UAS I: Introduction to UAS

Introduction

Prior to this lab the exposure to 1st hand UAS experience for many of the students in the Field Methods class was minimal. To further our understanding, earlier in the semester we had solved various geospatial problems using the various types of UASs, which was accompanied with the necessary research to better understand the components of a UAS and their capabilities. Given this research we learned much of the background knowledge the understand the operation of a UAS. With that in mind, this lab was intended to continue that learning and see first hand, just what we had been reading about and start our understanding into some of the equipment that can be used to collected data with a UAS. For our purposes we chose to collect aerial imagery.

Devices

Y6

Figure 1 shows the Y6 Arducopter on the ground. Note the three armed design
with six rotary blades. From this angle the twin battery packs can be seen, rectangular
features outlined with red straps and connecting wires.

Figure 2 shows the romote control used for manual flight with the Y6 arducopter.
This is a standard $50 unit with modified switches to enhance the functionality
of the Y6.

Figure 3 shows the Y6 up close. Note the flight camera in the lower center
portion of the image, as well as the Canon PowerShot used to capture the
aerial images. The PowerShot is attached to small burshless motors which
can be remotely turned to capture different angles. With the current payload
this Y6 model will have somewhere around 20 minutes of flight time.

Hexacopter

Figure 4 shows another form of multicopter, this is a hexacopter. Note the
six arms, each with their own rotary blades. The more arms, the more stable flight.
This has a trade off with the quicker drain of batter, and with that decreased
flight time.

Kite

Figure 5 shows the kite in construction. It is nothing more than three poles.
Two poles act as the frame and are fed in through the wings, the final pole
connects the two wings and acts as the support keeping the kite open while
in flight.

Figure 6 shows the kite after the quick assembly was complete. A model like
this will cost somewhere in the $100 range.

Figure 7 shows the picavet rig attached to the kite string. The best
method for this is to get the kite in the air, maybe 20 meters of line out.
Then once the kite is stable, attach the picavet rig, having two people
makes the job much easier.

Figure 8 shows the kite in flight with
the attached picavet rig and camera
just below. This image has the kite
 at an altitude around 100 ft.

Rocket

Conclusion

Although this lab was only a window into the operation of a few UAS devices, I still thought it was an effective step into the future progression of learning UASs. We witnessed the take off and landing of the Y6, the construction and deployment of the kite with attatched picavet rig, as well what can go wrong if a rocket is not properly assembled. All jokes aside, I really enjoyed the lab and I'm excited to learn more about the actual surveying with the UASs. This is an area of great interest to me and I hope after this segment of UAS labs I have a better understanding in the world of unmanned aerial systems.