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NIST OTL Flight
Metadata:
Weather: Drones: DJI Mavic 2 Pro (B) and Skydio 2+ (B)
Clear skies
VLOS Flight: 3 mph winds gusting to 6mph
BVLOS Flight: 5 mph winds gusting to 10mph
Airspace: Team Members: Hunter Hall, Aidan Tottori
Lab Description:
Within the NIST Lab, the goal is to test the PIC’s accuracy and flight control. This is done through a series of movements and positions, all while being timed.
Setup:
Landing pad and 3 bucket apparatuses, all of which are 10 feet apart in a line. (See image below) The bucket should all be aligned and facing the same direction in order for the test to work. The PIC stands 10 feet away from the landing pad (also aligned with everything).
For the BVLOS setup, everything is the same but the PIC faces away from the setup.
VLOS Setup
BVLOS Setup
Procedure:
There are 3 sections to this test. The first one is a simple position test. The PIC will align the drone with specified buckets (See image below), and capture images of the target within the buckets. The next section is a traverse test - flying leftward. Here the PIC with arc around the buckets, capturing images of the targets. Once this route is complete, they will do the same process again, but rightward. Points are rewarded based on photo accuracy, as well as landing accuracy.
VLOS Test
BVLOS Test
Photo results:
Scoring:
After reviewing the images I captured, as well as the landings I completed, my score was a 40/40 for the VLOS section as well as the BVLOS section.
My final time for the VLOS section was 8:22. My final time for the BVLOS section was 7:13. I had a maximum time limit of 10 minutes.
Thoughts:
Overall I enjoyed this test and I did not think it was difficult. I have experience flying drones and I believe anyone with several hours would be able to complete this test. However, if you are new to flying, this test would be more difficult and I could see someone failing.
I believe that the next time I did this test I could improve on my accuracy with my images, as well as improving on my time. I was the first member to go in our group, so I kind of got thrown into it blind. I now know the process of the test, leading me to do better the next time I do the NIST OTL Flight test.
As for the BVLOS test, here I had to turn around and rely only on the system interface to align the drone. My time actually improved here, (partially because I knew how the test worked now) but for this flight we used the Skydio 2+. This drone is more difficult to align for this test because it has an input delay from the controller. Overall, I would say the BVLOS wasn’t much more difficult than the VLOS flight.
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