UASE 638

 The UAS design/assembly part of the lab was actually fairly well made. The UI is simple and easy to understand and use. However, I do also have some gripes. Why is it that the payload capacity is so easily exceeded on the Rotary Wing UAS?  I have the bare bones of a motor, flight controller, IR sensor, GPS module, and 25% fuel capacity and I'm just barely under the 2800 grams of payload capacity. Adding a battery, or altimeter, or generator would make it overweight. I only noticed this issue after assembling and trying to fly this thing the first time. I couldn't get it to move past 1 m/s and was so confused. For the Performance section, I'm fairly satisfied with how the simulator runs. The UI emulates the kind of visuals you would see on a real UAS I think. However, the joystick control for the operation of the gimballed cameras is a little bit unwieldy when using a keyboard and mouse. If the camera optic was linked directly to mouse movement like in First Person video ga...

   Biography:  I'm Nicholas Liu, a student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, pursuing a Masters in Uncrewed and Autonomous Systems. I am currently enrolled in the class UASE 638, for which this blog is created. 

 In module 1 of UASE 638, I've learned about some issues with Remotely Piloted Aircraft, and how human factors relate to said issues. Sensory cues: In remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), the pilot relies primarily on visual cues, with a handful of additional sensors. In a traditionally piloted aircraft, pilots use all of their senses, be it sight, sound, feel, smell, or hearing, in addition to gauge clusters and other sensors. This makes it harder for RPA pilots to determine when something goes wrong, but more critically, the signs and cues before  something goes wrong so they can take action to mitigate or alleviate the issue. Communication: In RPAs, the pilot, by definition, is controlling the aircraft remotely. This crops up some issues, such as latency, loss of link, and communication with other aircraft.  Issues caused by latency are similar to those of sensory cues: When the pilot pitches the aircraft, it takes time for data to be sent and processed then displayed to t...