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NIST Open Test Lane
Team Members – Maddie Baker, Mason Cramer, Ryan Pirro, and JP Salcik
Drone – E: FA33NEENNW
Weather – Sunny clear day, but windy. Gusting roughly 19 knots periodically.
Airspace – Performed at Purdue Turf Farm. We did not climb higher than about 20 feet, so we received an automatic LAANC authorization.
After heading out to the turf farm, we got three of the NIST OTL bucket setups and spaced them ten feet between each one. Along with where the drone would take off and the pilot would stand, following the ten-foot spacing. We then got the drone set up and decided who was going to do which role. Once the pilot, proctor, and visual observers were decided for the first test, we went through the testing sheet as a group to familiarize ourselves with what the mission would look like. After our setup and brief were complete, the procedure was relatively simple. We rotated through being the pilot to each complete the test with the proctor and visual observer roles occasionally changing.
We completed the Position and Traverse routes shown above. The flight was a series of simple maneuvers, including changing altitudes and doing partial orbits around the bucket setups, with the intention of capturing a photo of the rings inside the bucket. This required several gimbal adjustments throughout, while also keeping track of where the drone was positioned relative to the bucket being captured. Throughout the test, we were instructed to take off and land three times and had a time limit of 10 minutes.
Pictured above is the test sheet followed, as well as a closer look at the rubric portion.
Below is an example of a photo taken in flight and showing the setup we worked with.
I was able to complete the test within the time limits, but the most difficult part was the 90-degree orbits required in the second and third sections. I had the benefit of performing the test last in my lab group, which gave me an additional benefit of knowing what to expect from the winds, as well as having a better idea of my next step after each picture was captured. Although this test was fairly simple, lining up the drone and camera to capture the entire circle in the bucket was more challenging than I expected. Especially when trying to remain within the time limit.
At a later date:
We then completed this same flight with the Skydio S2 drone.
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