Tech Report - Milestones

Owned by Shrinjay Mukherjee
Last updated: 2021-12-21
2 min read

Development of Milestones

To utilize milestones as indications that we are moving in the right direction, our milestones are tied directly to the competition requirements. The competition requirements we follow are detailed below.

  1. Our aircraft must be able to safely take off and maintain flight.

  2. Our aircraft should be able to safely land under manual control.

  3. Our aircraft should be able to perform basic maneuvers to fly forwards, backwards and turn.

  4. Our aircraft should be able to sustain flight long enough to complete both missions. Task 2 requires a flight of approximately 3.5km at most, assuming the aircraft does not have to return, so we will set the minimum distance as 4km.

  5. Our aircraft should be able to provide the pilot with the ability to observe the space around the aircraft beyond visual line-of-sight.

  6. Our aircraft should be able to maneuver with sufficient dexterity to get close enough to an object on the ground to retrieve it.

  7. Our aircraft should have the ability to retrieve an object from the ground and fly with it loaded.

  8. Our aircraft should be able to maneuver with sufficient dexterity to softly drop an object into a barrel.

  9. Our aircraft should be able to scan a QR code, relay the location to the autopilot, and relay the questions described to the pilot.

  10. Our aircraft should be able to fly to a given point autonomously once it is airborne.

Below, we compile our milestones with the corresponding requirements in brackets written as R1, R2, … corresponding to the numbered list above. Some requirements are broken into multiple milestones as they can be performed at various levels.

Milestone

Date

Milestone

Date

First aircraft takeoff and landing (R1 & R2).

 

First flight between two distinct points separated by at least 50m (R1).

 

First flight where the aircraft is able to maneuver forwards, backwards and turn about its vertical axis (R3).

 

First flight where the aircraft can fly between two points at least 4km apart (R4).

 

First time we can transmit a video feed from the aircraft and display it on our ground station (R5).

 

First time we are able to change the direction the aircraft camera is facing using movement of the gimbal and aircraft (R5).

 

First time we are able to pick up an object sized similarly to the device (R6).

 

First time we are able to fly between two distinct points >= 500m apart while carrying an object similar to the device (R7).

 

First time we are able to release an object being carried, similar to the device, such that it does not hit the ground with excess force (R8).

 

First time we are able to release an object similar to the device into a container sized similarly to the one at competition such that it does not hit the bucket with excess force or tip over (R8).

 

First time we are able to scan a QR code (R9).

 

First time we are able to transmit the location from the scanned QR code to the autopilot (R9).

 

First time we are able to display the questions from the scanned QR code on the ground station (R9).

 

First time our aircraft is able to autonomously fly between two points >= 500m apart provided the aircraft is airborne (R10).

 

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