Autonomous Robots and Applications (ARA) Team

Introduction

The autonomous robotics and applications society at the University of Prince Edward Island was formed in September 2020 to participate in the HoverGames Challenge. The team consists of engineering students in various years of study, all who share an interest in drone applications. The team entered the challenge with the mindset to learn more about drones, programming, and different ways to apply these technologies. Although the team encountered many hurdles to overcome throughout the challenge, the team was able to develop new ideas and skills by participating in the HoverGames Challenge II.

Project Ideation

The team initially developed two different potential applications for this challenge: helping others during a pandemic. One idea was using the drone to heat map large gatherings to create public alerts about the current population at the event. This would allow the public to be more aware of how many people are currently at an event and make an informed decision about attending. The second potential idea was delivering self testing kits remotely to reduce contact between people exposed to COVID-19 and medical staff. These ideas are discussed further below.

Heat Map Sensing Drone

Due to COVID-19, events and large pop-up gatherings (festivals, farmer's markets, sports tournaments, etc.) are a challenge due to the higher possibility of spread and a challenge to maintain social distancing. It’s the lack of social distancing at these types of events that could increase the spread of the disease and further increase the severity of the pandemic. The proposed solution to this problem is a drone equipped with an infrared thermal camera to track population dense areas using heat detecting technology. The heat detected area will be then translated to a map of the surrounding area for people nearby to review and make informed decisions about attending such events. A population density map will be created to visually represent the population at the event. The hardware and software required will be a camera with infrared capabilities, a transmitter to transfer the images made by the camera (via bluetooth or WiFi), and a machine learning algorithm to associate heat distribution with an estimated population.

Mobile Support for COVID-19 Self-Testing

A large issue in the current COVID-19 testing protocol is the large volume of contact between medical staff and people receiving tests. The team proposed using the drone to deliver self test kits directly to patients’ doors. This would be accomplished by medical staff driving to the homes of those who require a test. The drone would then fly from the road and drop the test kit at the door of the home. The testee would take the kit inside and test themself, then put the test kit back on the drone. The drone would then fly back to the vehicle and proceed to the next house. This would be accomplished by using 3D printing extra structural components to house the test kit, as well as programming the drone to deliver the test kit to the door and return it to the vehicle after testing.

Project Progress

Initial Assembly

After receiving the drone in September, the team took to assembling it. Assembling the drone was a great experience to help the team understand the different components of the drone and how they function.

After assembling the drone, connecting to the controller, and calibrating the drone, we were able to get initial liftoff!

Weight Testing

The team completed initial testing to determine the maximum weight that could be carried safely by the drone. This was accomplished by tying calibrating weights to the legs of the drone to hang under the central region of the drone. The testing we did was performed in late October at the Pownal RC airplane flight ground. We were in the process of deciding what function the drone would perform for the HoverGames challenge. To perform testing, 0.5 lb and 1lb weights were taken out to the air strip to be hung on the drone. Increments of 0.5lbs were added to a total of 5lbs. At 5 lbs of weight the drone was capable of lifting upward, but would come down fast and crash if the throttle was let off too quickly. The battery drained faster when the drone carried the weights. Carrying 5 lbs, the drone was able to lift about 10 feet and then the motors lost the power to continue upward. A problem that occurred during testing was that the drone ceased communication with the controller and flew to outward point 100 ft away and held its locations up in the air. The problem was solved by calling the drone back using the computer. After conducting this test, it was confirmed that the drone can comfortably carry approximately 1.5 lbs without major effect to the flight of the drone.

Current Status

The team encountered an unfortunate drone accident that left the drone unusable. The team purchased another drone kit, but lost a lot of time towards the challenge due to the time due to waiting on funding from the school. Therefore, the team was not able to complete the ideas discussed above. However, now that the new drone has arrived and is assembled, the team continues to work towards these applications.

The current design is to create a mechanism to drop packages from the bottom of the drone containing self-testing kits. A dropper mechanism will be 3D printed and mounted to the rails on the underside of the drone. A servo motor will connect to the mechanism, which will drop a testing kit each time the servo is activated.

The drone operator can then deliver the testing kits without having contact with the patients. Additionally, testing kits can be delivered to remote areas, with multiple deliveries being made at a time depending on the range of the drone. Based on our weight testing, if each testing kit weighed 0.25lbs, and if the dropping mechanism also weighed 0.25lbs, the drone could carry 5 kits at a time. The range of the drone is reduced when it is carrying a payload, though the load would get lighter with each kit delivered.

This idea is similar to technology which is currently being used to deliver medical supplies to remote areas during emergencies. With more drones, and especially with extended ranges, this technology could help combat the spread of viruses in the event of a future pandemic.