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End of Semester Review

Coming into AT 209, I expected a course focusing on the way UAS systems work and how they’re built/developed. I was not disappointed. The depth that we went into on each system that makes up a drone was enough that it made a fantastic intro to working on the engineering/maintenance side of UAS instead of just the flight side. Starting off, I thought that we would do a little bit of flying, as we did, since the weather at the beginning of the semester was nice. I also thought that we would be focusing extensively on each part of a UAS on the technical side. Such as how all the flight systems and wiring work and covering batteries and motors again. My expectations were met and exceeded during the semester. I was more then happy to go to lab each week as I knew we would be working on technical skills that I will inevitably have to use later on in the degree and my career. Even if my desired career path does not directly line up with UAS operations on the civilian side, I can still use what I have learned for my own recreational purposes and any internship I strive for.

After the initial flight labs of seeing how large organizations might use standardized testing for their operators as Part 108 rolls out, the rest of the semester was spent on making and developing the components for the Believer. Starting with the soldering lab, knowing how to properly solder components together is a necessary skill to have. Working with small electronics that all UAS systems use is inevitable and relying on someone else to get done what you should be able to do is not efficient and slows down all progress. Additionally, soldering is necessary for the Believer build for certain components. Next was the believer familiarization. This is lab I believe was a must because in order to properly assemble a working and safe drone to use to develop out skills for the time we are flying the Windracers Ultra, is a basic skill for anyone in UAS to have. Without it you are basically useless. Then there is the DATX setup. WE had to flash it with the hardware we are using on the Believers and update the switch configuration on the controller itself to mimic the Ultra controllers. This was my introduction to flashing hardware and is an essential skill. It also introduced doing some modifications which I am sure will be very common continuing through the program and my career. Afterwards, there was the Believer Comms and Firmware, which consisted of flashing and setting up the Flight controller. This lab was very similar to the DATX setup lab and went about in the same way. Next was Installing Believer Avionics. This consisted of ensuring the airspeed sensor, GPS, RFD900x modems, and flight controller all worked together and were detected by Ground Control so that we can ensure we are getting accurate reading and that each component was working before relying on them next semester during flights. Then there was the Parameters and Build Guide. In this we updated the parameters that dictate every component of flight for the Believer, ensuring that the flight is actually safe and feasible reducing the chance of flyaways, loss of control, and AI flight capabilities. The next lab was the Motors and Controls. The main goal of this one was to make sure the DATX connected to each component and that the motors functioned properly when activated by the DATX. A wiring diagram was also required to be made so that when we eventually started assembling the Believer, we had a diagram to work off of. The last lab was actually assembling the Believer. My group has only gotten part of the way through and we still have to install the motor mounts, and all the avionics before we are finished. We have everything else glued together and test fitted the wings to make sure the carbon fiber spars fit snugly and we able to be put together easily.

Starting from a “blank slate”, I have learned a lot. Almost all of the labs were new information on how to work with each system and how some of them worked. I think that if I did have some background knowledge some of them would’ve definitely gone faster (some labs we were there for an hour and a half after the lab section ended finishing a lab). If we had preconfigured systems to base it all off of then there would be no experience gained. If we had a situation where there were no preconfigured means available we would be lost. Now, we can use them as a nice shortcut and can rely on the knowledge gained as a surefire way of getting something done if we are skeptical of the authenticity of a system. This showed me how UAS engineering workflows relies on working on each system by hand. There may be faster ways of completing a task, however, they may not be accurate and the potential of loss when you can work a little bit harder for the confirmed safety of an operation is more important.

Some of the skills I developed focused more on the flashing devices and assembling the avionics. I had never worked with any of it and being able to understand what each component does in the system, how they interact, and the importance of each is monumental. Having a group member that already has done most of this extensively helped astronomically as he was able to help out the rest of us that were unsure of what to do and explain a few topics clearer that were misunderstood. I leaned about the importance of software versions also. When we flashed the flight controller with an older version of the parameters it offset what version the Ultra up in Jasper County is on so we had to undo what we had done in the previous lab and had to update the firmware to the newer version.

Nothing was exceptionally hard, just that some small things that were misunderstood lead to a long lab section that could’ve been avoided. The challenge that ended up being the most educational was figuring out what was going wrong when I couldn’t update the flight controller with the new version of the parameters. This was because I was trying to flash the controller that had Windracers content on it with another system that physically could not see the controller because the Windracers information was on it. After that, everything else clicked and the rest of the lab went on without an issue.

I am most proud of learning and understanding how each system works on an electrical side. Before this, I had some knowledge and could understand a bit but got confused at some instances where it wasn’t quite clear. This is paramount in me being confident with my skills as a student in UAS and making me even more interested in the degree I was already invested in in the first place. I helped solve the issue my group had with some of the questions and work associated with the labs. While some of my group mates worked on the actual content of the lab including working through flashing the devices, I worked on the questions to help with understanding the labs. I think this helped me contribute better as a group mate and significantly lessened the load on some of the others..

This course had greatly increased my confidence with UAS hardware. Before, I had little to no idea what to do or where to even begin. Now, I am confident I could even do most of the labs myself without my group mates and do a decent job. I am really looking forward to flying the believers and seeing our effort put into fruition. The feeling of accomplishment that will come from it will be fantastic. I believe this semester really set in stone for me the fact that I want to continue with UAS. At first, I was entirely unsure because I had never really done anything with drones outside of recreationally flying and taking photos/videos. I had never done electrical work with them/assembling. I have found a passion that I am very excited for continuing by taking this course.

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