Bramor Mission Planning Fundamentals

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 Introduction

After learning about parachute folding for the Bramor, it was important to learn about the mission planning software used for this UAV. C3P can be used to create grid plans, while also being able to edit the home, takeoff, rally, and landing points. This software has the capability to simulate flights while a UAV is not connected to it. The objective of this lab was to simulate a flight with the Bramor and creating a flight plan.

Methods

The flight plan was created to take place in the Purdue Wildlife Area (PWA). The draw tool was used to drag and drop the grid flight plan and the shape was adjusted to ensure that the grid completely covered the mission area. Within the editing options of the flight plan, the GSD resolution and overshoot can be altered. GSD resolution is the relationship between resolution and ground sample distance; increasing the value of this option increases the altitude at which the UAV will fly. Overshoot is the flight lines that reside outside of the mission area and are used to simply reposition the UAV for the next flight line; a greater overshoot is best if the flight lines are closely packed. Figure 1 shows the completed flight plan, while Figure 2 shows the settings used to initialize the flight plan.


Figure 1 shows the grid flight plan that was created.


Figure 2 displays all of the settings created for this flight.

After creating the first flight plan, another flight plan was created for the actual simulation. 
The mission area was a lot smaller than the example flight plan created. The settings for the plan for the simulated flight were the altitude set to 300 meters while in relative mode, overlap 80%, sidelap 75%, overshoot at 100 meters, and the RX1R II 35mm sensor was selected. Figure 3 shows the initialized flight plan for the simulation.


Figure 3 displays the finished grid flight plan created for the simulation.

As it can be observed from Figure 3, there are multiple points towards the bottom of the flight area. L is for landing, T is for takeoff, R is for rally, and the UAV is covering it, but there is a point below it labeled H for home. Once the simulation is started, the UAV will begin flying towards the takeoff point, circling the specified point, and begin ascending to the desired mission altitude. During the actual flight, the Bramor takes pictures within the specified mission area and will stop doing so once it leaves that defined area, such as moving along the overshoots. Figure 4 shows the UAV during the simulated flight. Figure 5 then shows the flight summary once it is finished.


Figure 4 displays the UAV during the simulated flight.


Figure 5 shows the completed flight summary after the UAV lands.

Discussion

Learning about mission planning for the Bramor is crucial in knowing how to operate this UAV. C3P is also crucial in creating flight plans for planning and preflight checklists. Knowing this software is also important in knowing what to do for any emergency situations or any last-minute changes that need to be made. This also prepped us for getting ready to use the Bramor in future field outings or within the capstone courses. 

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