Competition Questions

These Questions outline the clarifications we are hoping to receive regarding the conops. Questions are to be directed to the Competition Chief Judge, Mark Espenant (mark.espenant@gmail.com)

Task 1

• Does the 30km distance include the distance to reroute around the restricted airspace?

  • Once the airspace is announced as restricted, is this the case for the remainder of the flight, or only until the next waypoint?

  • Do we know how many waypoints will be associated with the restricted airspace?

  • Do we need to reroute to another waypoint, or can we follow the edge of restricted areas?

• Is there an altitude associated with the waypoints?

• Can the barbies be loaded via a removable top section, or can the aircraft be temporary disassembly (provided there is a realistic entrance elsewhere) to load the barbies?

• What will the barbies be wearing (could their outfits impact our seating designs)?

• Does "Route tracking (from ‘on route’ to diversion)" refer to the autonomous flight of the aircraft from waypoint to waypoint?

• Will multi-action autonomous flight still earn full points (a sequence of buttons/switches need to be pressed before an autonomous action begins) or would it need to be entirely autonomous from the moment the aircraft was armed?

• Are realism points pro-rated, or is it there a hard limit for how much we have to do to get 100% realism points.

Task 2

• Can the route be optimized such that multiple pickups are completed before drop-offs (think bus instead of taxi)

  • What is the maximum number of passengers per route? (can it be more than 6?)

• Can batteries be replaced on aircraft if we are not on the original take-off point?

• Are the same landing pads being used for both tasks?

• Can a negative score be achieved?

General Questions

• What are the shape / dimensions of the landing pads. 32” size is mentioned, but it is not clear if this is a diameter, radius or some other (non circular) measure. (is there an amazon link we can reference?)

  • When landing, do we need to land directly on the pad, or can we land outside the pad and taxi on to complete the landing

  • What types of obstacles might be near pads?

  • Do we need to take off from the landing pads as well (can we expect any sort of runway)?

• Are points for various sections all or nothing (e.g. part marks for realism or semi-autonomous flight capabilities)

  • i.e. autonomy points - autonomous following of most waypoints, but manual intervention required to ensure aircraft does not deviate from route

• What is the data format & schema provided to the competitors?

  • What format will they be in (e.g. named files on a usb stick we plug into our groundstation, recording played into a mic, spoken word, printed QR code that needs to be scanned by a webcam?)

• What accommodations are included with team registration fees and individual registration fees? (hotel, food) what would we need to prepare to spend money on at the event?

• Can we drive stakes into the ground for our groundstation setup

• How much communication will we have with visual observers?

  • Will we be allowed to supply our own visual observers and be in contact with them.

• Will there be power at the flightline?

• Will we be needed to provide any sort of data/video logs of either task?

• Will we be allowed to use radios to communicate between team members at competition? Are there restricted channels, or are we going to be OK if we use designated frequencies?

• What weather conditions will impact the flight schedule (what weather should we design our aircraft to withstand)

March 20 Open Questions

• Presentation @ comp: “most team members participate” clarify - (all team members?)

Presentation deadline/assignee: April 5th for first draft @Hamza Ali

Task 1 - Long-Range Passenger Transport

Transport 2-6 passengers (barbie dolls) over a long-range route & respond to a routing change.

• Given QR code specifying the route & waypoints – nothing for this. old QR code algorithm from last year.

  • Route will be 10-30km long – range test for icarus (battery life specifically) untested. Range of various telemetry is kinda verified for 5km

  • Aircraft must stay within 50m of the designated route – “should be fine”- practice FBWA w/ @Aidan Bowers (Deactivated) , @Anthony Luo , @Megan Spee

  • An area bounded by way points will be identified during the flight to be avoided – algorithm exists outside of Ardupilot. Also exists in Ardupilot. (Raises question what are we flying : ZP?? tbd) Need to work on mission planner integration

• Minimum of 2 passengers must be carried, additional points for additional passengers (max 6) - Cabin is the right size

  • Aircraft cannot be moved while loading passengers, and the cabin must be enclosed - Cabin on schedule to be completed and enclosed. If cornflakes is being used, need to remake cabin/fuselage to accommodate

  • There should be a loading ramp or some entrance mechanism - there is one on icarus. cornflakes will need to be adjusted.

  • passengers should be restrained - not yet.

  • LIGHTS:

    • When passengers are ‘on board’, a green ‘Passengers aboard’ light must be illuminated, visible from 360 degrees around the UAMS; otherwise, no credit will be granted for carrying passengers - not behind at the moment but no solution exists

• An arm / flight readiness button must be used to activate the flight mode - button is ordered! Built into the GPS. ** Should still use VN on Icarus?? (not hard to integ w/ Pixhawk) **

• Landing Pads are 32in. Blue pads are operational, orange are not. There may be obstacles – (Either GPS coords w/ ardupilot or manually fly it). Landing pad detection is “being trained on the CS servers” GG - Follow up w/ Autonomy leads

• Additional points for autonomy -

  • Takeoff (from pushing ‘activate’ button to UAMS on route) - ardupilot can

  • Route tracking (from ‘on route’ to diversion) - ardupilot can

  • Diversion response (from receipt of message to rejoining route) - mentioned above, waypoint bounds

  • Pad Selection

  • Landing

Airside autonomy for ZP will not work if no sensor data or sending-commands to flight controller

Task 2 - On Demand Passenger Transport

Optimize transport requirements, delivering passengers between route of different lengths.

• There will be obstacles near some pads no closer than 2m from the pad

  edge or a weight restriction of 5kg - drone between 10-5 kg.

• QR code with list of transport routes (# passengers, way points, max weight, pad conditions, etc.) – we don’t have QR code system (see above)

  • Will be received May 5, 2023 @ 3:00pm

  • Flight plan (with route orders) due within 60 minutes @ 4:00pm

  • Flight Plan must include at least 50% of provided routes - 25! Each skipped route is -5 points. Can lose up to -125 If you do well and follow the plan, +20. * Autonomously send the QR-code processed route to competition organizers… make sure we fact check this email before it is sent

  • Use of automated algorithms will earn additional points – solution may exist but is not implemented? Ask Autonomy leads

  • There will be a maximum of 50 routes (50 point to point routes)

• If a route requires moving more passengers than can be carried, multiple flights must be completed - can carry 6, depends on interpretation (Assuming we use ICARUS + cabin as planned)

• Most landing pads will be BVLOS - planned out, we need to see them working reliably + at long range + PILOTS NEED TO PRACTICE

• When passengers are ‘on board’, green ‘Pax aboard’ light must be illuminated, visible from 360deg around aircraft - TBD on implementation

• A landing only counts if the aircraft is fully on the pad and rotors are off for 15 seconds - doable + make sure CoG is in the right place under skis - check this

• Batteries may be swapped at launch point if there are no passengers (Waypoint Alpha) - no characterization on ICARUS. Difficult to plan this

Flight prep

• Maybe only 5 people carry everything (do multiple trips). Carry a drone through a building(?). May have to assemble icarus on the flight line

  • should practice and time ourselves? @ a flight test in next 6 weeks?

• Checklists, radio training, rehearsals

• is Icarus easy to set up? probably easy enough. Can’t change much about design

• Icarus specific checklists - iterate on this

90 minute report:

• Make template prior to comp

• process the task 1 results asap after task 1

• Provided a copy of the Advanced RPAS pilot certificate for Canadians?

• Provided copies of: proof of training (a), flight review (b), and SFOC(c) for Non-Canadian RPAS Pilots?

• Provided a copy of the RPAS registration? * additional note from @Megan Spee

  • proof of drone registration

  • pilot certificate

  • proof of recency (24 months max after license)

  • your drone’s operating manual

• Provide a copy of the email where the proof of flight was submitted to AEAC.

• Weight under 15 kg, pass list of weights to Chief Judge

• Demonstrate that the flight termination system is functional at all times and in all flight modes. – not urgent, but some coordination and prep needs to happen for this to be functional. ** DOUBLE CHECK - kill switch immediately disarm, if RC link is lost, within 10 seconds it should kill itself ?? ** If lose control link, but still have telem, does it need to kill? Can disarm from mission planner - should be fine as long as that is easy/possible to do in time.

  • Propellers should have been removed already. Make the motor(s) spin, and show that at all times, it is possible to kill the aircraft in all flight modes. Also show this kill mechanism has already been activated if the datalink for the kill switch is lost (this is often the RC controller, based on previous years).

  • clarify what is a mode - kill using manual, or autopilot? Clarify this. (VS qloiter, fbwa, etc)

  • demonstrate fixed-wing and quads' different termination modes

• Demonstrate operation of the Flight Readiness Button – drone may not be capable of operating until the button is pushed. - RC arm + ready switch

• Safety Flight Termination System that can be activated automatically or remotely.

  • If the flight termination system is not functioning, it must terminate itself

  • Parachute / aerodynamic termination / 2m/s decent

• Transmitters may not be used outside of flight window

• GCS must always show the aircraft and competition flight area

• An electrical or mechanical way to prevent props from spinning when aircraft is not in takeoff position - what counts as takeoff position

• Each pilot must hold Advances RPAS Pilot Certificate

• RPAS must be registered properly

• Insurance may be required - we have liability insurance! Don’t require insurance

HAM radio license - test booked for mar 29th, @Anthony Luo .

** clarify this for comp

Sending clarification questions -

@Dhruv Upadhyay