Wk1 Fall 2020

Note: The weekly updates for this semester will be field reports for what I and my group are doing in AT409 UAS Capstone. 

The first day of AT409, the UAS – BS capstone, began at the Purdue Wildlife Area. Per first day of class tradition, we met in a big spaced-out group and covered the syllabus & course expectations. This laid out the guidelines and we started on our way. I take an informal role as class leader this semester. My primary roll is to teach the flight operations and train people for the C-Astral Bramor ppX. 

Fallowing this meeting, I helped set up and launch the Bramor ppX for a demonstration flight for the class. The Bramor was set up in a traditional way with the cases protecting our operations area and launching into an open area. The class took notes on the operation and what they had seen and heard. They asked questions about the vehicle’s performance. After the launch, I repacked the catapult. Once this was done Zack, a graduate student in UAS, and I went into the field to act as visual observers (VO). The flight lasted for 30 minutes and cam back and landed as normal. The aircraft was recovered and packed away as normal to operations. 

One of the DJI M210 of the PU UAS Fleet

After this activity we launched the DJI Matrice 210 to show the dual controller operations. The dual controller allows one person to fly the aircraft and the other is in control of the cameras. I was PIC on this platform and had a simple rundown on the camera controls. Each student had the opportunity to operate the cameras. Once they felt comfortable, I had them use the Zenmuse XT2 thermal camera, one of 2 cameras at their disposal, to identify a field that had been burned. The area showed up very hot due to the exposed ground in the hot sun. After they had positively identified the area I had them direct me over the spot. This formally introduces the systems operator (SO) and PIC relationship. I was not surprised with the disorientation that most felt. Up until that flight the majority of us had only been pilots, never having to relate to or operate on the side of the SO. Finally, once I was centered in the middle of the burned the SO switched to the Zenmuse Z30. The Z30 is a special camera as it has an optical zoom. Traditionally a drone’s camera has a digital zoom that enlarges the pixel area. This will often lead to blurry and sometimes unrecognizable images. 

I felt that the flights were good introduction to the course and set us off in the right direction. I feel comfortable that my class mates will be able to learn the Bramor and be able to fly either PIC or SO on at least one mission this semester.