April 12, 2023 - Transition Flight Attempt (#4?)

 

Make sure to update the Title following the format “Jan 01, 2020 Flight Test”

 Flight Preparation

Requested by:

Anthony Luo

Required Sub-teams

Mech
Electrical
EFS
CV
Operation
Sys-Int

Requested Date

Apr 10, 2023

Location and Time

Apr 12, 2023 1800-2000, Waterloo Region Emergency Services Training Center

Summary & Goals

Test Transition Flight

Approved?

Yes / Pending / No

 Required Persons During Test

Name

Phone #

Role

Reason

Name

Phone #

Role

Reason

Anthony Luo 

613 618 5547

Flight Test Lead

  • Creating documentation

  • Booking the test flight

  • Creating a thread in #flight-staging

 Anthony Luo

613 618 5547

 Pilot in Command

  • Aircraft preparation

  • Filling out documentation

Ayoung (tentative)

 

Safety

  • Making sure everyone is safe

  • Bringing Med kit

Aidan Bowers

 

Flight Engineer

  • visual observer

  •  

Alison Thompson

 

Mechanical Rep

 

 Other Attendees

Name

Role

Name

Role

 

 

 

 

Drivers & Seat Arrangement

Driver

Vehicle Type

Passenger

Driver

Vehicle Type

Passenger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Success criteria

Tests

Success Criteria

Requirements

Outcome

Tests

Success Criteria

Requirements

Outcome

  • Successful Transition flight

  • Able to fly forward at up to 20m/s and maintain lift/authority for fixed wing flight

  • Wires properly connected, props mounted properly.

 

Testing Timeline

Date/Time

Action

Date/Time

Action

Mon & Tue

Aircraft Assembly

If aircraft assembly is complicated, outline dates of various milestones that should be met to ensure we don't rush to complete work at the last minute.

Tue 8-10PM

Pre-flight Preparation

Feel free to not come at 9 if you don’t have a lot workload. During this time get snack if needed

Wed 1700

Required persons for preflight preparation show up at bay

Flight test lead breifly assign task for preparation work

Wed 1730

Flight brief from flight test lead

Wed 1730

Loading onto the Car

Take your water bottle with you. Go washroom before we leave!

 

Drive to the test ground

Wed 1800

Flight Testing

 

Debrief

Aircraft Incident Procedures

Incident

Procedure

Incident

Procedure

Crash

Outline the procedure for who will go to handle the aircraft in the event of a crash, what should be done, were emergency equipment is, etc.

Flyaway

Outline the procedure for flyaways. List relevant contact information for local authorities and plans of action to recover control of the aircraft

Configuration Error

Outline steps to take in the event of a configuration issue with the aircraft

Injury

 

Property Damage

 

Week-Before To-Do List

Drone Registration

Drone Registration Number:

Flight test location booked
Pilot scheduled
Test Plan (What we are testing)
This should also include the flight path where applicable
Subteam action items (for flight readiness)
Transportation logistics finalized
Booking SDC vehicles
Assigning drivers
Renting any needed equipment (trailer? generator? etc.)

Day-Before To-Do List

SDC Vehicle key collected (if required)
Batteries Planned for (DON'T LEAVE CHARGING OVERNIGHT)
On-site kit together
Airfame assembled
ESCs/flight controller wired
Radio equipment tested
Motors tested
Wiring secured (Harnessing)
End-to-end test (neglecting props)
Check the center of gravity
All components not on the airframe that are required should be in the flight box (e.g. props & prop nuts)
Airframe payload
Spare parts
Flight Code Flashed
Ground station Software updated

Pre-Departure Checklist

Pre-flight Safety Checklist

Post-Flight Checklist

Item

Owner

Item

Owner

ALL MEMBERS PRESENT

 

 

Flight Test Post Mortem

  • Pilot with LOS

  • FPV camera angled lower

  • More flying experience

Data&LOG Analysis:

Watch recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXb6C16Qt0 if you need full information of the debrief

< flight path overview >

Total flight path, red is airspeed, green is groundspeed, orange is current draw, blue is altitude

In general, from our flight path:

  • took off at the gravel pad BELOW the skid-pad because formula motorsports (gas) was using the skid pad and we had agreed that we would take off off the track.

  • flew out in quad mode a bit, and then proceeded to transition

  • Transition was not fully completed until after we had turned back towards the skid pad

  • Orientation was difficult to judge for all parties, and the drone was identified as “heading towards us very fast”, which is when we transitioned back to QLoiter

  • At some point in the transition, a motor failed and the drone entered a flat spin, drifting with the wind until it landed in a nearby water reservoir.

  • note drop in current after transition complete, and stabilization of current draw when in transition.

< altitude/pitch analysis >

Zoomed in view of pitch (red) and desired pitch (green) between transition airspeed reached and transition done.
  • Desired pitch not controlled by the autopilot until transition done

    • large gap between transition airspeed reached and transition done? @Nathan Green

  • Pitch is controlled by the quad motors until transition airspeed is reached, when the quad motors will then power down. and no longer provide levelling.

  • After the quad motors shutoff, there is a fairly large moment pushing the nose of the aircraft down.

  • Notice that with a spike in desired pitch, the aircraft does respond to the autopilot & also pilot input

    • (not shown, RCIN was requesting almost full nose up. Seems that desired pitch is software limited?)

 

< motor graph >

 

< brief thoughtdump from anni >

  • Push motor drawing 40A (20A last flight test)

  • Max airspeed reached around 24m/s (while decending)

  • Pitch/Roll has positive correlation

  • Elevator deflicting to 900 when transition QLoiter → FBWA

  • Elevator deflecting to 1800 ish when max angle in FBWA

  • Max desired pitch limits to 20 in FBWA (software limit?)

  • Transition airspeed reached → transition done had (5s?) delay ← unsure please check me

  • Motor 4 (BR) was being commanded to full throttle on QLoiter transition but was not reacting.

  • Multiple flatspins on final descent.

  • Landed in the water.

< to insert charts if possible >

 

  • All persons are unharmed and safe

  • Transition was marked as complete (adequate airspeed)

  • Relocation of pusher motor showed marked improvement (both in measured current draw and measured airspeed) - indicating that relocation gave more airmass for movement.

  • Airframe survived 5Gs of deceleration when used as an airbrake during the transition from FBWA → QLoiter

  • Commanded pitch/roll and autopilot desired pitch/roll corresponding positively to actual aircraft attitude change. This indicates our software system is good.

  • Video was clear during the entire flight, with minor rolling banding when quad motors are spinning and brief (<1s) breakup near the start.

  • Flight engineer had difficulty finding data.

    • data layout was not consistent between flights & this was not checked prior to flight

  • Visual observers had difficulty tracking the vehicle as it flew into the glare of the sun.

RCA for Red Items

Create a RCA and keep it as a child page.

Action Items

Water Dmg. Breakdown

 

 

 

Booking WRESTRC Field

WRESTRC