karlin

Projects · Aerospace

Aircraft design

Until I was four, I lived across the street from the planetarium in New York City, and my favorite pastime was wandering its halls. FIRST robotics in high school turned that wonder into engineering, and a love of math pulled me toward aircraft design and control.

VTOL package-delivery UAV

For my Major Qualifying Project at WPI (2019–2020), I was one of four engineers designing a vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft for package delivery. Working within constraints set by our professors, we competed against two other teams to maximize payload delivered, flight time, and the number of flight legs that could be automated. You can read the full project report.

Fixed-wing VTOL UAV prototype resting on grass
The completed VTOL prototype.

Wind-tunnel testing

After analyzing candidate airfoils, our team 3D printed the selected section and validated it in WPI's wind tunnel.

Team members running the wind tunnel control panel
Running the airfoil test in the wind tunnel.

Recovering static stability

Our 3D-printed structure came in heavier than predicted, which shifted the center of gravity and left the aircraft statically unstable. Working against a hard 3 kg weight limit, I proposed and analyzed the design changes that restored a positive stability margin.

Avionics and battery mounted to the fuselage, sitting on a digital scale
Weighing the integrated avionics and fuselage against the 3 kg limit.

Project Savegull In progress

Inspired by seagulls, Savegull is a long-range surveillance UAV designed to help ocean lifeguards patrol unguarded stretches of beach. After speaking with the Town of East Hampton's chief lifeguard and building a business case, I've been working through design decisions for the airfoil, the control system, and the camera payload.

Hand-drawn three-view sketch of the Savegull UAV
Early three-view concept sketch.

The business case

Rip currents are one of the biggest dangers on ocean beaches. A UAV patrolling the coast can spot swimmers in trouble in unguarded areas and buy rescuers valuable minutes to make a save.

Rip current safety sign: Break the Grip of the Rip
Rip-current safety signage of the kind posted on Long Island beaches.

Mass trade study

I varied the aircraft's mass to see how it shifts the airspeed for maximum lift-to-drag ratio and the thrust required to fly there. The curves were generated with my own Python design tool.

Plot of lift-to-drag ratio versus velocity for three aircraft masses
Lift-to-drag ratio vs. velocity.
Plot of thrust required versus velocity for three aircraft masses
Thrust required vs. velocity.

Jet aircraft trainer

A design project for a WPI aircraft design course. With a colleague, I ran a literature review and trade studies, assessed flight characteristics, and helped determine the trainer's static stability. Read our report.

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