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NIST OTL Test (Skydio)
NIST OTL Flight Lab
Weather:
Date & Time: 1854 UTC (1:54 EST) 11 Thu Sep 2025
Temperature: 26.6°C (80°F)
Dewpoint: 13.3°C (56°F) (RH = 42%)
Pressure (altimeter): 30.17 inHg (1010.2 hPa) (sea level pressure 1010 hPa)
Winds: from the SW (260°) at 4 kt (2.1 m/s, 4.6 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: Skydio 2+
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 BVLOS instead of the previous lab, which was 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 Skydio 2+ 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 hot with little wind, which was not ideal since the Skydio’s have bad overheating issues.
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. We had to switch batteries a couple of times, and when landing the Skydio, it had to recalibrate and save photos each time it landed. It was messing up our timing a bit, so we decided to pause the timer to allow the drone time to get situated before starting the test again.
Eli setting up the Skydio 2+
Skydio 2+ conducting BVLOS
During my flight, Everything was going smoothly and I was making good time. I think it helped to do the test beforehand because I knew all the commands and knew exactly what was happening next which helped me to get a better time. It was annoying landing the Skydio because it took 2 minutes just to get ready to fly again. One part of the test that was difficult was trying not to get disoriented when flying BVLOS. It was quite easy to forget where you are in space when you can’t just look up and confirm. Having a VO to assist with positioning was helpful.
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 passed with a time of 8:43 and got a perfect score on my test, making sure that I took pictures of all the buckets.
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