Second Bramor Field Outing

Week 6 Bramor Training and Field Outing Report 

Introduction

During week 6 of AT 209, our class met at the North end of Martell Forest near Purdue University. Our class includes 3 flight crews, however only crew 1 and 2 were able to fly during this lab time. Upon arrival to the mission area crew 1 began by setting up the catapult and assembling the airframe. We then completed the Bramor preflight checklist and launched the aircraft. Upon recovery of the aircraft crew 2 completed their flight as well. Throughout this lab, we learned that it is important to work together as a team to effectively and efficiently set up the Bramor. Following the checklist step by step is among the most important things for a team to follow because it ensures all systems are working properly and will lead to a successful and safe mission, if a crew were to skip a step it could lead to an in-flight malfunction or worst-case scenario a crash.

Prior to this field outing we had new knowledge of the Bramor PPX platform and the checklist. Because of this we were able to be more efficient and aware of the things we needed to take note of during the lab, including the weather, sensor data, and battery levels. 

Field Outing:

Vegetative cover at Martell Forest was a grassland that included small shrubs, weeds, and plants. Hazards included a tree line around the entire mission area as well as a road and powerlines located to the North of the area. It is important to set a good mission altitude, rally point, and landing area in order to avoid the potential hazards surrounding the area.

 

Figure 1: This picture is a good representation of the vegetation at Martell Forest

 

Prior to the first mission of the day, the weather was recorded at 19 degrees Celsius. Upon arrival there was dew covering the vegetation, however by the time flight crew 1 was ready to deploy the chute the vegetation was relatively dry. Flight Crew 2 recorded a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius. Both flight crews had visibility of 10 miles and nearly no wind.

	Temp.	Visibility	Wind
Crew 1	19 C	10 miles	N/A
Crew 2	21 C	10 miles	N/A

Figure 2: Weather Conditions

·

The Bramor catapult was setup pointing to the SE direction toward the field. There was no extreme weather direction so catapult direction was not an issue. There were no adjustments made during the flight due to any weather or external factors.

	ComBox Volts	Tablet Battery	Rally Alt.	WP Alt.	TO Alt.	UAV Volts	dB	Satellites	Flight Time
Crew 1	13.8V	99%	55m	120m	120m	16.4V	-38	16	10:19-10:27
Crew 2	13.1V	83%	55m	130m	100m	16.2V	-41	17	10:55-11:04

                                                  Figure 3: Flight details

Issues

There was only 1 recorded issue during the mission. This issue did not compromise data collection, nor did it cause any damage to the aircraft, people, or objects. When the aircraft was set into rally mode to prepare for landing, the aircraft did not descend to the desired                                                altitude and had to be overridden manually.

Conclusion

·      The Bramor training prior to this field outing lead to a more efficient and safe mission than if our flight crews were just given a checklist and told to give it a go. We were given in depth demonstrations in class and completed previous labs working with the Bramor software. Our experience will folding the parachute with attention to detail lead to the same mindset when assembling the Bramor and following the checklist. In the future our crew will be completing a CRM to delegate tasks so we are aware of the roles each member of our team is responsible for, that way we are not overstepping each other and we can quickly set up for the mission in a safe and efficient manner.