Drone School Operations

We spent some time analyzing how the training activities are performed to understand all problems training organization are face today.

What we discovered is:

Drones flying schools usually plan intense flying activity during the whole day.
Most of the operations are done with Instructor/Student dual RC controller connected with cable constraining mutual I/S positions.
Flying practice is done giving student complete control of all 4 drone axis.
One drone is used for all flying practice, always with the same performance (usually “entry-level” drones are the preferred).
Usually, the drone used for training is very much different from the unit the student is likely to purchase for professional operations, creating a big gap for the novice pilot when piloting his own professional drone.
There is no changes in drones response and performance from initial activity to final missions flown.
Drone remains at the same takeoff weight for the whole training.
Battery management involves numerous time consuming interactions.
Different control modes are never or rarely tested (GPS denied ops, pure attitude control, compass loss…).
Emergency conditions are never or rarely simulated.
Student evaluation and scoring is usually done on instructor evaluation that is usually not based on “real measurement”.
Maintenance/Repair is usually done sending the drone back in RMA, requiring the school to purchase a second backup unit.

On top of all previous points, we must remember that:

reliability and safety are not negotiable features !

Venture T: UAV system for training schools

Bearing in mind what we saw at flying schools, we simply tried to address their problems and create a drone package offering a lot of interesting features.

Instructor/Student dual RC control in Wireless mode.

Teaching to fly has never been so easy with dual RC control. Any cable link between hand-held is limiting freedom and sometimes creating problems to both instructor and student. Quality of hand-held controller is crucial in order to ensure reliability and accuracy.

We selected top quality handheld controls linked together in wireless mode.

Student limited priority

The novice student first flights are usually very problematic; contemporary control of 4 axis flight is usually creates student anxiety. We discovered that single hand initial operations are the easiest way to begin.

We invented the possibility for the instructor to select which control priority assign to the student.

Easy/Pro command response

Very beginner students need a very easy “sluggish” reaction to command. On the other hand, as the student skill increases, a more responsive behavior is required to increase the level of training and put the student n condition to control a professional drone in operational conditions.

Drone response to command is selected by instructor.

Four control modes available

Instructor con select the best control mode for the most effective training. Four control modes are available:

Position GPS locked control mode with altitude control (standard)
Velocity control mode, with altitude control
Pure Attitude control mode (no GPS lock) with altitude control
Pure Attitude control mode (no GPS lock) without altitude control

Not all operations can be performed in the easy way..

Ground path and flight data monitoring

Two telemetry channels are provided:

Rc controller brief telemetry acting as a the “pilot cockpit”
Full table/PC Wifi telemetry for detailed student performance monitoring and evaluation

Flight logs can be save and used to complete a flight experience database for each student.

Flight monitoring and logging has never been so easy.

Batteries always charged

8 batteries providing 15 minutes of real flight time are provided together with quad charger, allowing continuous operations with one charger turnaround every two hours. Standard briefing (10 mins)+flight (10 mins)+debriefing and flight log completion (10 mins) is considered. Two missions per hour.

Battery management, a task reduced to minimum effort…