Conducting Operations with Multi-Rotor UAS

Introduction:

The day was Wednesday, September 23, 2015.  This field exercise was intended for us to learn how to use the flight plan software and conduct a mission.  Then we put the flight plan in the computer to watch the aircraft complete the flight plan.  We also learned a great deal of information on batteries and how and when to use them.  We did have some technical difficulty with the fixed wing so we only flew the Matrix.  Each group did the preflight checklist and checked the flight as it was in progress and gave information to the pilot. I will go through all these items I great detail in the Methods portion of this assignment. 

Study Area:

The Eau Claire Indoor Sports Center is located at 3456 Craig Rd, Eau Claire, WI 54701.  We performed the flight plan at this location in the northern part of the parking lot.  The weather this day was partly cloudy with many cumulostratus clouds present. 
79 degrees F
Wind SE 10mph
Humidity 51%
Dew Point 60 degrees F
Pressure 30.18

The forecast says it should rain in 99 minutes and it is presently 4:22 p.m.  The forecast also calls for thunderstorms ESE at 7 mph.  We decided at the last minute to try to make this work after the forecast changed from saying it would rain all day. 


Figure 1:  Indoor Sports Center located in Eau Claire, we used the open soccer fields to fly our missions.  The area highlighted in yellow is the area we used in our flight plan. 

Figure 2: Location of the Eau Claire Indoor Sports Center and the adjacent Soccer fields used for flight. 

 

Methods:

We divided into groups and using the Flight Plan software each group use the computer to do the preflight check list and checked all the information listed on the Excel sheet to make sure that the flight would be successful.  One person manned the computer which is the pac and the other ones took the Matrix to the take off area.  The person with the transmitter is called the pic. Then the whole entire checklist is read off and completed making sure that the plane is ready for take off with no problems with the aircraft.  Then right before flight you need to check the area for anything that may interfere with your flight, such as others flying, kites, people walking, playgrounds, any activity that may be bothered by the UAV or may disrupt the mission.  Once the area is clear and you are ready for take off, move away from the aircraft and start the mission.  The group then watches the screen on the Flight Plan software to make sure that the aircraft is flying correctly.  You need to keep communication with the pilot to let them know if there is any trouble or even if things are going smoothly.  When the aircraft is close to the end of the mission, the pilot is informed that it is coming home.  You then do the same type of check for surroundings before landing to make sure surrounding have not changed within the flight plan time.  Once the aircraft is landed, again check the plane for any damages or any lose parts.

Figure 3:  Students preparing the flight plan and doing the re-flight checklist.
 

Figure 4:  Michael Bomber tightening a few screws in the pre-flight to ensure the aircraft is ready for take off. 
 

 

Figure 5:  Dr. Hupy preparing the camera for the flight. 

 

The camera was directly hooked on the platform on the Matrix, it was attached by a customer platform.  The camera was set to take pics at a certain interval and then the aircraft has to be checked for stability that it is not too heavy in the front in order for it to take off properly. 

During the time when one group was doing their flight plan, Dr. Pierson gave us an informational talk about batteries.  He explained the differences in the batteries and how they are to be used and many problems that can occur.  First the battery will have a label on it such as 1s,  2s, 3s or 4s.  The batteries were are using are lithium polymer. A one cell battery (1s) has 3.7 volts.
How much energy they store is called miliamps (mAh) which indicates hours of use.  The C- rating is how much current is produced.  Charge rate- max current to charge it. You should never let your battery charge get too low, if you do you could ruin the battery.  Also always inspect your battery, if it has rips, tears or bulges don't use it, its not worth crashing. When needing to charge your battery it will take about 30-40 minutes and over an hour on bigger ones. Never put water on a lithium battery fire, always use sand.  This day we used a G5 battery for flight. 

Figure 6:  Dr. P showed us a large amount of batteries and explained the differences and how they are used.  He showed us how to check the batteries as well.  This image also has some different examples of propellers. 

Some other helpful information is dealing with the propellers.  The prop # needs to be facing out at all times.  Never use props that are damaged or cracked.  They are very inexpensive and not worth crashing over.  The higher the pitch number the more it goes and needs powerful engine and more battery to fly. 

Since we had some time left over, Doc P showed us the plane he made and went over some changes he made to it to make it fly better.

Figure 7:  Doc P explaining some of the aspects of the aircraft that we are building.

Figure 8:  Doc P and his finished plane that the class will also build. 

Figure 9:  Fixed wing that had trouble flying but still interesting to look at an examine. 

Discussion:

The outcome of this field day was a completed mission with the Fight Plan software.  We did not do as many flights as we intended as it was getting a bit rainy.  The methods did work in this instance.  We were not able to fly the fixed wing due to difficulties with it.  The Matrix did fly the pattern indicated and there were a few people that came in to the soccer fields for practice and we watched for them carefully.  This is another reason we did not conduct another mission.  During the landing there was a woman who almost started walking towards it. This is why you would want to conduct a mission that is not near so many people but this worked for our purposes. 

Conclusion:

This day we set out to learn how to do the preflight check list in a real situation.  We did succeed in our mission.  We learned that surroundings can change while in flight so always be aware of them.  We learned a lot about the batteries and how they work and what they work for.  The multi-rotor mission planning software was easy to use and the mission was complete and we had a safe landing.  This exercise showed us how to run a mission in a real life situation as opposed to only doing the checklist and not flying as in the previous exercise.  This is just one step in learning more about this technology and learning how to efficiently use it.