Search and Rescue M210 Field Outing

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Week 15 M210 Training and Field Outing Report.­­­­­


Introduction:

During week 15 of AT 209, our class met North of Purdue University at Professor Hupy’s house. During this lab we demonstrated our ability to use the M210 Platform with the Z30 and XT2 Sensors in order to find the “downed helicopter pilot”. Essentially there were three teams, the downed helicopter pilot, the hunters, and the team flying the M300. The objective of the helicopter pilot was to stay hidden from both the hunters as well as the drone. And the hunters and the drone team were going head-to-head in trying to find the downed helicopter pilot before the other.


Field Outing:

Figure 1: This picture shows the M210 fixed with the XT2 and Z30 sensors used in the “Search and Rescue Mission”

Vegetative cover at Professor Hupy’s house was a well wooded area, including a lot of trees, creeks, and bushes. Hazards included the wooded area, reflective surfaces, and Mavic 2 Pros in the flight area at the same time as the m210. When there was more than one drone in the air it was important to work with other PIC’s to determine good altitudes to fly at to avoid each other and to announce “clear prop” before initiating flight to let other PIC’s know we were ready to take off.

 

 

Weather conditions:

Prior to my mission with the Mavic 2 pro the weather was recorded at 4 degrees Celsius. Upon arrival there was dew covering the vegetation, however by the time our class got the M210 in the air the vegetation was relatively dry. Our class had visibility of 10 miles and nearly no wind.

 

Temp.

Visibility

Wind

Crew 1

4 C

10 miles

N/A

 

 

Issues

·       The first issue we encountered was the batteries in the M210 controllers had lost all charge overnight. Luckily, we were able to use the M300 controller batteries to fix this issue.

·       The next issue we encountered was that we were not able to toggle between the two sensors, we tried a few different solutions including switching the sensors, but ultimately what corrected the problem was isolating the thermal sensor and powering the aircraft on and then plugging in the XT2 while the aircraft was on. This let us toggle between the two sensors.

·   The next issue encountered was the ability to use the thermal sensor. Although we got it to work properly, it was hard to make a distinction between trees and humans. This is because by the time the aircraft was in the air it was around 1100 and everything was relatively the same temperature, and it was hard for the sensor to make a contrast between warmth in objects.

 

Images

Figure 2: This picture shows the Assistant controller and the M210

Figure 3: This picture shows the master controller for the M210, as it is illuminated in the top right of the controller.  

Figure 4: This picture depicts myself as the fugitive wearing a paintball mask affixed with real dreads.  

 

Figure 5: This picture depicts the view from a M210 XT2 Thermal Sensor where the “downed helicopter pilot” is hiding  

 

Figure 6: This picture depicts the view from a M210 Z30 camera zoomed in on the hunting squad trying to find the helicopter pilot.  

Reflection

Although this lab seemed like a big game, it was not. There was a lot that I learned despite the use of paintball guns during this lab. I have never flown the M210 or used a thermal sensor, but it was very interesting to learn how these worked and I loved being able to apply my knowledge and skills to something that could be used in the field. This was the most interesting lab I have participated in all semester, however there are a few things that I would like to see change for the next outing like this. It would be interesting to get an operational waiver to fly at night and to do this lab while it is dark out. I think it would simulate a real-life scenario a lot better and It would allow us to be able to use the Z30 Thermal sensor to its full capabilities. Also, we should spend time laying down some ground rules as to what counts for being shot with the paintball and other rules surrounding the exercise to make it fairer and fun for everyone involved. I think that the hunting team should be the ones with pistols, and the downed pilot should be able to have the better semi-automatic rifle to offset their disadvantage. This would require the hunters to be more tactical and decisive while also giving the drone a little better opportunity to find the downed pilot before the hunters can just destroy the pilot by unloading rounds in their general direction.


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