AT 409: Field Report Week 11
Aaron Varnau, Treston Russell, Tristan Bungen
Mission Statement:
Crew 3 will use our knowledge, attention to detail, and teamwork to successfully complete this mission to the best of our abilities.
Mission Purpose:
The purpose of our weekly flights is to monitor and record the changes that happen to the trees in the Northwest and Northeast plots at Martell. This research is being done to assist the Purdue Agricultural department and their research. This research is also being done to show the usefulness of the UAS department and give the department a strong reputation for great research. Other research is being conducted to help a graduate student William Weldon with his research thesis on finding missing persons.
Mission Location Summary:
Martell Forest was acquired to provide research and outdoor lab teaching opportunities close to the West Lafayette campus. It is named for Dr. Eldred R. “Shorty” Martell, who was head of Purdue's Department of Forestry and Conservation, now known as the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, from 1940 to 1957. It was originally called Shidler Forest after the family the land was acquired from. Throughout its history, the forest has been central to the education of hundreds of natural resource professionals as well as a center for diverse research activities.
Martell Forest is the site of the John S. Wright Forestry Center, a research, teaching and conference facility located at 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana.
Acquisition date: 1958 (additional tracts acquired up to 2008)
Total acres: 477
70% forested
21% plantations
12 acres of prairie
2.4 acres of open water
2.6 miles of stream
4.5 miles of road
Credited Source: https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/Pages/propmartell.aspx
Martell Plot Maps:
NE Martell Plot
NW Martell Plot
11/3 Zoom Call Summary:
On Tuesday we had a zoom call with Jesse the Cofounder of Measure. He discussed with us what went into making this application that we use for every flight. We then told him any problems we had with the app and any questions we had for him as well. Jesse insisted that we report every crash and problem with the app so they can further perfect the application. Professor Hupy then went into how Measure can relate to his geospatial background and how the two can possibly collaborate on some projects here at Purdue. Jessie gave us valuable information and it was a great experience for us as a class to get to talk to someone who is at the forefront of the UAS industry. Opportunities to talk to people in the industry are always a great opportunity for us to get more knowledge of the interworking of our possible future careers.
11/3 In Class Summary:
For the class discussion after the zoom call, we talked about the necessary maintenance needed for the Bramor made by the manufacturer: C-Astral Aerospace. The problem that arose with the Bramor was that the voltage regulator, connected to the parachute deploying servo, did not stop a voltage surge to the servo until the maximum voltage had already been reached, and blew a hole in the side of the servo. This voltage surge fried all the inner components of the servo rendering it ruined. The class teaching assistants explained this problem and that they took a servo out from another Bramor setup on display, but the servo spun in a different direction than the original. After learning this C-Astral was contacted and sent a new servo for the grounded UAV. The fact that both servos spun in opposite directions highlighted C-Astral’s poor customer service, especially after the arguing back and forth the TAs explained has been happening with the customer service. They explained how C-Astral’s maintenance checklist doesn’t make any sense but C-Astral refuses to agree, and blames the problems happening on the people working on the platform. The new servo that was bought and sent to Purdue turned out to not be able to fit in the appropriate slot. The brackets that hold the servo down are a whole width of the bracket lower, causing the servo to stick out farther than required. After talking to C-Astral again, it was finally resolved to force the servo into the port. We are meeting up Tuesday to test fly the Bramor since it has maintenance performed on it.
11/6 Flight Report:
This flight was perhaps our most successful yet. With the combination of new batteries for the M600 and our experience with the platform and Measure, we were able to fly both plots in record time with no issues at all. These new batteries allowed us to fly the entire northeast plot without stressing out about the M600 hitting its safety failsafes and returning early, giving us strong overlap with the northwest plot.
Tristan was unable to go with us due to a possible covid infection, but we were alright because Zach came with us to fly a burn site after our mission. He helped us set up the M600 just so we could be moving quickly, but did not do anything more than Tristan normally would so as to keep the learning experience typical. He also moved the data off the PPK and XT2 since he was at Martell with the equipment after we were finished flying.
We did notice that the trees were missing significant amounts of leaves, signalling that our time doing weekly flight missions was coming to an end soon, and stressing the importance of the success of this flight more than ever. It was unusually warm for the time of year (high 70s) and this may tempt the trees to keep their leaves a bit longer, but we aren’t banking on it. Now that most of the leaves are gone, we are getting lots of ground cover in our imaging, allowing the tie points to be more confident. A healthy canopy of leaves can make matching images together difficult but being able to see the ground means images are easier to locate.
Another note was the calm air. Our crew has gotten fairly used to a slight breeze at minimum, and high winds cancelling flights entirely at maximum, so getting the chance to fly in still air with new batteries was not taken for granted.
Meta Data:
General
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Location: Martell Forest
Date: 11/06/20
Vehicle: M600
Sensor: XT2, Zenmuse, A6000
Approval: NA
Flight Information
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Flight Number/Plot: 1 / NE Plot
Battery: Orange
Takeoff Time: 12:50 PM
Landing Time: 1:15 PM
Altitude (m): 152m
Sensor Angle: NADIR
Overlap: 75%
Sidelap: 75%
Loss of RC: RTH
Shutter Speed: 1/2500
Aperture: F3.5
Iso Setting: Auto
Dial Setting: Shutter Priority
Lens Setting: Infinity Focus, F-3.5
Notes:
Flight Number/Plot: 2 / NW Plot
Battery: Yellow
Takeoff Time: 1:26 PM
Landing Time: 1:46 PM
Altitude (m): 152m
Sensor Angle: NADIR
Overlap: 75%
Sidelap: 75%
Loss of RC: RTH
Shutter Speed: 1/2500
Aperture: F3.5
Iso Setting: Auto
Dial Setting: Shutter Priority
Lens Setting: Infinity Focus, F-3.5
Notes: We had problems connecting with the Pink batteries.
Weather: Overcast, Cloudy, Calm, Good Lighting
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Coordinate System: NAD83 (2011) / UTM Zone 16N
Metar:
KLAF 201454Z 04008KT 10SM OVC070 09/06 A3025 RMK A02 SLP 244 T00890056 50011
Temp: 62 degrees
Humidity: 80%
Precipitation: 15%
Clouds: Yes, Scattered
Wind: 4 mph
Crew
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PIC: Aaron Varnau
VO: Treston Russell
Submitter: Tristan Bungen
Aircraft Sightings:
N/A
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