Collecting UAS Data for a Wetland Near Tomah WI

Introduction

  The goal of this lab was to learn how UAS works in the business world. Professor Joe Hupy met with a business partner to fly over a wetland. The lab for this week took place at wetland near Tomah Wisconsin. Figure 12.0 is a a photo of what the wetland looked like. This land is not technically classified as a wetland currently, but it could be turned into a wetland. The area is being studied to see if this is possible. If it is, the property would then be sold to a large company such as Menards so that they could then turn it into a wetland.

Fig 12.0: Wetland Area

Methods

  Fist, the GCPs had to be laid out across the wetland area. In total, 10 GCPs were laid out. The GCPs can be seen in the back of Professor Joe Hupy's pick up truck in figure 12.1. Then, the locations of these GCPs were taken using the survey grade GPS just like at the community garden at the middle school in Eau Claire. 

Fig 12.1: GCPs in the Back of the Pickup Truck

  Next, the launching pad for the Trimble UX500 was set up. This can be seen below in figure 12.2. It launches the Trimble UX500 which can be seen below on the right in figure 12.3. It costs around $ 25,000 when new.

Fig 12.3: Trimble UX500

Fig 12.2: Launching Pad for the Trimble UX500 

  After that, the Trimble UX500 was set up so that it was ready for flight. A tracker was inserted into the Trimble UX500 so that if it crashed for some reason the class could be able to find it. The mission was planned on its controller screen which can be seen below in figure 12.4. The overlap was set to 80% and the height was set to 400 feet.

Fig 12.4: Trimble UX500 Controller Screen

  Then, the Trimble UX500 was ready for flight. Figure 12.5 is a short video which shows the launch of the Trimble UX500. The launch is quite quick, and the Trimble UX500 increases in speed very quickly. It can travel up to 55 mph and can fly in 30 mph winds. This flight took approximately 40 minutes and covered the whole wetland area.

Fig 12.5: Launch of the Trimble UX500 

  Next, The M 600 did a flight of the wetland. There were many issues encountered with the mission planning apps, but finally, Professor Joe Hupy got one to work. This flight took only about 20 minutes and was flown at 70 meters. The overlap used was unknown to author, but was set fairly high. After the M 600 flight  was complete, the GCPs were picked up.

Conclusion

  The skills learned in today's field day could be potentially useful when working in the job force. Learning how to get work done in a timely matter, learning to overcome issues, and learning how to communicate duties are things which will be used when working with other people in the field.