Wk10 Fall 2020

Filler photo of some of PUs' UAVs in storage. The Yellow aircraft in this 
picture is 11ft long and has a 9ft wingspan.

Introduction 

Week 10 was quite unusual for the entirety of our capstone class. The class had a suspected COVID-19 exposure that kept a large portion of us quarantined and unable to fly. Thankfully, the class has made it through this scare with no major health issues, however it did set our operations back roughly a week. Some flight crews were still able to get together and fly, but crew one has two members quarantined, meaning we could not get out and gather data for this week. While unfortunate, that does not mean we were not actively discussing and planning for future activities in the capstone. 

Crew 1 Looks Toward the Future of Purdue’s Unmanned Department 

Looking forward, we collectively want to continue our work with Purdue’s unmanned fleet, leading research efforts, assisting in interdisciplinary work, and restructuring how the Purdue unmanned fleet operates and is maintained. Each member of crew 1 seems to have found a specialty that they excel at: Kaleb exceling at flight and knowledge of each platform, John blossoming as the head unmanned mechanic, and Jeff leading data analysis and post processing. With these specialties in mind, the group has attempted to make UAS operations at Purdue more in line with the standards that are expected of manned aircraft. This includes clear and straightforward checklists, a compliance with standardized maintenance for all platforms in service, and creating step-by-step instructions for data handling and EZSurv operations. In these regards, we have put a great deal of work into the fleet and Purdue’s unmanned infrastructure. However, looking forward, these practices need to be replicable by students and faculty if these efforts are to remain fruitful. With that in mind, we want to place a higher emphasis on accessibility and clearly defining the standard operating procedures for each of the key operations that our team faces. 

Kaleb has been doing a fantastic job this semester, as he has been working closely with Dr. Hupy and William Weldon in improving upon the current checklists and defining standard procedures for field work. John is treading mostly uncharted territory in terms of creating a maintenance schedule. However, he has a plethora of experience working on manned aircraft through his study to become an A&P certified mechanic. His is actively recording all his modifications and inspections, as is standard in manned aviation, and wants to ensure these practices will continue once he leaves Purdue. Jeff has some experience instructing others on how to handle post-flight data, as he walked through the procedure with crews two and four, as well as instructed Logan on how to navigate and use EZSurv. Additionally, he has created a detailed SOP for operating within the DataDump folder. Moving forward, Jeff wants to revise his SOP and create a checklist that future students can use as well as refine the current SOP to include EZSurv operations and proper SD card management. Each member hopes to hone in on these aspects of UAS operation throughout the rest of 409 and possibly 419.