2024-05-07 AEAC Sync
Attendance
Mechanical:
@Nathaniel Li
@Smile Khatri
@Evan Janakievski
Electrical:
@Ishman Mann
Embedded Flight Software:
@Aidan Bowers (Deactivated)
@Roni Kant
@Yuchen Lin
Autonomy:
@Tong Zhang
Operations:
None
Directors:
@Daniel Puratich
@Nathan Green
Agenda
Propulsion + Control
Pegasus 2
@Smile Khatri Mounting motors by end end of week
@Smile Khatri Frame wil be done by tommorow, adding in arms, landing gear is done, adding motors
motor mounts
Pegasus 1
Good to fly
We should motor test before next flight test to be sure
Mostly completed
Sensing
Pegasus 2
Should test flight Pegasus 2 with minimum hardware then mount
we have spare opflow and gps
no spare range finder
technically a spare but it’s not great
Pegasus 1
no changes needed
Video System
Pegasus 1
Make camera mount more rigid
nathan added this requirement to reduce vibe
Replace downwards facing camera
current one has a green artifact
swap with a new one, coordinate with EE
mostly mounting it, @Smile Khatri
moving camera to new location so not blocked by cabin
right now it’s on left, we want on right (alongside with all the video stuff)
Command + Telem
Action items / blockers:
Peggy 2
we have RFD, can do test flight with it
Updates:
Autonomy Pathing
Task 2 is ready to be flight tested for next schedule flight test.
Just need to merge this PR and we are all set https://discord.com/channels/776618956638388305/1128878366724988998/1237184676787912765
Task 1 code is complete.
Just need to test on Realflight Simulator
finalize wrestrc waypoints for flight test.
Task 1 is really long so we dont wanna do this this weekend?
what do we want deadlines to be for testing
Tracking Antenna - General
Action items / blockers:
Tracking ant is just for control, not for video
Arduino tracking antenna is working and ready to be tested at a flight test
Gemini stuff isn’t tested, but motion of antenna is
Hardy is working on code here
GPS is working
Possibly ready for this weekend, @Derek Tang @Hardy Yu to confirm
Would liek to test gemini this flight test this weekend
General Updates
Everyone should read the CONOPS, especially competition goers to ensure we understand the objectives!
Flight test schedule
This Weekend
Peggy 1 only
Simulate for different scenarios, more pilot testing
Flying near an airport is not legally viable …
Saturday return to service flight test
one set, check controls, auto-tune, new batteries
we could try flying faster to increase power consumption to match our task 1 speed
Next Weekend
peggy 1
New antenna placement and RF filter testing (just prove system isn't terrible)
If anything isn't perfect this weekend, we use next weekend
Pegasus 2 flight test
We can use houston’s pixhawk
minimal hardware, prove functionality
nothing leaves peggy 1 for peggy 2, do not risk the comp intent system.
Competition
General Questions
A big list of questions from @Daniel Puratich CONOPS review.
When do we have the flight test grounds booked?
@Yuchen Lin booked!
we this weekend Saturday 11am to 6pm
we do not have it Sunday
this is true for this weekend and next weekend
How fast we wanna fly?
18km/hr is optimal for efficiency calculated
we found it to be a bit fast so we went down to 10km/hr
keeping it low is nice to avoid vibration issues
we could try new magfit parameters on a flight test to see if it fixed vibration
Task 1 Laps
We are targetting three laps for competition
We’re limited by battery capacity and not time
20 mins for three laps
gives us time to land safely
What portions of task 1 and task 2 are we targeting to do autonomously?
All of task 1 can be theoretically done autonomously
We’ve done past three flight tests full autonomously
we need to set battery failsafe in ardupilot (and test this)
for task 2, everything except the landing portion, pilot will manually land.
What is autonomy’s role at competition? Answerred.
Where do we plan on placing the task 1 tracking device?
its a couple centimeters we’ll figure it out
@Nathan Green
Do we plan on covering the top of the drone to avoid exposed wires?
Waterproofing needs to be discussed
@Smile Khatri to make a meeting on this
Battery shrouds cover the main power leads
Are we all onboard with Peggy 1 as competition aircraft with Peggy 2 as a backup?
no disagreement?
We could swap the landing gear, the peggy 2 gear is more rigid
Will lighting be ready for this flight test? Realism points on the line here …
@Nolan Haines @Parker Lawrence-Valeriani please answer this stat ….
Plan for completion of the pre-flight presentation? Due Thursday before comp.
May 23rd we need to submit, possibly @Emma Chan to lead this effort
Does our GPS meet the Flight Readiness Button Requirement?
We’ve kept this on in software and will continue to do so.
What is optimal altitude between 328 and 400 ft to fly at for task 1?
flying higher will take more power
350 ft (106m or we round to 105m) target to give margin
Task 2, how do we feel about landing pads? Which one do we want to aim for? General strategy here, I know we play it by ear.
B is beside the overhang
is there a passenger safety requirement here
Task 2 doesnt say anything about landing safely or in one piece, can we plan on possibility of crashing into lz c?
will look into safety requirements
the hard one is C with overhang
overhang will kill gps
Nathan’s more worried about gps denied than video link denied
Can we test gps denied to see if the op flow carries
we can play by ear based on RF signal strength
landing pad is where you need to decide
Delegation of final report writing. 90 minute speed-run.
Last time people tried to prepare before then four or five worked on it until flight window. Then the remainning bit was filled in by all at the end.
Does the cabin have “At least one clear and visible signage/instructions/placard for accessibility features”?
We don’t have this yet
The ramp meets this, add in a sign, target before next flight test @Evan Janakievski
Can we add a kill switch test to this weekend’s flight test?
check for flight test
Does Pegasus have a valid registration under Nathan’s name? If so, can we add it to the document we have to track numbers in confluence?
We have insurance
it’s approved for advanced use but
we need to get a registration number as well
Nathan has a number for a custom built drone, will go on confluence list
@Nathan Green
What are we characterizing at the flight test?
How many laps are we targetting for competition task 1?
see above
Review RFCs
2024-04-22 Video System Power Changes
reason is for noise
happens when we throttle up
we need an EE solution, do what is best to do here
@Ishman Mann @Daniel Puratich
everyone agrees
@Nathan Green
Monster Mount
It has been abolished
no cv camera
opflow and rangefinder
new lidar mounted elsewhere
@Smile Khatri
2024-04-19 Pegasus Rangefinder Change
we need to do some drilling for this flight test for this
Cabin
already agreed on mech
tbd EE @Nolan Haines @Jerry Tian @Neel Patel
Wire Covers
Label for accessibility
@Daniel Puratich to do
2024-04-22 Battery Information
four batteries
plus sign placement, that’s how we’ve done it
could other placements be more optimal? we have six turns total, it doesnt rlly matter