Questions about search and rescue operations

[BEC1]

Hi all! This question isn't so much about the Yuneec products, but UASs in general and a feature I need.

My son is in an aviation maintenance technology program in high school. They are learning about drones in the program and there is a state-sponsored UAS competition. He is going to compete in the search and rescue portion of the competition. He has to go through a building and look in each room for any signs of life after a disaster. He has to map the building along with looking in each room.

I am trying to find any software, either for a Yuneec or any other brand that would allow mapping or at least create a trail as the UAS flies through the building. I am thinking about buying him a thermal camera or maybe find out if Yuneec would like to help for some publicity and maybe loan us a thermal camera.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Steve Carr]

Since there is not going to be any GPS signal to aid in tracking it would have to be derived from the inertial system. I know of no program which would work or be adaptable for this kind of mapping. Maybe someone else has a way to do it.

 

[BEC1]

Since there is not going to be any GPS signal to aid in tracking it would have to be derived from the inertial system. I know of no program which would work or be adaptable for this kind of mapping. Maybe someone else has a way to do it.

I was thinking the same way, but GPS can be received in the building.

 

[Steve Carr]

Perhaps you can get a signal but I wouldn't trust it to fly in GPS mode. I don't know what type of unit they plan to use for the search, but it obviously will be small and hopefully has an altitude hold function. I think the H and the Q will continue to log GPS in the telemetry even when the GPS is turned off. However, I've never tested it. I do know that when it's turned off it actually continues to operate. It's just not used for navigation. If you have something with telemetry recording that will also record the GPS coords then you could use that to make a plot of the flight path.

 

[BEC1]

Perhaps you can get a signal but I wouldn't trust it to fly in GPS mode. I don't know what type of unit they plan to use for the search, but it obviously will be small and hopefully has an altitude hold function. I think the H and the Q will continue to log GPS in the telemetry even when the GPS is turned off. However, I've never tested it. I do know that when it's turned off it actually continues to operate. It's just not used for navigation. If you have something with telemetry recording that will also record the GPS coords then you could use that to make a plot of the flight path.

Thank you for the input. I didn't think about the telemetry. That may work. We are trying to decide between using the Typhoon or the Mavic.

 

[Rayray]

Inside a building? Big building with big rooms? Going through 3' doors? Lots of distractions?

I'll catch heat for this, but I suggest the small drones, Mavic or maybe the Breeze will work. Can you Breeze members chime in?
@BEC1, you can also join the Mavic forum, bottom of page, and see what they think....

 

[BEC1]

Inside a building? Big building with big rooms? Going through 3' doors? Lots of distractions?

I'll catch heat for this, but I suggest the small drones, Mavic or maybe the Breeze will work. Can you Breeze members chime in?
@BEC1, you can also join the Mavic forum, bottom of page, and see what they think....

He doesn't have to fly in the rooms, but instead look into them. The hallways are about 10 feet wide. Luckily, the GPS signal is good enough for navigation. We have been flying for two weeks inside the building without GPS issues. I've already inquired on the Mavic site too. We have the Mavic too. I am seriously thinking about getting the thermal camera.

My main question is the mapping, but I think that since we have a map of the facility, we can use that in conjunction with the telemetry data to plot the course and mark the rooms searched.

Thanks for the input guys. You have helped me with an idea that may work. I am going to test it out Monday.

 

[gwhuntoon]

I have this vision of a drone going room to room with a laser scanner mapping the interior to a point cloud like in the movie Prometheus but we're not there yet and that was a movie.

I'm also questioning the real world practicality of this exercise. I get what they're trying to do but... if the building was filled with smoke, thermal is the way to go but where there's smoke there's fire. I would think that thermal drafts could make accurate flying nearly impossible especially for a small drone, that and the structure would be changing and possibly filled or filling with debris so original maps or plans would be virtually useless. Heat is another issue. I'm betting the heat alone would melt the props and seize the gimbal at best, at worst shrink the drone to a molten ball. If it's just a structure collapse then all bets are off for accurately flying, other than a cursory overview of the site. Radiation would be a whole other ball game. Personally I'm thinking a tracked ground based drone/robot which is tethered to a fiber optic link would be the most practical for this exercise except that its a state sponsored UAS competition.

Maybe a different, creative approach on how to apply and effectively use a UAS in this situation is in order. Maybe as a way to efficiently direct first responders?

 

[Tuna]

Is this competition to try to build a rig capable of flying the mission, or to use 'off the shelf' drones and see what you can get?

It is possible to reconstruct indoor scenes from photographs (interior) but I'm not aware of any convenient packages to 'just do it' - you might be able to contact the researchers to find out what they know, and

There are also LiDAR packages that could do it, but the commercial ones are very expensive. If this is a 'hacking' project - there are some DIY alternatives that people have produced (DIY 360 degree realtime outdoor LIDAR | Don't worry be creative) - if you search there are a few interesting projects along those lines. The Typhoon should certainly be able to carry a project like that for a short flight if you focus on weight and vibration.

The other thing to do of course is check what you can get out of the telemetry. I've had quite good results working out where and when photographs were taken during a flight, and though that doesn't generate a 3D model, it can be used to build up a 'story board' of travelling through a building and checking off rooms that may contain people.

 

[Steve Carr]

To get a simple flight path you can upload the telemetry here for a test. I'm not sure the zoom level will be sufficient for what you need but you should get some type of overlay of the path thru the building.
GPS Visualizer: Convert GPS files to plain text or GPX