Question 16
During a flood event communities can find themselves isolated, without power and unable to access basic supplies and health care. The risk of further rainfall and submerged roads can hamper rescue efforts.
Explain how mechatronics engineers have used their expertise of control technology, materials science and mechanics to develop machines to benefit communities affected by flood events. Include the type of machine used and two benefits for the community.
Each domain of expertise gives the drone one thing it needs to reach a flooded town
The roads are under water, so the machine has to fly. Watch the drone get its frame, its shape and its controls, then watch what it does for the people on the roof.
Each domain gives one short example that the drone needs. The benefits are what the drone does for the people cut off by the water.
Build the answer one sentence at a time and watch the marks
Tap a sentence to add it to your answer, and tap it again to take it out. The marking guide ticks each dot point your answer earns. The 2026 syllabus allows up to 150 words per question, so the counter keeps you honest.
Nothing written yet. Start with the machine.
Work through the solution one mark at a time
Write your own sentence for each step before you reveal it. The steps follow the marking guide’s order, and the quoted wording is QCAA’s sample response.
Name the type of machine. Submerged roads rule out anything that needs a road, so a flying machine is the obvious choice.
“Mechatronics engineers have used machines such as drones to benefit communities affected by flood events.”
Machines may include: amphibious vehicles (search and rescue operations, surveillance, assess damage to underwater infrastructure, e.g. bridges, pipes), ground/surface vehicles (assess extent of flood damage, search for survivors, deliver supplies), flood gates, or other suitable response consistent with a reasonable understanding.
Marker: identifies the machine involved
Describe something the machine does for the people in the flood. The sample packs several survey tasks into one benefit.
“Drones can be quickly deployed to survey flood-affected areas too dangerous for humans to access, assess damage, identify risks, e.g. submerged roads or fallen powerlines, and identify people who need to be rescued.”
Marker: describes a valid benefit for the community
The second benefit answers a different problem from the scenario. People cut off from supplies need supplies.
“Drones can also be used to get supplies to people until they can be safely rescued.”
Marker: describes a second valid benefit for the community
Give one valid control example and what it does on this machine.
“Engineers have used their expertise with control technology to develop drones equipped with sensors, GPS and altitude controls that help to navigate and stabilise the drones during flight.”
Expertise in control technologies may include: cameras, remote controls including smartphones, wi-fi, micro-controllers, water level sensors, automated pumps, internet of things (IoT), or other suitable response consistent with a reasonable understanding.
Marker: discusses how the engineers have used their expertise, including … a valid example from control technology
One valid materials example. The sample credits materials science and mechanics in a single sentence, and its materials point is the weight:
“They have used their expertise with materials science and mechanics to reduce the weight of drones…”
Expertise in materials science may include: strength-to-weight ratio, durable, impact resistant, or other suitable response consistent with a reasonable understanding.
Write it as its own sentence. The marker has to find a materials example and a mechanics example, and two sentences make both easy to find.
Marker: discusses how the engineers have used their expertise, including … a valid example from materials science
One valid mechanics example, with what it achieves.
“…and make them more aerodynamic, so they are more energy efficient.”
Expertise in mechanics may include: energy efficiency, aerodynamics, motion, or other suitable response consistent with a reasonable understanding.
Mechatronics engineers have used machines such as drones to benefit communities affected by flood events. Drones can be quickly deployed to survey flood-affected areas too dangerous for humans to access, assess damage, identify risks, e.g. submerged roads or fallen powerlines, and identify people who need to be rescued. Drones can also be used to get supplies to people until they can be safely rescued.
Engineers have used their expertise with control technology to develop drones equipped with sensors, GPS and altitude controls that help to navigate and stabilise the drones during flight. They have used their expertise with materials science and mechanics to reduce the weight of drones and make them more aerodynamic, so they are more energy efficient.
Six marks in 119 words, comfortably inside the 2026 limit of 150.
Marker: discusses how the engineers have used their expertise, including … a valid example from mechanics
Each phrase of the question gave you something
The 2024 subject report says effective responses named a machine a mechatronics engineer would develop, described the materials science, mechanics and control technology behind that machine, and gave two benefits relevant to the problem. It praised the excerpt it chose, a drone answer, for reading the problems straight out of the written stimulus.
Nothing in the scenario tells you which machine to use. You have to read the problems out of the stimulus, choose a machine that answers them and connect three domains of expertise to it. The 2024 subject report placed this synthesis of how engineers benefit communities among the complex unfamiliar questions.
If I had to guess where you might lose marks, it would be writing one long paragraph about how good drones are and never giving a separate example for each domain. The guide asks only for “a valid example” from each, so the bar is low, but each example has to be there. The other trap is two benefits that are really one, such as finding stranded people and locating stranded people.
Only mark this done when you could do it without help. Reading the solution does not count.
Question wording, any figures and marking-guide steps are from the 2024 QCAA Engineering external assessment, © State of Queensland (QCAA) 2024, licensed under CC BY 4.0, and have been adapted, except where a third-party source is named. Tangent Tuition is not affiliated with the QCAA.
Spot a mistake on this page? Report it