Week 10

As the spring weather warms up we are going to start planning to go out to fly. Since the setup for the Bramor was so crucial we spent this week running more dry runs setting it up. This time we had different members on equipment and ground control. Since I had done a lot of the setting up I decided to take a step back and let Evan set it up. I oversaw the whole operation of the setting up of the air-frame

Bramor on a level surface for sensor calibration.
Small amounts of rain can be seen on the air-frame
luckily the air-frame is waterproof.

The Getac is the main interface for the Bramor. Here
you can see us setting up landing. loiter, takeoff
and rally points.

Bramor set up outside. catapult rubbers on. At
this point the Bramor is still being setup. Notice
the top hatch still uncovered.

of the Bramor and the catapult. We took times again and tried to find more flaws in the setup. This time was different from the others because we were able to take it outside to complete more checklist items that involved GPS. When indoors, GPS cannot connect to the aircraft because of the interference. The buildings roof has more than enough interference to completely block all signals. When we went outside it was raining so we had to quickly acquire satellites then bring the Bramor under cover. We were able to acquire the minimum amount of satellites for a little while but it was short lived. The cover still blocked satellites, but we were able to complete most of the checklist. Including mission mapping, rally points, take off points, and landing points. We had never done this before so it helped out a lot. After we set it all up we tore it down and came up with a plan for Monday. Next Wednesday looks like great weather so we are planning to do an actual mission then. Monday will be prep work for Wednesday, which will include batteries being charged and parachutes packed.

Week 9

Since the weather was still beyond our operational limits, our class met inside to perform more dry runs on the new airframes. Our first airframe was the Bramor, this time around we organized it similar to how we would in the field. We had one person on hardware (someone who will essentially put the Bramor together), one person on ground control (someone who has the tablet), and someone on the checklist reading it off. We timed each run, jotting down notes on what needed to be improved and what seemed to be running smoothly. We rotated out each role to get a feel of what needed to be done for each task.

The groups that completed the run through. The improvements are
listed on the right. This lets us see as a whole class what needs to be
improved, letting us fly more without mishaps.

This week we also started the operation run through of the DJI M600. Ryan is very familiar with this platform so he supervised us as we ran through the operation of it. We completed the checklist he made for it and gave suggestions as to what needed to be fixed or added.The M600 is much more simple than the Bramor. Since the class has plenty of experience on quadcopters, the M600 should be a breeze for us. The only parts we are unfamiliar with are the gimbal and landing gear assembly. We discussed how the landing gear fits on and the operation of it. The two notches on both the top and bottom of the assembly are orientation specific, meaning they can only fit properly with the orientation correct. Ryan should us how they attach and where the notches are supposed to go. 

Ryan showing us the details on the sensor. He took off the lens
and showed us how it worked and the things we need to check
for before operation (dirt, rocks, debris...etc)

M600 completely put together, this was set down after we put the
legs on the frame.

Week 8

In week 8, the C-Astral Bramor came in. Since this platform is going to define this program this was of utmost importance, especially since my main role for this class is main flight engineer. I will become familiar to the setup, operation, and structure of this platform. My job will be to train a single team to operate this fixed wing. Since everyone should get time on this platform, we will cycle out 1 person from the main team. This will ensure everyone gets training with the Bramor. When we first opened it, it came in two cases. One case had the catapult and one had the platform with accessories (except the 42 megapixel camera, which was included with the catapult).
In the picture below, you can the Bramor in one case, then the catapult in the other. Our task was to set it up with the given checklist. Kyle was in charge of reading off the checklist items, and I was following the tasks given to me by Kyle.

Air frame (Box above)
Catapult (Box below)

The wings are stored in an upper compartment
in the air frame box.

This Bramor was special due to its sensor package. This one had a Red Edge Altum integrated into its air frame. It
had special EMI shielding measures and mount design.











Below shows a photo of the top of the flying wing. The cover fits into the top by a latching pin and a lip that slides into the air frame. To us, this seemed like a design flaw, especially since the lip had a broken edge which made it very difficult to slide the lip into the slot. The cords in the photo are used to secure the parachute to the air frame. This is the only known method of safe landing so it is crucial. The two rubber tubes in the top middle of the photo is part of the pitot tube system. Looking just past the leading edge of the wing you can see the black pitot tube. The compartment with the "remove before flight" tag is where the parachute is held and deployed. It is deployed by a spring board that launches it out into the air, away from the propeller. Looking closely you can see tape on the air frame next to the red triangles. This tape is one of the important checklist items, its task to ensure redundant fastening of the wings to the fuselage. A feature you cannot see but is included on the air frame design is vortex generators. Just behind the leading edge of the wing is a piece of thick material that disrupts airflow over the top of the wing. Vortex generators are used to delay flow separation at high angles of attack by re-energizing the boundary layer. Since this aircraft can be subjected to high angles of attack to compensate for high winds, this is helpful for functionality. 

Bramor checklist dry run. This air frame has some interesting features that makes it unique.
Some of the parts on this are also 3D printed such as the engine cooling cowl. 

After running through the checklist carefully we did find some flaws with the checklist. It says to open to parachute port which normally wouldn't matter, but it says to do so before the aircraft has power. Which the only way to open the parachute port is through the ground control station. We will fix this by making small modifications to the checklist.

After we set up the air frame we familiarized ourselves with the catapult. This is the only method of launching the Bramor and it is crucial to know its functionality. The catapult works by using elastic cords under tension. You wrap the rubber to two points on the front of the catapult, then you use a winch to put the rubber under high tension. Once you are ready to launch, the user pulls a safety pin, then pulls a cord. The Bramor is launched quickly off the catapult and into the air where it automatically turns on its motor then proceeds to the mission. Below is a photo of the Bramor set up on the catapult and "ready" to launch. Since it was indoors we took precautionary measures to ensure it wouldn't take off. The red cords leading form the back to the front of the catapult launch the Bramor, without these it would never be able to take off. One of the checklist items is to ensure that no cords are tangled, this could cause a difficult launch or even a crash. The winch is down near the bottom of the catapult. Like a normal winch, you crank it to slowly build up tension on the cords.

Bramor and Catapult all set up ready to fly. Since this is inside, there are certain checklist items
we could not complete (GPS, wind speed, weather...etc) we did our best to complete a dry run.

Catapult pre-setup. The elastic cords have not been attached to the frame of catapult. The air frame
bucket is made from carbon fiber and weighs very little. This helps with weight reduction for a faster 
launch. Giving the bramor more speed to work with.