Week 9: Martell mission continues, α6000 mount breaks

 Field Report

Week 9: 10/19/20-10/25/20

Group 2: Jesse Giampaolo, Nick Dayton, Cole Bramel

Week 9 Overview

Two flights were successfully conducted over the course of week 9. On Tuesday 10/20, crew 3 flew a successful mission with Dr. Hupy during the regularly scheduled lab period. They reported via MS Teams that they forgot the iPad, but were able to make do. On Wednesday 10/21, crew 4 flew the second successful mission of the week. During one of their flights they reported via MS Teams that one of the hand screws holding the PPK onto the drone was lost. This was replaced by the following day with a normal screw for the time being. Crew 2 attempted a flight on Thursday 10/22 but had to return to the field due to a broken sensor mount. Due to the broken mount and inclement weather, crew 1 had to cancel their regularly scheduled Friday flight. 

 

This week crew 2 was hopeful to get back out to the field as the past two weeks our flights were cancelled due to inclement weather. Jesse reserved the department’s truck from 0930 to 1200 on Thursday, 10/22 to conduct a mission. Cole was unable to attend as he is quarantining due to exposure to someone with COVID-19, and was subsequently put on data processing duty. The weather was clear to fly on Thursday, however once Nick and Jesse arrived at Martell, it was discovered that the α6000’s mount was broken. This rendered the M600 unairworthy and the mission was cancelled. The issue was immediately reported to the class via MS Teams.

Week 9 Planned Flight: 10/22/2020

Crew 2 has had a regularly scheduled flight every Thursday from 0930-1200 for the past couple weeks. Establishing regular flights makes it easier to keep track of which days groups are flying. The class is still communicating via MS Teams and publishing intended flights at the beginning of each week. Jesse added the flight to the calendar a few weeks in advance and reminded the class of our flight on Monday night via MS Teams. 

On Wednesday, Jesse met with Scott, the building manager and the “keeper of the truck” (Figure 9.1), to discuss reservation procedures. Requests for use of the truck are to be made 24 hours in advance if possible and via email, phone call, or in person. Scott has the discretion to decline a request or take the truck back if he needs it. He will leave the keys in his office or another set can be checked out of the main office in Niswonger. Jesse was able to request it for Thursday 10/22 from 0930-1200.

Figure 9.1: The department’s truck at Martell Forest

The aviation weather reports looked promising Thursday morning. The METAR (Figure 9.2) referenced at 0935 indicated calm winds and mist at KLAF which is approximately 6 miles away from Martell. The TAF indicated similar conditions for the duration of our mission time. When we arrived at the field the conditions were partly cloudy and no mist was noted (Figure 9.3).

 

Figure 9.2: Latest METAR and TAF as of 0935 EDT 10/22/2020

 

Figure 9.3: Partly cloudy and no sign of precipitation at Martell

Once at the field, Nick and Jesse proceeded with the M600 checklist. After physically mounting the PPK, Nick was struggling to plug the battery in. We sent images to Cole as he has the most experience as the SO in the group. He said we were doing everything correct. We sent the following image (Figure 9.4) to the AT 409 class groupchat, and found that group 4 had a similar issue the day before. It turned out the wrong cable had been attached to the PPK battery. We removed this and replaced it with the correct cable. We stored the PPK this way for the next group.

Figure 9.4: Incorrect cable shown next to the PPK

 While reformatting the SD card in the α6000, Nick noticed that the mount for the camera felt loose. Upon further inspection it appeared that the 3D printed mount broke where a screw typically holds it in place (Figure 9.5). With this damage, the α6000 was positioned at an angle other than straight down and would have vibrated a considerable amount in flight. This would have most likely produced unusable data. It also would have endangered the α6000 if we were to have flown with this because there were only two remaining points of contact holding the camera on the M600 at that point. The issue was immediately reported to the class via MS Teams and Dr. Hupy instructed crew 2 to report back to the lab. An entirely new mount was later 3D printed and installed

Figure 9.5: α6000 mount broken where a screw typically attaches to the M600

Week 8: Martell mission, M600 down for maintenance

Field Report

Week 8: 10/12/20-10/18/20

Group 2: Jesse Giampaolo, Nick Dayton, Cole Bramel

Context 

AT 40900 is the first part of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Capstone for seniors enrolled in the UAS program at Purdue University. As a class, we are currently tracking the foliage as it changes color and eventually drops at Martell Forest from the end of September through late October or early November. This data will hopefully help Aish (Forestry PhD student) and Dr. Hupy (AT 409 professor) achieve species and genotype level identification of the trees at Martell. Zach and Will (UAS grad students) are also helping with this project to show that such identification can be accomplished with UAS collected data. 

To achieve the data collection this semester, the At 409 class has been broken down into groups consisting of three students each and as a class are collaborating to collect data from a minimum of three missions per week. For this research, the more missions the better the data set will be (ideally). A mission consists of two successful flights over the two different plots of interest (NW & NE) at Martell using a DJI Matrice 600 equipped with a Zenmuse XT2 and a Sony α6000 (Figure 8.1). The North-West plot consists of naturally occurring oak and other trees. The North-East plot consists of 10-12 year old precision planted red oak trees which have been professionally maintained.

Figure 8.1: DJI Matrice 600 equipped w/ Zenmuse XT2 & Sony Alpha 6000

Week 8 Overview

This week was expected to be a typical data collection week. As a class we planned four missions in the event that one was cancelled due to weather. As the week progressed, however, high winds and light rain prevented multiple outings to be postponed or cancelled. There were only two successful flights conducted over week 8: one on Tuesday () by crew 3 and the other on Friday (10/16) by crew 1. We had planned to fly Thursday (10/15) morning from 0930-1200. This was postponed and eventually rescheduled to Sunday (10/18) due to high winds. The rescheduled flight on Sunday had to be cancelled altogether due to projected high winds for the duration of the day. In the meantime, Jesse was able to gain access to the department’s truck for future missions.

 Week 8 Planned Flight: 10/15/2020

Last week we, crew 2, established that we will be regularly flying on Thursdays from 0930-1200 (weather permitting) for the remainder of the data collection period for this study. The scheduled flights have been on the outlook calendar since then. Jesse posted a reminder via MS Teams on Wednesday night of this week before we attempted to fly on Thursday morning. This post also asked for clarification on issues encountered during the Tuesday morning flight conducted by crew 3.

Crew 3 reported via MS Teams on Tuesday after their flight that they had encountered some issues with the M600. The SD card for the Sony Alpha 6000 was missing. This was later found in the case. It had just fallen below some lens wipes. They also reported that the batteries in the M600 reached low enough voltages during flight that it engaged in the return to home sequence. This disrupted their flight and prematurely ended the mission over the NE plot of Martell. The data they collected ended up being okay due to the amount of overlap with the NW plot flight. The more concerning issue reported was a loose propeller. This was found to be a common issue among M600s when the prop bolts are over-torqued. The screws can strip and even fall out during flight (Figure 8.2). New bolts were ordered and according to Kaleb, the M600 was repaired and test flown sometime before Wednesday evening. 

Figure 8.2: Damage resulting from an over-torqued prop bolt on an M600
Source: https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=139731 

On Thursday morning at approximately 0845, Kaleb informed us that the M600 was ready to fly, but we would need Dr. Hupy’s approval that it was ready to return to service. We agreed to stand by until 1015 at which we would postpone the flight to 1600 later that day if we had not gotten the okay to fly the M600. At 0938, Dr. Hupy gave us the go-ahead, but there were on and off showers in the area and they were not predicted to leave until after 1200. See Figure 3 for the satellite radar at the time. We included this solely for illustration purposes. We consulted the METAR and TAF first as these are the approved sources for aviation weather. We decided to postpone our flight until 1600 later that day. 

Week 7: Martell Mission - new method of communication

 Field Report

Week 7: 10/8/2020

Group 2: Jesse Giampaolo, Nick Dayton, Cole Bramel

Background 

As part of the senior year coursework for the Unmanned Aerial Systems program at Purdue University, our group is currently enrolled in part 1 of a capstone course. Students are working toward earning hours across multiple UAS platforms while collecting data for ongoing research projects at the university. The current research project of interest involves tracking the foliage at Martell Forest as it changes from the end of September through late October or early November. Groups are working together to collect data from a minimum of 3 missions per week. A mission consists of two flights over the two different plots of interest (NW & NE) at Martell using a DJI Matrice 600.

Week 7 Flight Cancellation: 10/8/2020

This week, our team was scheduled to fly on Thursday at 0930. Using the M600, we were to map both the NE and NW plots, and return the vehicle to the lab by 1200. This week was a transition period as we moved away from communicating flight plans via Brightspace, and moved towards MS Teams for the most up to date flight information. We posted this information on MS Teams and the Office 365 calendar designated for communicating with other groups (Figure 7.1).

Figure 7.1: Office 365 calendar displaying flight planned for 10/8/20

Jesse arrived at the lab at 0845 to check the battery status, however, the lab was locked, and Dr. Hupy, William Weldon, Kaleb, and Dr. Lercel were not in the Niswonger building at the time. According to Kaleb, usual dispatch hours of the lab are between 0800-1700. We assumed the lab would be open by this hour, but it was later clarified that these hours are not guaranteed, just a generalization based on when the previously mentioned people are in the office and/or missions are expected to be taking place. Upon sending some emails, it was clarified that Scott (office next to Dr. Lercel’s) also has access to the lab and could provide access in a pinch in the future.

While waiting for word on when the lab would be opened, it was also discovered that Group 4 was planning on conducting a mission at Martell between 1200-1400. Two missions conducted on the same day is not necessary for this research, and therefore, if both groups flew it would create redundant data. These back-to-back missions were planned due to a miscommunication resulting from switching from Brightspace to MS Teams. As stated prior, Group 2 posted our plans to MS Teams and logged it on the calendar. Group 4 posted their intentions on Brightspace. Both groups discussed this in the moment and agreed that it would be best for Group 4 to conduct the mission on 10/8, but moving forward Group 2 will plan to conduct a mission every Thursday from 0930-1200. Later in the week, it was clarified to the entire class that mission communication will take place via MS Teams and be scheduled on the Office 365 calendar moving forward.

 Future Communication

In the future, the class as a whole will communicate flight plans via MS Teams and record the specific times on the shared Office 365 calendar. Dr. Hupy has since used MS Teams to announce fight groundings due to inclement weather and communicate his own personal availability/conflicts. It has been noted that the lab can be accessed by the following personnel: Dr. Hupy, Dr. Lercel, William Weldon, Kaleb Gould, Scott (building manager).

Week 6: Martell Forest mission, M600 competency check

Field Report

Week 6: 9/29/2020, 10/1/2020

Week 6 objectives:  

• Successfully demonstrate ability to fly M600 missions as a group
• Get cleared to fly the M600s over Martell Forest
• Conduct first independent scheduled flight over Martell Forest 

Martell Forest mission update (refer to previous reports for details):

It is week 6 of the semester and the foliage is starting to show clear signs of changing colors. Last week was the first week of data collection and from here until the leaves are dropped will be crucial to collecting this data regularly. If any period of time is missed it could leave gaps in the data and the team would have to wait until next year to observe the phenomena again.

 September 29th, 2020:

Groups 2 and 4 reported to Martell Forest at 0930 to demonstrate competency on the M600. Group 4 unpacked the M600 and flew the first mission over the NE plot. Group 2 then stepped in and conducted the second flight of the day over the NW plot. 

UAS platform: 

System: DJI Matrice 600

Sensors: Zenmuse XT2 (RGB & thermal)

   Sony α6000

Infinity focus

Aperture: F3.5

Shutter: 3200

Flight 1 - Martell NE

Group 4

Takeoff: 0950

Landing: 1011

Alt: 500 ft

        Weather: Partly sunny, sun low on horizon

Flight 2 - Martell NW

Group 2

Jesse - PIC

Nick - FO

Cole - SO

Takeoff: 1033

Landing: 1051

Alt: 500 ft

        Weather: Partly sunny, sun low on horizon.

October 1st, 2020:

Groups 2 and 4 reported to Martell Forest at 0930 to demonstrate competency on the M600. Group 4 unpacked the M600 and flew the first mission over the NE plot. Group 2 then stepped in and conducted the second flight of the day over the NW plot.  

 Thursday was the first day group 2 was able to checkout and report to Martell Forest independently. Jesse and Nick reported to the lab at 0930 to check out the M600. The iPad was left uncharged by the previous group which pushed back the takeoff time to 1140. This will be reported to the previous group for them to note for next time. Group 2 reported to Martell around 1100 to perform missions over both the NE and NW plots.

UAS platform: 

System: DJI Matrice 600

Sensors: Zenmuse XT2 (RGB & thermal)

   Sony α6000

Infinity focus

Aperture: F3.5

Shutter: 2500

Flight 1 - Martell NE

Group 2

Jesse - PIC

Nick - FO

Cole - SO

Takeoff: 1140

Landing: 1204

Alt: 500 ft

        Weather: Partly cloudy, no wind

Flight 2 - Martell NW

Group 2

Jesse - PIC

Nick - FO

Cole - SO

Takeoff: 1213

Landing: 1234

Alt: 500 ft

        Weather: Cloudy, no wind

Post flight, the M600 was returned by Nick (Figure 6.1) and Cole later offloaded and processed all flight data upon returning to the lab.

Figure 6.1: M600 returned to lab on 10/1/20