Case Study: Maharashtra Institute of Technology achieves 32% UAV weight reduction and parts consolidation with Altair’s Inspire topology-optimization solution

Maharashtra Institute of Technology - Customer Case Study

Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Pune challenged a team of undergraduate students to design, fabricate and test a quad-rotor UAV that used topology optimization to decrease weight and increase structural strength. To meet this goal they turned to Altair’s solidThinking Inspire software to drive optimization iterations and produce designs suited for additive manufacturing.

Using Altair’s Inspire, the team generated two lightweight monocoque airframes (and a space‑frame benchmark), refined geometry with PolyNURBS and had parts 3D printed for testing. Altair’s workflow cut design time, reduced the number of parts from six to one, delivered stable flight performance even after crash tests, and produced an average weight reduction of ~32% versus the base model (examples: Monocoque multi‑phase 494 g, −35%; Monocoque minimalistic 546 g, −29.5%; Space‑frame 690 g, −22%).

Maharashtra Institute of Technology

Chaitanya Kachare

Associate Professor, Transportation Design