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2024-03-16 Pegasus VTX + Houston Auto Flight Test

2024-03-16 Pegasus VTX + Houston Auto Flight Test

Owned by Megan Spee
Last updated: 2024-03-18
5 min read

Sections for requesting team to fill out:

  • Admin preparation

  • Test Cards / Test Plan

  • Mandatory Attendees

Sections for flight test coordinator to fill out:

  • Flightline team

  • Location

  • Status

  • Drone

Sections for flightline team to fill out:

  • EFS to fill out flight test cards

Admin Preparation

Your status should read “submitted” when you submit the FTR to our Flight Test Coordinator.

Once the coordinator approves, and a date/location/drone has been assigned, the status will change to “waiting for sub team review”. Once all sub-teams have reviewed and signed off, the status will change to “approved”

Requested By

@Megan Spee

Sub-Team Review

(To be checked once reviewed by sub-team representative)

Mechanical
Electrical
EFS
Autonomy
Operations

Date of Request

2024-03-16

Goal Summary

  • Pegasus Video transmission with different antenna placements, using 5.8GHz

  • OSD configured and MUX functional for front and downwards cameras

  • OFS configured correctly

  • Autolanding on Houston functional

Status?

Waiting for Sub-Team Review

Desired Airframe

Pegasus
Houston

Location + Time

WrestRC

Testplan - to be filled out by requesting team

Create ONE table per test-item. Eg: “Landing pad images over asphalt”, “landing pad images over grass”, “landing pad images over grass, high” should all be unique tables.

Use each expand to capture one series of tests, eg “Landing pad detection” or “Auto-tuning”.

Video muxing w/ at least 2 cameras.

Test #1: Pegasus VTX, LOS low speed & hover performance

Procedure

Goals / Objectives

Failure criteria

  1. Takeoff manually in Loiter, verify that video is stable during takeoff.

  • Ensure that video signal is maintained during close-range takeoffs.

  • Ensure hover doesn’t negatively impact video switching

  • Ensure OSD elements are correct

Loss of Video Transmission

  • Stop drone movement, attempt to re-establish video link.

Loss of Control

  • Land the drone as soon as possible

Loss of Orientation

  • RTL

Battery

  • Land, RTL if possible.

  1. Attempt switching video sources

  1. IF CONFIGURED: attempt switching OSD screens.

  1. Fly slow passes at varying altitudes / distances (pilot discretion) from the ground station

  • Ensure that video signal is maintained during different maneuvers

  • Ensure that different video sources are functional during different passes

  1. Land normally

 

 

Test #2: Auto Pathing Mission

Procedure

Goals / Objectives

Failure criteria

  1. Connect Houston to Mission Planner

  • Verify connection

  • Mavlink doesn't connect

  1. Run pathing code

  • Go to pathing repository

  • Activate the venv with source venv/bin/activate

  • Run pathing code with python -m path_2024

  • Failed sending waypoints

  1. Check waypoints

  • Verify waypoints added by pathing code are correct in Mission Planner

  1. Takeoff

  • Verify drone flies to correct waypoints

  • Pitch/Roll/Yaw incorrect

    • land, flip in mission planner, re-start test

  • Drone de-stabilizes.

    • Land, evaluate tune, re-start test

 

Test #1: Auto Landing

Procedure

Goals / Objectives

Failure criteria

  1. Connect Houston to Mission Planner

  • Verify Connection

  • Mavlink doesn't connect

  1. Verify auto-landing script is running

  • Check that images are being logged

  • Script isn’t running

    • Start it manually by navigating to the auto landing repository and running python blue_only.py

    • Make note so this can be fixed

  1. Add waypoints in Mission Planner

  • Add a LAND waypoint at the intended landing pad

  • Offset the waypoint by ~5m to test if the auto landing script corrects it

 

  1. Takeoff

  • Verify drone lands on landing pad

  • Drone misses landing pad

 

 

Necessary Preparation

Explain what capacity you need, what needs to be mounted, etc.

Mechanical

Pegasus cleared to fly (mechanically)
sensor mount ready
Motors + frame rigid
Houston cleared to fly (mechanically)
sensor mount attached
arms + plates rigid

Electrical

Pegasus cleared to fly (electrically)
harnessing secure
Houston cleared to fly
Harnessing secure
ELRS RX’s secure.
Video System harnessed & Checked

Embedded Flight Software

Pegasus Ardupilot Configuration complete
VTX Mux configured (even if NC’d)
Ardupilot OSD connected & Functional
OFS configured
Mission objectives clear
Ground following clear
Understanding of how to tune obstacle avoidance systems
Arduino tracking antenna tested

Autonomy

Test Pathing code on Pegasus (because Pegasus has LTE HAT)
Test auto landing on Houston

Attendees

This is a section for all attendees from your subteam which will be present for this flight test. (because they are testing their products, or otherwise)

Name

Phone # (opt)

Sub-team

Driving

Role

 

Name

Phone # (opt)

Sub-team

Driving

Role

 

@Megan Spee

 

Director

toyota prius

pilot/organizer

 

@Nathan Green

 

 

rav4

pilot/GSO

 

@Amy Hu

 

Autonomy

 

auto land

 

@Georgia Westerlund

 

Ops/Mech

 

media

 

@Jane Zeng

 

Autonomy

 

 

 

@Yuchen Lin

 

 

 

GSO/organizer

 

@Neel Patel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This section and remaining to be filled out by FTC and Flightline Team

Flightline Team

Name

Phone #

Role

Reason

Name

Phone #

Role

Reason

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-Flight Preparation

Checklists

  • Motors Tested (directions)

  • Propellers Checked

  • VTX System E2E Checked on Pegasus

    • VTX system works

    • Camera switching works

    • Ground station relay works

    • All monitors & Goggles Work

  • OSD config’d

  • OFS config’d

Incident Procedures

Weather

 

Flight Test Timeline

Date/Time

Action

Notes

Date/Time

Action

Notes

800

Start charging batteries

4x 6s 5000mah (pegasus)

Houston

 

930

Final flight inspections

 

1000

Briefing @ WARG Bay

 

1010

Begin loading vehicles

 

1030

Arrival at Flight Test Location

 

DEBRIEF

Logs: https://uofwaterloo-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/uwarg_uwaterloo_ca/EprwSfOtGeZOom-fAK63e0gBZ2c94HDJ8xIIYBWXcJXheg?e=hJEmC2

Media Ingest: https://uofwaterloo-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/uwarg_uwaterloo_ca/EqjTFLI7eSZHil5CgZ13PYMBk9KPlNMFPESkOseTALivzg?e=tapYW3

 

  • did not crash

  • auto landing worked, relatively accurate

  • pathing worked as desired

  • able to accomplish all FT objectives

  • VTX signal worked consistently

  • flew DJI for some cool media

  • Able to fly houston entirely using mission planner w/o controller

  • Video switching worked!

  • Camera bottom-facing might have some damage; strange colors in shot

  • Didn’t use Pegasus for the automatic pathing

  • LTE worked a bit

  • Barometer position hold was mid (as always, not fixable)

  • Houston compass not working well, probably just needs calibration

  • Camera noisy

  • Arm switches for houston and pegasus not the same on the pink controller

  • LTE cut out and didn’t reconnect. Multiple times

  • We forgot crossfire tx and gemini on houston. Had to run houston without a controller, just using mission planner

  • EFS optical flow setup wasn’t functional. Had to change parameters for this on the flight line

 

Action items

  • Test the OSD with a multimeter to see why it was cutting out.

    • they do have a common ground.

    • so maybe the noise induces

    • ground is not 0. becomes noise in the ground line, so the difference between high and low voltage is negligible.

    • wires too long, so reduce the interference

    • Shorten wires for entire video system. move things around.

    • new mount that incorporates both the front and bottom video cameras

 

  • LTE system, test in north campus

  • look at forcing it to stay on 1 LTE network and not try switching

  • find LTE map for different towers

 

  • Secure antenna upright harder (tape or something temporary)

 

  • Test autolanding on pegasus

  • Test pathing on pegasus

 

  • check transmitters are on the drones

  • Make sure parameters are ready to fly on after configuration

 

  • calibrate compass on houston

 

  • Change arm switch on houston model to match peggy

 

  • Auto mission

    • integrate auto landing with pathing

    • take all the pathing waypoints from the conops and offset them so they’re at wrestRC

    • make the last waypoint go into auto land mode

 

  • Talk to mech about barbies or equivalent weight simulations

 

  • process the signal RPI data

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