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AT 209 Autonomous Aircraft Technology and Maintenance
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NIST OTL Flight Lab
Weather:
1854 UTC (1:54 EST) 04 Thu Sep 2025
Temperature: 18.9°C (66°F)
Dewpoint: 5.6°C (42°F) (RH = 42%)
Pressure (altimeter): 29.83 inHg (1010.2 hPa) (sea level pressure 1010 hPa)
Winds: from the W (280°) at 8 kt (4.1 m/s, 9.2 mph) gusting to 16 (8.2 m/s, 18.4 mph)
Visibility: 10+ mi (16+ km)
METAR for: KLAF (Lafayette/Purdue Univ Arpt, IN, US)
LAANC/Airspace: Purdue Turf Farm, Class D airspace.
Team members: Diego Hernandez, Jacob Sieber, Nico Jaeckle, Nolan Lach, Eli Meadows.
Drone identification: DJI Mavic 2 Pro,
NIST OTL Test Procedures
Before I get into the test and its procedures, I’d like to give a brief overview of the test itself.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Intelligent Systems Division is developing standards and tools to measure how well robots can support emergency responders and the military in critical national security situations. This test is also used for training and measuring how proficient remote pilots are. There are 5 different versions of the test from NIST, but for our lab, we only focused on two of them: position and traverse. These tests were conducted with VLOS.
Before the flight, we had a lecture on the test, going over the expected procedures, and some readings to go along with it. When we made it to lab, we were expected to get into groups, check out a Mavic 2 Pro with a launch pad, put on a Hi-Vis vest, and make it to the Purdue Turf Farm. Once we arrived, our group submitted our LAANC and found a clear area away from other groups with enough space to conduct the test. We got 3 different buckets labeled 1-3 with letters denoting the sides. The conditions for the lab were less than favorable; the wind kept picking up, which wasn’t helping with the test.
The spacing was 10 feet apart, totaling about 30 feet of space used to conduct this test. Once we set everything up, Anestes gave us our test papers and gave us a simple walk-through of what the proctor should say and the expected answer for the subject. During the flight, we had 1 VO, a proctor telling us every command, and the PIC, who would repeat the commands and take pictures of the correct bucket. We were expected to take off and land 2 times. Sometimes when we were conducting the test, the battery would get low, and we would have to switch it when the person landed.
During my flight, I was doing well, calling out all my commands, and making sure I was aligned with all of the buckets. The wind was strong, but with the Mavic 2 Pro, it wasn’t too bad. Sometimes a big gust of wind would have the drone overcorrect a bit, and I could feel it whenever it pulled too far, but it was negligible during the test. The position part of the test wasn’t that bad. I came in for my first landing and botched it, which set me off course for the rest of the test. Next was the traverse left portion. I felt confident orbiting, and I had a fun time with it. My second landing wasn’t as bad, but I still didn’t land that great. Traverse right was last, and I still felt good about my flying. My third landing stuck, and the test concluded. I was a bit surprised when I heard 11:45 for my time, but as our group went through the test, I felt like the times went down exponentially, and by the end, our last group member got I think 8 minutes.
After the flight, we packed up all of our things and headed back to lab where we concluded our scores, returned all of our equipment, and shared any relevant data about the lab. I ended up failing because of time, but I feel like I learned a lot about the different types of remote testing that can be very easily replicated and fabricated. It also helped me get experience as a VO and trying to relay positions back to the PIC that made sense relevant to their position. I noticed very quickly that just saying “Left” doesn’t mean anything if you’re the PIC. Its important to view it from the pilots perspective and maybe even a step further, from the drones’ persepctive.
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