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NIST OTL Flight Testing - Lab 2 & 3
Lab 2
Weather: 69 degrees, 10 gusting to 15 knot winds
Airspace: located in Class D airspace, and was flown within a FRIA
location: Purdue Turfgrass Research and Diagnostic Center
Drone info: DJI Mavic 2 Pro
Team: Ryan Shurtleff, Hongsik Kim, Erik Krellner, Trigg Strawhorn
What is NIST OTL Flight Testing?
The NIST Open Test Lane was designed to measure and test the performance of a drone and its pilot. This test is built to be simple to make, is cost-effective, and adaptable to a variety of applications. This test is built specifically to test abilities and functions like reliability, navigation, and precision. OTL is important because it provides a standard benchmark for what a drone and its pilot should be able to fly at.
How it was set up
On a wooden platform, five buckets were screwed together like in the picture below. There were three total “stations,” each placed ten feet apart from eachother in a line, and at the end, the launchpad. Inside each bucket were concentric circles to grade and guide the accuracy of photos being taken.
How the buckets were set up and aligned
How the interior of the buckets was made to grade performance and accuracy
How the lab was performed:
To complete this, the pilot had to listen to what the proctor instructed the PIC to go and take a picture of each bucket, and, in what order. Once the proctor had called the bucket's name and number, it was up to the PIC on how to gain the image, whether it was using the gimbal or moving the drone itself. In total, you had to maneuver to thirty-seven bucket positions, and you needed to land three times in total.
Performance
While acting as PIC, I got a time of seven minutes and three seconds, and a score of 40/40
Weather: 80 degrees, 5 knot wind
Airspace: located in Class D airspace, and was flown within a FRIA
location: Purdue Turfgrass Research and Diagnostic Center
Drone info: Skydio 2+
Team: Ryan Shurtleff, Hongsik Kim, Erik Krellner, Trigg Strawhorn
How does this lab differ from the previous one?
While the lab setup and purpose are pretty much the same, the challenge comes from different reasons. First, this lab is supposed to simulate a BVLOS (Beyond visual line of sight), where the biggest change comes from not being able to look at the drone. The only way that you can communicate with the drone is through the controller, the camera on the drone, and your visual observer. You aren't allowed to look at the drone in any way. Compared to the previous lab, it was almost opposites, where we were really only allowed to look at the drone and a minimal amount at the controller. Besides that fact, everything else in this lab was the same as before.
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