DASC

Filed at 10:50 am under School by ryan

The abstract I posted a few weeks ago got accepted yesterday!  now I just have to actually WRITE the paper that’s getting published… booo

grad school is stealing my life

Filed at 9:57 am under Ranting and School by ryan

Do you ever feel like every time something could go wrong, it does?  I have this flight test that I’ve scheduled about 5 different times… and every single time we get ready to do it something goes wrong and it gets pushed back another week.   And here’s the funny part, I’m supposed to get almost 20 of these flight tests done before the end of the quarter and I can’t even get the first one underway…. RAH!!!!!!!

Digital Avionics System Conference

Filed at 12:12 pm under School by ryan

Here is my abstract for the paper I’ll hopefully be presenting at the DASC in october. 

‘See-and-avoid’ is the current FAA approved method for pilots to avoid objects 

and other aircraft while flying in visual meteorological conditions.  Although 

fully autonomous ‘sense-and-avoid’ or ‘detect-and-avoid’ systems are in 

development, none are currently certified.  Thus existing unmanned aerial 

vehicle (UAV) operations are limited to case-by-case restricted airspace or 

require escort by manned aircraft.  Many UAVs are equipped with at least a 

forward-looking camera.  In the transition between current technology and 

future fully autonomous, certified sense-and-avoid systems, it seems reasonable 

to require a ground-based operator to perform the see-and-avoid function.  The 

purpose of this project is to compare the obstacle and traffic detection 

capability of a UAV operator to that of an actual pilot flying a manned aircraft.  

The traffic may consist of other airplanes, hot air balloons, hang gliders et 

cetera. 

  

For this project subject pilots will follow a flight path as specified by an 

accompanying safety pilot.  The subject pilot will be directed to identify any 

aircraft in their field of view during the flight, notifying the data collector when 

an aircraft is spotted.  In order to remove the focus from the traffic detection, 

the safety pilot will also ask the subject to perform tasks and maneuvers 

common during pilot training. For this experiment, we will use a Piper Warrior III 

aircraft as the traffic.   

The test aircraft is a Piper Saratoga (one of the Ohio University Avionics 

Engineering Center’s flying research laboratories) and will be outfitted with 

three cameras (one forward looking and 2 peripheral).  These cameras will be 

attached to a computer that will record the video feeds.  Subject pilots flying the 

Saratoga will be evaluated and will be accompanied by a safety pilot and a data 

collector.  The data collector’s job will be to record the time that the subject 

identifies the traffic each time it passes into the pilot’s field of view.  

After each flight, data will be processed to determine the time the subject 

identified the traffic, and the range to the traffic.  GPS receivers onboard the 

Saratoga and Warrior III will be used to record the position of each aircraft over 

the course of the flight. In a separate test, the subject will watch the video 

recorded from a different subject pilot’s flight.  The subject will be asked to 

identify the intruder aircraft and will notify the data collector who will record the 

time.  This test will simulate a UAV operator designated with the task of 

obstacle and traffic detection. 

The results of these tests will be used to assess the efficacy of ground-based 

UAV operators to provide equivalent see-and-avoid capability.  Currently the 

UAV community is drafting regulations for UAV operations with precious little 

data available to assist in the decision-making.  The data provided in this 

experiment could greatly benefit the community as UAVs make the transition 

from restricted-only airspace into the broader national airspace system.  

sweetness

Filed at 4:31 pm under School by ryan

bored again, so i just did the math for how much i get per hour to do research.  I get paid on a 10 week basis, and im expected to work 15-20 hours a week. they pay $2535 for tuition and $205 of the general fee, and I get a $3000 stipend.  so in a round-about way, im making $28.70 - $38.27  an hour!  plus it’s working for the university, so they take out like barely any taxes.. now that I think about it, that makes grad school much less painful

Home is Where the…

Filed at 10:17 pm under School by ryan

I called my friend’s landlord today and set up a time for later this week to check out some single apartments he has on South Congress.  The problem is he said they are a 12 month lease from June to June, and I assume I won’t be here over the summer.  I could always get someone to sublease, but that brings up a whole other bag of nuisances to deal with….  oh the joys of college life.

On the upside, it would only be $500 a month, which is much better than the ~$700+ for the other three places I’ve looked.

Graduation

Filed at 10:19 am under School by ryan

so I applied for graduation today.  Less than three months and I’ll be done… oh wait, then I’ll have 2 more years. woot!

 here’s a funny picture, for your viewing pleasure: 

Lime Cat