AT 309 Week 8: Measure Ground Control

 Introduction

In week 8, AT 309 was introduced to Measure Ground Control. Measure Ground Control (MGC) is a Single Source of Truth (SSoT) application designed to make UAS missions easier. It does this by combining many software that UAS operators need into one place. Earlier in the semester, one of the topics in AT 309 was the Internet of Things. SSoTs are similar to IoT in that they allow different software to communicate with each other, but SSoTs are on a much smaller scale than IoTs.

Measure Ground Control Start Screen

Airspace Map

The first section in Measure Ground Control is the Airspace Map. MGC uses Airmap for its airspace map. Airmap allows users to see rules and advisories that are necessary for flight planning. 

Airspace Map in Measure Ground Control (West Lafayette)

Once the map is zoomed in, areas with restricted airspace are marked by different colored circles. This is useful in flight planning for missions that are in restricted airspace. Zooming in further users can see the altitude limit. 

Rules and Advisories Section in Measure Ground Control

Rules and advisories can be viewed in MGC through the caution symbol at the bottom right of the screen.

LAANC Authorization

When UAS teams are done with mission planning and ready to go out to the field, they can request LAANC flight authorization in MGC as well. MGC fills out as much information as it can, such as date, to speed up the process for users. 

Weather Section in Airspace Map

Another feature in the airspace map is the weather tab. This is useful to users because it allows them to plan ahead. Before going out to the field, operators need to verify that the weather is good enough for flight. MGC's weather tab provides the essential weather information that UAS operators need when prepping for a mission.

Fly

When users are ready to begin their flight, the Fly section pairs with the UAS in use.

Fly Screen (drone not connected)

If MGC was connected to a UAS, the screen would show the camera view. The Fly section is built on DJI SDK, a software by DJI that provides users with control options for their UAS in a mobile app. Measure Ground Control simplifies the layout and includes additional controls that may be useful to pilots. 

Intelligent Flight Modes in Measure Ground Control

Intelligent flight modes are integrated into this section through the button at the bottom right of the screen. These flight modes provide convenient ways to perform tasks. Spotlight is one of these modes that would be useful if operators were making a 3D model of a stationary object. Operators that use specific flight modes frequently can favorite these flight modes so they show up at the top of the menu.

Flight Plans

The first two sections allow users to to do mission planning and perform missions through MGC. In between these two parts, flight plans need to be created. The Flight Plan section allows users to do this. Flight plan options include grid flight and waypoint flight. Additionally, operators using KML flights can import their files here.

Grid Flight Planning

MGC provides users with the usual options for grid and waypoint flight planning. These options include flight speed, altitude, start and finish points, and many others. Once flight plans are finished, the bottom section displays information about the flight like duration and the number of photos that will be taken. Because of this, users can get a good idea of how flights will go. 

Some factors can be unpredictable and data can be affected by these factors. If the mission is completed and the data does not come out the way it is supposed to, flights can be saved so users can quickly redo the flight without having to input all the flight information again.

Grid Flight Redo

In some cases, most of the data may be fine while a small portion does not come out right. Operators may not want to fly the whole mission again. For grid flight situations like this, users can select specific starting and ending rows. This allows operators to re-fly the area that did not come out well and combine the data later.

Organizations

Another cool feature in Measure Ground Control is the organization information. UAS divisions may consist of several smaller teams of operators. MGC allows users to sign in with their organization which adds more SSoT features. 

Flights completed in organizations are saved and uploaded to MGC. This means anyone in the organization can access past flight plans that were performed by other teams in their organization. Some missions may need to be performed several times. This feature makes it easier for organizations to send out different teams to while mitigating confusion. 

Conclusion

Measure Ground Control simplifies UAS projects by combining essential software into one application. Missions can be tedious when users have to switch between the several different software they need to perform these missions. MGC does this while also providing an easy to interpret interface. The simplified interface may make MGC seem like a dumbed down mission planning software. This is not the case and there are many options available to anyone that knows how to use them.