News Summary: Army Preps for Gray Eagle Expansion, Promotes Small UAS Competition

After months of not being on blogger and talking about my passion, I am finally back. The last couple of months have been crazy due to my first semester of college. Whether is was getting use to classes, making new friends, or finding the balance between everything, it seemed I didn't have time. But, with my classes, friends and organization set, I'm back and ecstatic.

Being at school, I can't really work on my Mission Space program much, which I do plan on changing the name to something simpler. SATL? (Stars Are The Limit). With that said, I want to stay an active member within the drone world, or as an official member now, AUVSI word, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. To do this, I will be blogging a couple times a week about the recent UAV or UAS news. The first one comes from the AUVSI website by Brett Davis <http://www.auvsi.org/020413grayeagle>

The first line of the article states, "The U.S. Army is moving to expand the operations of its MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft, deploying more systems to theater while prepping for a full-rate production award this summer." This is fantastic news for anyone involved in UAV or UAS line of work. With recent news about the Army cutting back spending and somewhat down grading, it seemed as though anything dealing with military contracts would be as well. But this shows how powerful and how big of an asset UAS and drones are for the military. 

With the possible cutting back on soldiers, who cost upwards of $850,000 per year per solider, this leaves room for UAS. Drones and UAS now can take the place of some soldiers; those who would usual do surveillance, dangerous recon or anything else that a UAS could take over. 

On that note, lets go back to the Gray Eagle and get some background on this marvelous piece of machinery. The MQ-1C Gray Eagle is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance, MALE, UAV aircraft. This aircraft is developed and produced by the legendary General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. When one thinks of a typical UAV, this is the picture in their head. With its fat front head, smaller wings and back propeller, its truly an aeronautical masterpiece. According to Wikipedia "the Gray Eagle has an increased wingspan and is powered by a Thielert Centurion 1.7 Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE).^[10] This is a Diesel piston engine that burns jet fuel, giving the aircraft better performance at high altitudes. It will be capable of operating for 36 hours at altitudes up to 25,000 feet (7,600 m),^[5] with an operating range of 200 nautical miles (400 km).^[11]"

With these specs, and its army history, no wonder Col. Timothy Baxter, the U.S. Army’s project manager for unmanned systems, stated that “It’s been a busy year for the Gray Eagle program.” It truly has been, last spring a brigade of Gray Eagles were sent into Afghanistan, with a second starting in a mere 90 days. 

What I liked most about this article is the Competition section, here the author, Brett Davis, talks about the future of the Military and UAS's. "The Army recently announced a $248 million contract split between five companies for small unmanned aircraft, and Baxter said more competition in that arena is on the way. The Army is also competing its services program for small UAS and plans to have a request for proposals on the street soon."

This is another set of great news for UAS companies, especially smaller start-ups. Most of the start up companies I have seen thus far, American Aerospace and the UAV Factory, are more into the smaller to medium sized UASs. These are more for a soldier or even civilian to be able to toss the UAV into the air and be able to control it with simple background knowledge in aerodynamics and R/C control. With the possibility of a Military contract, the sky, no, the stars are the limit for these companies

With all this news about the Military and UASs, I truly believe that there future, as well as mine, are extremely bright

- Robert Zybrick

  Mission Space - Founder

  

Mission Space: Bixler Transportation Building Instructions

My original idea for the transportation involved wood, foam, and cement cylinders. After conversing with my father we put our ideas together and came up with an easier, lighter, and more effective design...classic engineering.

The new idea consists of a PVC tube frame with cement cardboard cylinders cut in half, and surrouded with bubble wrap. This blog will give step by step instructions on how to construct the transporter. Enjoy.

1. Buy all the necessary supplies

• (2) 10 foot 1.5 inch diameter PVC piping 
• (5) 1.5 inch diameter PVC caps
• (1) 1.5 inch diameter PVC 4 way attachment
• (1) 1.5 inch diameter PVC T attachment
• (1) Roll of bubble wrap (I used large bubbles, 12 inch wide sheets)
• (1) Bottle of spray contact cement (spray-able glue is just as good)
• (1) Roll of Velcro straps
• (10) 1 to 1.5 inch long screws
• (10) Washers to fit your screws
• (2) 4ft x 10in cardboard cement forms 
• (1) 4ft x 8in cardboard cement forms
• A large, flat surface to work on.

2. Cut the PVC pipe to size. From left to right. Left Wing = 32", Right Wing = 32", Front Fuselage = 22", Back Fuselage = 18", Left Tail = 14", Right Tail = 14", also pictured are the 4-way and T attachments

3. Attach end caps to all the pipe, EXCEPT FOR THE BACK FUSELAGE!!! Use PVC cleaner and PVC cement to properly attach each cap. 

4. Now with the end caps on the other pipes, take the back fuselage pipe, which DOES NOT have an end cap on it, and attach the T and 4 way attachments to it (using the cleaner and cement). Make sure the T and 4 way attachment are straight, to do this I placed it on a flat surface and pushed down on the pipe.

5. Now attach using the cleaner and cement for the PVC, the front fuselage to the top section of the 4 way attachment.

6. After attaching both the back and front fuselage pipe, now using the cleaner and PVC cement, attach the right wing pipe to the 4 way attachment

7. Now attach the left wing pipe the same way you did the right wing pipe. You should notice that the frame is slowly taking the shape of the plane. 

8. With the fuselage and wing pipes attached, its now to take care of the tail piping. Clean and cement the right tail PVC to the T attachment

9. Do the same thing to the left tail PVC, it should now look like your plane. NOTE: I purposely over measured the wing and front fuselage piping so that the piping would hit the side of car or truck instead of the plane's fragile parts.

10. Now with the PVC frame all set, its time to cut the cardboard cement forms. You want to cut each one in half long ways, as shown. The way I got a straight line is I taped a straight line within the form before cutting. Came out surprisingly straight.

11. Do the other side of the form so you end up with two halves. Repeat step 10 and this step until all three forms are cut in half and now have 6 half cylinder forms. 

12. Now cut each half cylinder to its proper size. NOTE: I later found out that the fuselage cylinder (first one from the left), was a waste...ended up NOT using it in the end. From Left to Right. Fuselage = 48", Right Wing = 33.5", Left Wing = 33.5", Right Tail = 15", and Left Tail = 15".

13. Now its time to attach the cylinders to their proper spot. The first cylinder that went on was the left wing, no reason. I pushed the cylinder up to the lip caused by the 4 way attachment. I then pre-drilled the hole and screwed in the screw, WITH the washer. I then went to the end, where the cap was, made sure the cylinder was straight, and pre-drilled the hole and screwed in the screw with the washer. Then for extra safety I put another screw with washer in the middle (eye balled it)

14. Do the same as step 13 just this time for the right wing. The cylinder will go pass the cap, did that just for more protection for the plane. Also put the plane in it to see how it fit, pretty well if I say so myself.

15. With the wing cylinders finished, do the same for the left and right tail. Notice that I only used two screws and washers this time...didn't think it needed more than that. 

16. If you did everything right it should look like this. 

17. Now with the frame and cylinders constructed, its time for the bubble wrap and spray glue. Put a painter sheet down onto the floor and under the transporter, or you will have very sticky floors. 

18. Before spraying read the directions on the can. For the type I bought you had to spay the two surfaces, wait 15 to 30 seconds and then apply. NOTE: I sprayed the bubble wrap with the BUBBLES UP. After spraying and waiting apply the sheets to the cylinders. NOTE: The tail cylinder only had one sheet of bubble wrap while the wing cylinders will have two. Did this for extra protection.

19. With the first sheets on, spray the surface of the wing cylinders and the second sheet and apply it, just like step 18. 

20. Let the glue dry, once dry put the plane inside the transporter. Then take the Velcro straps and sucure the plane in place with it. You can screw the straps to the PVC so you know its completely attached to the frame. 

21. Put it in the car and go fly!

Mission Space: Building and Pre-flight

Goals:

• Build the transporter for the plane
• Assemble and connect the telemetry 
• Drive around in the car again and this time see what happens with the help of the telemetry and R/C
• Try and fly the plane...depending on how far I get today

Accomplished:

Mission Space: Bixler Transportation

Goal:
Figure out how to transport the drone when fully assembled

Idea:
The ides is partially taken from an idea give to me on diydrones.com. Basically the base is made of wood. Then 2x4s are put in place and surround the fuselage so it doesn't move during the car ride. Then the wings and tail are put into cardboard concrete filling cylinders.

Possible Problems:

• Cylinders may not fit the wings
• Will I need the cylinders?
• Will I need to add dense foam?
• Too heavy?
• Too big?
• Will the wings need to be glued
• If not, it will make the transporter idea smaller and less complex.

Mission Space: R/C Controller and Telemetry

R/C controller:
Today I decided to buy a 5 channel R/C controller. I bought the Spektrum DX5e tx and rx. I decided to go against my original thought and buy it. Buy buying it, it will make everything easier to do such tasks as switching the modes. Also, I now have a way to save the plane if it goes out of control.

Telemetry:
I also received the telemetry kit from DIYdrones.com. With this, hopefully I can see which mode I'm in without the Ardupilot being plugged in . I now need to solder the prongs to the board, and hook it up to the Ardupilot.

Mission Space: CLI logs

What is it?:
CLI logs, or Common Line Interface, is data stored within the board that tell information like the telemetry does. This info includes sensor readings, GPS info, and flight mode info. Only problem is, you have to wait till the plane is grounded before you can read it.

What it did for me:
For me I saw only GPS and alt. readouts, and no readout regarding which mode the plane was in. Because of this I can infer that the plane was never truly in auto mode but I will need to look more into it. I really don't want to use and R/C tc/rx if I don't need to.

Next Step:
Figure out how to have the plane in auto mode right from the start. This is crucial because once I get the launch planes attached I wont be able to switch them all into auto mode.

Mission Space: Setting and Executing waypoints

Goals:

• See if the plane can go to auto mode w/o there being an R/C tx/rx

Ideas

• Manually put command in the computer board through mavlink software
• Put in the waypoint and test the commands

What Happened:

1. Put the waypoints in, #1 being where I was in the car (to simulate the flight) command: takeoff
2. #2 waypoint was down the street, its command: waypoint, meaning just go to the #2 waypoint
3. #3 waypoint had no long. or lat. but its command was to RTL (return to launch)

• Pressed auto mode when plane was connected 
• Motor started to run, assumed it was in take off mode
• Drove down the street, saw plane move and try to keep a straight line
• Once it hit waypoint two at an intersection, the motor turned off
• Tried to troubleshoot by adding waypoints, changing commands, but nothing worked
• Went on to learn about CLI logs and its importance