As the semester winds down, our class has been tasked with a group capstone project. Our class met two times to discuss our capstone project and our roles in it. We all first asked ourselves what we would be interested in for a capstone project. To begin, we all wanted defined roles that we each were specifically interested in. We went around to describe what each of us wanted to get from this project and what each of us were interested in. We described what was essential to a UAS operation that would gather data and eventually deliverable data. We knew that there was going to be managers that would oversee the whole operation and be able to communicate with Dr. Hupy about how the project is going. Next there was going to be people in charge of data, flights, writing, ground control, system integration, payload integration, operation management, and flight engineering. All of these tasks were pointed out as essential and that someone was going to be in charge of it fully. They would have it as a permanent job that would need to be carried out to ensure success. Within these jobs, I chose to take flight engineer. For my task, I will be in charge of ensuring all members are properly trained to operate the platforms along with the sensors aboard. This is crucial since Indiana weather is generally unpredictable and can leave the group members without flying for extended periods of time. Ensuring that each group that flies is properly trained on each platform will reduce any chance of mishaps.
Although each group member has permanent roles, everyone has rotating roles that will ensure everyone gets to participate in the projects many jobs. These will mostly be assistant jobs, meaning that you will help someone with their permanent role. This will allow everyone to get a feel of how the other jobs are done. Our group will also be broken up into teams, or flight crews. They will be permanent and will be chosen depending on everyone's schedule for the next semester.
