Day 7
03/31/08 2:42 am by Ocean Debris - Posted In : Daily Log
Today was our first day of UAS Ops. Just over seven hundred miles from the nearest point of land, the ATI team successfully completed three launches and three recoveries from the Oscar E. Sette.
We sailed clear of the fog and set up our equipment on the bow. After launching support boats, we went down our check list preparing to hand launch the Malolo 1 off the port (left) side. Tim donned his NOAA sanctioned protective gear and with a short jog and toss, the UAS was airborne—the first launch of a UAS off a NOAA ship. Curt, our seasoned RC pilot, climbed flew several passes by the ship. As he turned for another run, the motor cut out. Unfazed, Curt performed a flawless dead-stick landing next to the ship. Our support boat cruised up to it, the UAS was lifted from the water and brought back to the Sette. After transferring it back onboard ship, Tim and Mike carried it back up the the bow to be inspected and prepped for another launch.
The second launch was uneventful and Curt again flew past the ship, catching our chase boat and the Sette in our live video feed. After five minutes we again lost power and Curt performed another forced landing. Concerned with what we suspected was a battery problem, but happy with the performance of the aircraft and the recovery crew, we decided to launch Malolo 2.
Tim launched it over the bow and it climbed smartly up and away. After several passes of the ship and a flight time of around seven minutes, it's motor shut down as well. It was recovered, taken down to the bench and taken apart. We soon eliminated the batteries as our problem and now strongly suspect that the motor speed controllers have been overheating. Making our UAS watertight AND providing adequate cooling for hot electronic components can be a challenge. We are working to take care of that in time for operations tomorrow.
We sailed clear of the fog and set up our equipment on the bow. After launching support boats, we went down our check list preparing to hand launch the Malolo 1 off the port (left) side. Tim donned his NOAA sanctioned protective gear and with a short jog and toss, the UAS was airborne—the first launch of a UAS off a NOAA ship. Curt, our seasoned RC pilot, climbed flew several passes by the ship. As he turned for another run, the motor cut out. Unfazed, Curt performed a flawless dead-stick landing next to the ship. Our support boat cruised up to it, the UAS was lifted from the water and brought back to the Sette. After transferring it back onboard ship, Tim and Mike carried it back up the the bow to be inspected and prepped for another launch.
The second launch was uneventful and Curt again flew past the ship, catching our chase boat and the Sette in our live video feed. After five minutes we again lost power and Curt performed another forced landing. Concerned with what we suspected was a battery problem, but happy with the performance of the aircraft and the recovery crew, we decided to launch Malolo 2.
Tim launched it over the bow and it climbed smartly up and away. After several passes of the ship and a flight time of around seven minutes, it's motor shut down as well. It was recovered, taken down to the bench and taken apart. We soon eliminated the batteries as our problem and now strongly suspect that the motor speed controllers have been overheating. Making our UAS watertight AND providing adequate cooling for hot electronic components can be a challenge. We are working to take care of that in time for operations tomorrow.
03/31/08 7:59 am
Looks beautiful out there! Hope you get the issues resolved soon. Tell Mike his son's band was great. Billy