2011 National Air Quality Conferences J.B. Kosmatka , Project Lead

1. Air Quality Plume Characterization and Tracking using small unmanned aircraft 2011 National Air Quality Conferences J.B. Kosmatka, Project Lead Thomas S. Hong, Student Lead (Presenter) Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering University of California, San Diego MassimilianoLega, Collaborator DipartimentodiScienze per l’Ambiente, UniversitadegliStudidi Napoli Partenope Giuseppe Persechino, Collaborator CIRA, Italian Aerospace Research Centre March 9th, 2011

2. Introduction • Plumes • UAS • Current System • Capabilities • Proposed Test Details • The Future Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Outline

3. A volume of gas or fluid with a composition of interest moving through another Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Introduction: Plumes Mt. Etna (NASA Image)

4. Make up can be particulate, chemical, biological, radioactive matter Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Introduction: Plumes Escondido Controlled Burn (AP Photo)

5. Wind shear causes plume drift that is hard to predict Varying scale plumes call for a scalable solution Potentially invisible and or hazardous to life and manned sensors Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Introduction: Plumes 2007 California Wildfires (NASA Image)

6. Used in 3-D missions • Dull, Dirty or Dangerous • Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) • More maneuverable than full sized counterparts • Lower operational costs • Can be launched and recovered almost anywhere Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Introduction: Unmanned Aerial System Raven UAS (Aerovironment photo)

7. Small electric airframe with pusher propeller 2 lbs maximum weight Endurance with payload: 30 minutes Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details: aircraft Multiplex Easy Star 54”(UCSD photo)

8. Kestrel 2.2 COTS autopilot – GPS, IMU, multiple failsafes Allows for a easily controlled and fully autonomous aircraft A external multiplexor is used so that the safety pilot can take over the aircraft at any time Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details: Autopilot Kestrel 2.X (Procerus Technologies photo)

9. SHARP Compact Optical Dust Sensor Saturated by visible smoke Allows us to map the boundaries of test plumes Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details: Smoke sensor Optical dust sensor(SHARP photo)

10. Kemp et al. 2004 • Bang-Bang algorithm with multiple UUVs • Coordination achieved by changing speed of UUVs Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details: Prior Art Coverage of three perimeters Complete vs. incomplete coverage

11. Hsieh et al. 2005 Implementation of the Kemp method on ground robots (2D experiment) Were satisfied with results and its ease of implementation Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details: Prior Art Ground tracks of three robots and cooperatively gathered boundary points

12. Encountered a problem: Fast moving vehicles with limited maneuverability Limited plume sizes Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details: Prior Art

13. Plume boundary mapping and tracking via fly-through and centroid measurements Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details MATLabsimulation(UCSD image)

14. Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details MATLabsimulation(UCSD image)

15. Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details MATLabsimulation(UCSD image)

16. Allows for initial 2-D mapping, and tracking of plume by individual UAVs for a 3-D composite image Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory System Details

17. The controls group has conducted a autonomous ground test with multiple ground robots Control of the robots as well as their data were handled by an off-site super computer Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Previous Testing Ground robot testing(UCSD photo)

18. 2009 testing was conducted at Los Alamos, New Mexico Plume characterization tests were conducted without aircraft, and once characterized, the UAVs were flown through the plume for sensor data Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Previous Testing Smoke testing at Los Alamos (UCSD photos)

19. Learned that smaller and slower aircraft were needed Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Previous Testing Flight test data (UCSD image)

20. Coordinated flight with 3 UAVs at different altitudes Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Previous Testing Cooperative flight (UCSD photo)

21. Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Previous Testing Gridded search simulation(UCSD image) Gridded initial search pattern highlights grids with positive readings Highlighted grids can be meshed finer then re-queried Human operator can pick grids of interest if there are multiple regions

22. Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Previous Testing Tracking algorithm simulation (UCSD image) Once a positive detection is made, the algorithm goes into tracking mode

23. Servo operated plunger simulated smoke Successful tracking and estimation of plume boundaries Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Previous Testing Simulated smoke missions at UCSD (UCSD photo)

24. Flight tests to be conducted at NASA Dryden • FAA regulated flights with multiple UAVs • Aircraft will autonomously track released smoke using the boundary mapping algorithms and wind estimations Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Future Tests 2011 Flight Testing Schedule: May: Good, Low winds (5-10 days possible) June: Good, Low winds (10-15 days possible) July: Great, no wind, hot (30 days possible, dawn flight) August: Great, no wind, hot (30 days possible, dawn flight) September: Great, no wind, hot (30 days possible, dawn flight)

25. Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Future Tests Cruise Ship Pollution and Marine Shipping off of Anacapa Island, CA (Jim Walker, APCD photo)

26. Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Future Tests Major shipping routes (CruiseLawNewsimage)

27. Aknowledgements Chad Foerster, Nima Ghods, Tim Wheeler, David Zhang, 1 Charles Farrar, Will Fox, Matthew Bement, Mike Proicou, and Jeffery Hill 2 1University of California, San Diego 2 Los Alamos National Lab Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory Questions?