Wk5 Fall 2020

Note: The field reports moving forward are the same submissions in the class.

Introduction 

Throughout the week of September 21st to September 27th , Group 1 conducted two M600 flights, a Bramor flight, and aided in Weldon’s simulated search and rescue research. We have become quite efficient in M600 flights, to the point where the roles are interchangeable between members and data can be collected in a speedy, efficient manner. There are areas for improvement though both in terms of the number of flights we can conduct, using the Bramor in more flights, and following standard operating procedures. Moving forward, we have put together a set schedule for weekly flights so that future flights do not need to be put together last minute. Below are the two flight plans that will be continuously flown throughout the semester for consistency on the M600 Pro.

North West Flight Plan

North East Flight Plan

Tuesday Flight - M600 

On Tuesday September 22nd, Group 1 got together to gather data for Martell’s northwest plot pictured above. Before flying, our group met at the dispatch building to gather flight equipment and define roles for the flight. Kaleb was to act as PIC, Jeff acted as the SO, and John took on the responsibilities of FO. Once properly equipped for the day and with expectations set, the team headed for Martell. 

Upon arrival, the team dynamic shifted from jovial to task oriented, ensuring our movements were efficient and documented. At this point, each team member was in a role that they had previously worked, so the tasks and expectations were familiar. The team ran into one issue during the pre-flight inspection with the Sony A600 camera, that being one of the security screws has come undone and had fallen out. The inconsistency was found when formatting the camera since the entire camera had rotated about ten degrees from its intended position making it hard for the SO to view the digital display. We immediately brought the issue up to our superior who was out in the field with us. For redundancy sake we taped the camera to the mount. The rest of the preflight inspections and checklist items were completed with no issues and at a quicker pace than any previous flights. 

With preparations complete, John and Jeff shifted location to better act as visual observers and Kaleb began the mission at 09:56. The aircraft experienced no disruptions of any kind throughout the flight, though the team remained on high alert and were ready to announce any unusual behavior or surrounding traffic. At the mission’s end, Kaleb lowered the aircraft to the ground announcing the altitude in increments of 100 feet until touchdown. The aircraft touched down at 10:14 totaling a flight time of 18 minutes. We were asked by another team to not fully tear down the aircraft as they would be using the same platform for a nearby plot, Northeast pictured above, so we ended the PPK session to differentiate between the flights and removed the batteries.

After all flights for the day concluded, the team returned to home base and divided post mission tasks amongst members present. John charged any batteries used while Jeff learned how to properly store and post-process data using EZSurv.

Friday Flight - M600 Pro

On Friday September 25th , Group 1 met to collect data of the northwestern plot using the M600 and the Sony A6000 sensor. Once again, the roles were picked as follows: Kaleb Gould – PIC, Jeff Hines – SO, John Cox – FO. The team feels they excel best when the roles are distributed like this, however if the need arises all members feel confident enough with the M600 platform to take on the responsibilities of any role. The team met at 8:30 to prepare the platform and flight equipment then left for Martell forest at 9:00 once everything was stowed and loaded. 

The entire mission took a little more than an hour, starting with preflight operations. We have shifted from a primarily “read and do” method of completing preflight checklist items to a “do and read” style which significantly reduces the time between arrival and platform launch while maintaining the same level of standard. We encountered no problems throughout the preflight stage and transitioned into data collection. We originally ran into a brief problem upon takeoff where the mission failed to upload to the aircraft. The M600 was hovering 10 feet off the ground as the PIC attempted to quickly troubleshoot the problem. Eventually the PIC decided to land the aircraft temporarily since a quick fix could not be found. The problem was resolved quickly after landing by checking free fly mode. Once properly downloaded, the mission began at 09:52 and ended at 10:10, an 18-minute flight just like Tuesday. 

The mission commenced and ended with no abnormalities. Once everyone returned to home base, Kaleb and John began to prep for future flights by charging batteries that were used and returning equipment to its designated spaces. Jeff took the data from the sensors and PPK, transferred the data into the collective data dump, and processed the data using EZSurv. Once finished with the data, Jeff returned the SD cards to their proper housings and the team disbanded for the day. 

Saturday Simulated Search and Rescue Missions - Mavic 2 Pro 

On Saturday September 26th , the entirety of Group 1 met to aid in Weldon’s search and rescue research project. The full team consisted of Weldon, Kaleb, John, Jeff, Logan, and two students from AT 209. Kaleb and John were PIC and VO respectively while Jeff and Logan acted as data analysts, with Jeff specializing in Loc8 and Logan using a manual search method. The two AT 209 students acted as a recovery team.

Sunday Flight - Bramor 

On Sunday September 27th, Group 1 attempted to conduct a Bramor flight of northern Martell but ran into a series of issues. Zach Miller acted as the PIC, while Kaleb and John acted as an SO and FO, respectively. Jeff had an earlier engagement that interfered with the flight on Sunday, so he could not attend the flight that day. The flight ran into a series of issues including a late parachute deployment which lead to a botched landing and a sensor issue that prevented us from gathering flight data. The post flight inspection of the Bramor showed no structural damage with the only damage noted was a small puncture in the parachute. Below pictures the Bramor on its maintenance stand after the flight awaiting inspection.

C-Astral Bramor ppX