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Flight Summary
Integrate sensors through software into droneCode flight parameters to enable reproduceable flightDraft COA for Altitude Specs of 700’ over Lake MichiganKeep track of hours spent on honors related projectsMin 9 hrs/week with 3 Credit hrsCreate Project Poster
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2025 Summary
End of Semester Review
FAA - Jason
After the submission of our team's operational altitude wavier, Jason from the FAA called and it was really educational. The phone call mainly comprised of him wondering why there were so many waivers being submitted for pretty much the same airspace. I communicated that it was a course curriculum assignment that got all of the UAS Purdue students familiar with the entire process of submitting waivers to the FAA. I also explained the desired intent behind these waivers in training with a fixed wing aircraft flying around 200ft AGL practicing patterns. The additional height is to give trainees a cushion of airspace when practicing with the fixed wing drone. He kind of chuckled and then proceeded by stating that they can’t just give blanket air space away like that. One thing that he suggested was that our organization, through Purdue, submits and obtains the wavier, and then the pilots in the program are able to fly under it. The wavier can consist of multiple locations and the responsible party would be Purdue so the students wouldn’t be liable for the potential of a collision. Jason also explained the process, of which they have to go through, to approve a wavier and that it wasn’t just “hitting a red button”. The process consisted of having Flight Standards working with Air Traffic Control Association and then potentially change certain flight patterns with ATCs closely involved. He mainly brought this up because he wanted to emphasize that the more waivers that are going through the system tend to bog it down for everyone else.
Before hanging up he really pushed for the potential of coming in and teaching some of the process and helping us get one submitted at Purdue next semester. I sent along his information to Prof. Rose, and this Q/A session is now scheduled for next semester and I’m excited to learn more of what I might be missing in my waivers! Some other things that Jason also mentioned was that of the five waivers that have already been submitted that mine was the only one that was pushed forward for approval because of how well written it was. All the other ones were sent back with RFI (Request for more information), and they will take longer to get through the system. The last question that Jason answered for me, regarding operational waivers like this, was does the Responsible Party listed required to be present during every operation conducted under the wavier? He explained no, because the pilots under that wavier are able to operate under it and the “Responsible Party” is just there to hold the responsibility for if anything happens and doesn’t need to be present.
Waivers
Compiled a total of two waivers this year with only one so far being submitted to the FAA. The one submitted was worked on with my team in AT 209 for the Believers. This was to fly at 650ft AGL at the ASREC property and that’s also when Jason from the FAA called. The other one for this project is to fly at 3000ft AGL on the shore of Lake Michigan to collect Ozone gas samples. Currently trying to figure out the plan for submission in having their team be the “responsible party”, but other than that it should be accepted. Having it at 3000ft AGL, and flights allowed during all parts of the day will allow for a broader study band of the Ozone. In addition to this, by extending the flight window to the end of 2028, this will lead to better test results and also more opportunities to fly depending on weather and infrequent TFRs.
Writing Code
Writing code in Linux was something new that I’ve never had experience in before, so it was a lot of fun overcoming. I worked on programming a Debian (a version of Linux) onto a BeagleBone Black to get the board ready for future programming for ozone gas scanning instrument from NOAA. Lots of challenging moments, but I did see lots of growth as I began to understand the coding language, and it was also really helpful to have an instructional guide to help me through the process. I’m excited to continue implementing coding more into my future projects to further research potentials and to understand more of how the industry operates. One of the most memorable moments when utilizing this the software was when an E325: ATTENTION error popped up and figuring out what it was and how to fix it, by myself, was super encouraging. Mainly that even though you might not understand something, with enough time and effort you can overcome it.
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