Figures and Images

(Figure 59: The finalized CRM Poster made for the poster symposium.)

(Figure 58: The map after uploading GCP's and customizing options, ready to process!)

(Figure 57: GCP and MTP Manager, where you upload your GCP as a text file.)

(Figure 56: The Pix4D application after narrowing down what photos need to be processed.)

(Figure 55: Images from the mission flown shown in folder.)

(Figure 54: CORS website needed for gathering files needed for data processing.)

(Figure 53: The home page for Pix4D)

(Field Notes 2: The notes taken before, during, and after the flight.) 

(Figure 48: Setting up the C-Astral for it's first flight.)

 (Figure 49: Checking the propeller and the free movement of the ailerons and flaps.)

 (Figure 51: The C-Astral in flight.)

 (Figure 52: The C-Astral Returning to home)

(Figure 50: C-Astral ready for take off.)

 (Figure 45: The per-planned mission flight we used for our mission.)

 (Figure 46: The checklist we used to pack our equipment.)

(Figure 47: Fresh parachute folding by Ian and Todd.)

(Figure 44: Completing checklists for the dry run on the C-Astral.)

 (Figure 43: Another dry run on the C-Astral)

(Figure 42: The gimbal being checked and secured on the M600.)

 (Figure 41: The M600, being checked for a final time to prepare for future flight.)

(Figure 40: The A8000 Payload)

(Figure 39: The A8000 Payload)

(Figure 38: The time it took for Run Through 2)

(Figure 37: The time it took for Run Through 1)

Pilot	Co-pilot	Equipment Member 1	Equipment Member 2	Time From Start to Launch	Needs Improvement
Run Through 1	Todd	Kyle	Evan	Ryan	56 Minutes 48 Seconds	Storage of Catapult, Camera Setup, Pitot Checks
Run Through 2	Evan	Thomas	Ryan	Todd	38 Minutes 2 Seconds	Checklist Order, GCS Checklist, Parachute Packing Installation

(Figure 36: Table for Run Through 1 and Run Through 2)

(Figure 24: The case for the C-Astral)

(Figure 25: The Wings of the C-Astral in their case)

(Figure 26: The launching mechanism it it's case)

(Figure 27: The team pulling out the catapult into an open area.)

(Figure 28: Professor Hupy and Ryan setting up the elastic bans making sure not to get any of the bans twisted. If twisted, the catapult could fail and damage the C-Astral.) 

(Figure 29: The safety pin and launching mechanism for the catapult. It is very important to double check the safety is armed and working properly  before trying to set up the C-Astral.) 

(Figure 30: The C-Astral with wings attached)

(Figure 31: Working on making sure the parachute is packed, and attached to the C-Astral.)

(Figure 32: The C-Astral mounted on the catapult.)

(Figure 33: The tablet we will be using to plan out flights with the C-Astral. On it you can see the interface of the mission planner we will be using.)

(Figure 34: Kyle explains some of the key elements on preflight work with the tablet.)

(Figure 35: The underbelly of the C-Astral where the payload is located.)

(Figure 23: Measure mobile app flight mode.)

(Figure 22: Measure mobile app flight planning)

(Figure 21: Measure mobile airspace map used for planning flights.)

(Figure 20: Measure mobile rules and advisories section)

(Figure 19: Drone Log Book mobile app home page option)

(Figure 18: Measure mobile app home page.)

Figure 17: The layout of the CRM in UAS Applications Poster.

Figure 16: Above is a Nexus that Drone Log Book as created about their application.

Figure 14: The home page of Measure. 

Figure 15: The home page of Drone Log Book. 

Above: (Figure 13) - Notes for a Crew Resource Management Poster made my Kyle and myself. 

Above: (Figure 12) - Notes from our dry run class activity. 

Above: (Figure 11) - Integration continued

Above: (Figure 10) - Our head payload integration guy, integrating the X5 on the M600. 

Above (Figure 9): M600 in its case.

Above: Figure 8 - Picture of me outside in my Ford in subfreezing temperatures. 

Above: Figure 7 - The first completed parachute packing done by Todd and Ian. 

Above: Figure 6 - Todd and Ian work on packing their first parachute. 

Above: Figure 5 - 5 letter identifiers created to help organize shape map.

Above: Figure 4 - Shape map of flight areas created by Kyle and Evan using Arcmap.

Above: Figure 3 - The meta data from we decided would best fit our flights for this project.

Below: The Coyote Crossing Golf Club is another location that we are thinking about for our capstone class. For this location to work Dylan McQueen would need be a liaison, already doing some work at this golf club. This location also has a different variety of landscape and offers a variety of projects that we could do for the class.  

Above: The amphitheater close up from the Tippecanoe County Amphitheater Park. 

Below: A possible location for our capstone class project next semester. The Tippecanoe County Amphitheater Park is a great location because it includes a variety of landscapes including, forests, fields, rivers, roads, and the amphitheater itself that allows us to be able to conduct different data collection and collect more data than other locations. 

Below: These four images were screenshots taken on my computer while working on learning about geospatial video. The program used for this lab was Video Geotagger. Below you can see the different phases of going through this software that are covering in more detail on my post about Geospatial Video. 

Project Timeline

Checkpoint	Timeline
Capstone Project Proposal	September 2018
Project Development	October 2019
Annotated Bibliography and Timeline	November 2018
Discussion with pilots on project team	December 2018
Strategy meeting with group	January 2018
Flight 1 unmanned aircraft	February 2018
Flight 2 manned aircraft	March 2018
Write up on project	March 2018

Below: Professor Hupy covering mission planning with a new pilot.

Above: Me calibrating the drone with pilot Krysta Roll's help. 

Above: A ground control point set out for our mission at Hupy's house. Careful notes were taken to make sure we kept track of the order the ground control points were placed. 

Above: The mission planning done at Professor Hupy's house (November 8th, 2018)

Below: Some GIS work done by Dr. Elizabeth LaRue that relates to projects were are doing in class!

Above: Professor Sorin shows us the Orbis project and what improvements GIS could make. 

Below: Dr. Picard shows some mistakes that were made in a GI project and what lessons we should learn from those mistakes.

Above: The DJI Drone used to conduct the mission flown on October 29th at McCormick Woods.

The Orange Unity Drone above, used to fly today's lab mission at McCormick Woods. For class our main job was communication in keeping this drone in visual line of sight which was done with the walkies-talkies in the picture below.

Above and below are maps made in QGIS, an open source program we learned about in a lab taught by Christina Hupy. They are false images maps that show the health of green life around the area. The pinkish red color actually shows that the plants in the picture were very healthy at the time. The above picture shows the QGIS program and some of the tools you can use within the program to create images like the one below.

  

Nexus of Relations

Current and Future UAS Industry Trends

Trends	Explanation
Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS)	Fixed wing aircraft flying along rail lines. ~5-hour missions
Rail inspection	Mapping yards and switches
Pipeline Inspection
Advanced Ground Control GPS Technology	New technology that allows for faster collection of Ground Control Tie-Ins. Aeropoints as an example
Autonomous Delivery	(Concept): Amazon delivering packages via UAS
Construction	Site scans, progress reports, overview images
High Resolution Remote Sensing
Airspace Integration	Flying in/near airports & Runway inspection
Swarm Technology	Multiple autonomous platforms working together to complete one goal.
Natural Resource Management	Resource inventory, change analysis, productivity and condition analysis.
Windmill Inspection	Reducing operation & maintenance costs
Manned-Unmanned Team (MUMT)	Drones and manned aircraft utilizing same airspace or target area to collective gather data or accomplish similar task.
Vegetation Mapping	Monitoring vegetation growth using hyperspectral NIR
Water column mapping	Using differences in reflected/refracted light received by a sensor to map vertical columns of water based on depth.
Hazard Risk Assessment (weather, geological, environmental, etc)	Fault line mapping, water drainage mapping, flood plain mapping, slope stability analysis, forest fire risk analysis
Real Estate Marketing	Arial images of various angles of the house/property, neighborhood images
All weather operations	Weatherized airframe
Site Surveying	Matching point clouds with CAD elevation maps
Energy	Used to assess pipelines and energy networks
Light Shows /leisure /recreation	Companies like Intel use drones for entertainment purposes
Accident Reconstruction	Post-crash scene scans, gather information to show police, juries, investigators, etc.
Search and Rescue	Emergency services searching vast areas for missing persons
RC Racing	Innovation through commercial application utilizing the entertainment markets.
Firefighting	Assistance in finding safe routes of use.  Thermal imaging and analysis.
Police	Documenting crime scenes, surveying disaster sites, accident & traffic management
Emergency (medical)	Delivery of medical supplies (Zipline company)
Cinematography	Take a video of it
Agriculture	Can collect crop count and assess crop quality
Surveillance	Can be used to monitor any high security area
Deep learning flight controls and data processing	Unsupervised data management and classification.
Full Motion Video	Video Taken in MISB format. Video has bounding Geospatial coordinates
Geospatial Video	Video connected to UAS log file so it has coordinates
Policy and Regulation	More structure to UAS Commercial Remote Pilot License Categories. Also relates to certification of different classes of aircraft.
Increasing Markets and Applications of Tethered UAS platforms	Tethered power supply UAS platforms have the potential to serve for long term surveillance and other services where
More efficient Solar Panel Arrays	Increased flight times can come from axillary solar panels that provide trickle charge to the electric power source to the UAS

UAS Critical Skills and Knowledge

Skillset/Knowledge	UAS Course Applied to:
Project Management	AT 203
Geospatial Knowledge	AT 319 AT 309
Cartographic Knowledge	NA
Post-Processing of UAS data	AT 319 (Small component)
Integration with GIS and RS software	NA
Quick-thinking/adaptability	Throughout curriculum
Regulation Knowledge	AT 144 AT 286
Repair and Maintenance	AT 219
Flight Proficiency	AT 219 AT 309
Sensor Integration/Familiarity	AT 309
Remote Sensing	AT 319
Quality control of data	NA
Data management/Computer Science	NA
Integration with manned aircraft	AT 286
Potential/Future Applications	AT 409
Technical Writing	AT 409, ENG 420
Programming	NA
Management	Entrepreneurship Certificate
Marketing
Graphic Communication
Ethics	AT 309 AT 319
Soldering	AT 219 AT 309 AT 319
Systems Engineering	Lightly throughout curriculum
Electronics design

UAS Technician Key Duties

Mission Planning	Description
Airworthiness Inspection	Ensuring aircraft is in a safe condition to fly and in compliance to manufactures guidelines.
Airframe integrity inspection	Checking critical parts of the aircraft for structural integrity. Search for deficiencies that may limit flight characteristics
Find the highest object in flight path	For collision avoidance, ensures that your flight altitude will not hit any obstacles
Gather weather data	Weather must be within the aircraft’s and your personal limitations
Airspace analysis	Must get permission in certain airspace
Data capture and quality considerations	Must know how to read sensors and calibrate equipment correctly to get accurate readings.
Sensor selection	Choosing the correct sensor for the mission at hand
Geospatial Duties
Plan out missions using various forms of geospatial data
Understanding capabilities and limits of Sensors and UAS platforms
Being able to apply the right sensor and platform to the job
Being able to properly gather Ground Control Points with survey grade GPS
UAS Maintenance
Ensure proper record keeping	Proper record keeping of replaced and repaired parts. Proper record keeping of flight time and incidents.
Standardization of maintenance techniques (like AC 43.13)
Maintain Scheduled Maintenance Plan/Logs
Software Troubleshooting
Regular inspection of flight critical parts
Knowledge of UAS maintenance software and applications
Maintaining Field Kit
Flight Operations
Maintain Safe Conduct Throughout Flight
Crew Management
Preflight Operations
Post-flight checklists
Proper Debriefing
What belongs in a UAS field kit
Repair techniques and procedures
Data Capture Considerations
Communication
Customer interaction
Marketing /Networking
Non-crew teamwork
Crew Resource Management