Robota Labs Competes in The UAV Challenge

Robota Labs Competes in The UAV Challenge - Search and Rescue 2014

September, 24 2014

Kingaroy, Australia

It was Team Robota's day to fly. The team was on the runway at 6am anxiously awaiting our turn, which, while agonizing, gave us time to go over our preflight checklists.

When our turn finally came, we started our setup and were ready to fly in less than the allotted 15 minutes. We had practiced the routine many times, and it seemed to come naturally. The judges were briefed on the takeoff, and we launched at t- 4 minutes.

Kingaroy Departure

The SuperNova started the search and rescue mission with a graceful auto takeoff on runway 34 into the north west wind. We climbed out to 650ft above ground and were in the search area quickly thanks to a 17 knot tailwind.

As we searched for Joe via our live video link, we came to the realization that the conditions were gustier than we had ever experienced, but the Robota Goose autopilot kept us airborn. In the back of our minds, we were reminded of conversations with the Kingaroy Gliding Club regarding the thermal records that had been established in this area, and Team H2Joe's earlier flight that ended in destruction, presumably by loosing control in a strong gust.

After 13 minutes of flight time, we had covered about 80% of the 1x2km search area, We were surprised we had not seen Joe yet, and our nerve levels began to increase. We reassured each other that we would find Joe -- we knew we had the right equipment to do so. Sure enough, a bright spot appeared on our monitor. After a quick assessment, Keith noted, "I see pants!" To everyone's relief, we found Joe in record time.

Lost Bushwalker Located

After making a few alignment passes over Joe, we gave his coordinates to the judges, who quickly confirmed we had identified his location within 100m. It was time to make an accurate drop, we flew over Joe for several minutes to get the proper wind alignment. Once we were ready, we set the drop point. As we tracked to the drop point, large gusts threw the SuperNova off course. We had to abort the drop 3 times as the gusts were affecting our flight path. Finally, the SuperNova tracked the flight plan, and we watched the video screen for the bottle drop.

Water Bottle Delivery

As soon as we saw the bottle drop successfully, the vehicle was commanded back to the airfield. We did not want to fly in the current conditions any longer than necessary. As the vehicle approached Kingaroy Airport (YKRY) at 300ft above ground level, we obtained a landing clearance from the judges. A few moments later, the SuperNova auto-landed with surgical precision on runway 34 to everyone's applause. Team Robota had completed the challenge with 10 minutes to spare. Flying operations were cancelled for the remainder of the day due to the weather conditions.

Kingaroy Approach