STEReO team members from
Ames and
Glenn Research Centers visited the McCash fire in Northern California from September 21-23, 2021, to demonstrate the Unmanned Aerial Systems Pilot kit (UASP-kit) on-scene to the
US Forest Service.
The
STEReO team conducted three days of demonstrations in an area marked by a steep narrow valley in the north-west of the fire that was not burned, while the three surrounding valleys were burning. UAS equipped with a PSD (plastic sphere dispenser) payload were requested to burn through a swath below the hand-cut control line to further clear out the underbrush. The
STEReO team observed the live UAS operations while testing the UASP-kit during the flights.
This first validation of the UASP-kit was successful, establishing that the UASP-kit is portable, can be quickly set up in the field, and remain operational for the duration of the daily UAS missions. The UASP-kit’s integrated ADS-B receiver identified nearby piloted aircraft, displaying those aircraft on a fire operations map. Functions such as alerting, importing maps, setting up operational volumes, and filtering ADS-B traffic were all demonstrated. The kit was shown to the UAS pilots and hotshot crew bosses working the area, and first-look feedback was obtained on interface usability and styling, usability of the UASP-kit as a whole, and how pilots would use information from the UASP-kit in their operational planning. In addition to bug fixes, improving portability, and some styling changes, the next steps for the UASP-kit are to test different power-supply options, build remote receiver units, and test the integration, data sharing, and data management of multiple UASP-kits and/or remote receiver units connected togetherand data management of multiple UASP-kits and/or remote receiver units connected together.
