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