Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene Reconstruction
Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) have emerged as promising platforms for the purpose of crash scene reconstruction through structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry. However, auto crashes tend to occur under adverse weather conditions that usually pose increased risks of sUAS operation in th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Drones |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/3/67 |
| _version_ | 1797519654504103936 |
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| author | Tianxing Chu Michael J. Starek Jacob Berryhill Cesar Quiroga Mohammad Pashaei |
| author_facet | Tianxing Chu Michael J. Starek Jacob Berryhill Cesar Quiroga Mohammad Pashaei |
| author_sort | Tianxing Chu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) have emerged as promising platforms for the purpose of crash scene reconstruction through structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry. However, auto crashes tend to occur under adverse weather conditions that usually pose increased risks of sUAS operation in the sky. Wind is a typical environmental factor that can cause adverse weather, and sUAS responses to various wind conditions have been understudied in the past. To bridge this gap, commercial and open source sUAS flight simulation software is employed in this study to analyze the impacts of wind speed, direction, and turbulence on the ability of sUAS to track the pre-planned path and endurance of the flight mission. This simulation uses typical flight capabilities of quadcopter sUAS platforms that have been increasingly used for traffic incident management. Incremental increases in wind speed, direction, and turbulence are conducted. Average 3D error, standard deviation, battery use, and flight time are used as statistical metrics to characterize the wind impacts on flight stability and endurance. Both statistical and visual analytics are performed. Simulation results suggest operating the simulated quadcopter type when wind speed is less than 11 m/s under light to moderate turbulence levels for optimal flight performance in crash scene reconstruction missions, measured in terms of positional accuracy, required flight time, and battery use. Major lessons learned for real-world quadcopter sUAS flight design in windy conditions for crash scene mapping are also documented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:45:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb812f1a41684489aca4319eef658efc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-446X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:45:52Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Drones |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb812f1a41684489aca4319eef658efc2023-11-22T12:42:53ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2021-07-01536710.3390/drones5030067Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene ReconstructionTianxing Chu0Michael J. Starek1Jacob Berryhill2Cesar Quiroga3Mohammad Pashaei4Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USAConrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USAConrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USATexas A&M Transportation Institute, San Antonio, TX 78213, USAConrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USASmall unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) have emerged as promising platforms for the purpose of crash scene reconstruction through structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry. However, auto crashes tend to occur under adverse weather conditions that usually pose increased risks of sUAS operation in the sky. Wind is a typical environmental factor that can cause adverse weather, and sUAS responses to various wind conditions have been understudied in the past. To bridge this gap, commercial and open source sUAS flight simulation software is employed in this study to analyze the impacts of wind speed, direction, and turbulence on the ability of sUAS to track the pre-planned path and endurance of the flight mission. This simulation uses typical flight capabilities of quadcopter sUAS platforms that have been increasingly used for traffic incident management. Incremental increases in wind speed, direction, and turbulence are conducted. Average 3D error, standard deviation, battery use, and flight time are used as statistical metrics to characterize the wind impacts on flight stability and endurance. Both statistical and visual analytics are performed. Simulation results suggest operating the simulated quadcopter type when wind speed is less than 11 m/s under light to moderate turbulence levels for optimal flight performance in crash scene reconstruction missions, measured in terms of positional accuracy, required flight time, and battery use. Major lessons learned for real-world quadcopter sUAS flight design in windy conditions for crash scene mapping are also documented.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/3/67small unmanned aircraft systemsphotogrammetrystructure-from-motionwind impactturbulencecrash scene reconstruction |
| spellingShingle | Tianxing Chu Michael J. Starek Jacob Berryhill Cesar Quiroga Mohammad Pashaei Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene Reconstruction Drones small unmanned aircraft systems photogrammetry structure-from-motion wind impact turbulence crash scene reconstruction |
| title | Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene Reconstruction |
| title_full | Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene Reconstruction |
| title_fullStr | Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene Reconstruction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene Reconstruction |
| title_short | Simulation and Characterization of Wind Impacts on sUAS Flight Performance for Crash Scene Reconstruction |
| title_sort | simulation and characterization of wind impacts on suas flight performance for crash scene reconstruction |
| topic | small unmanned aircraft systems photogrammetry structure-from-motion wind impact turbulence crash scene reconstruction |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/3/67 |
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