UAVs, mining and the other side of the story - John Challinor

27th Mechanical Engineering Safety Seminar UAVs, Mining and the other side of the story Thursday 7th September 2017 John Challinor – Senior Surveyor / Chief Controller sdresources.com.au

U.A.V. Surveying – Our Approval process 8/03/13 eBee demonstration at UPG technology day, Newcastle

Racecourse. March – July Business Case, Funding, CASA Process, Insurances, Client

Interest, other types & Pilot training courses. 10/08/13 Purchase of eBee UAV from UPG. 26/08/13 PPL Training Starts. 27/08/13 ARN application to CASA. 27-28/08/13 Type training with UPG 4/9/13 PPL Training Finished 17/09/13 1st booking available for BAK and AROCOP (Rutherford) 1/10/13 1st local booking available for PPL(A) Theory Test (Cessnock) 2/10/13 Lodged Exemption for the Instrument Rating with CASA UAS

specialist and UAV Controller Application. 11/11/13 email to the UAS specialist regarding the Pre-application

meeting for our UAV Operators Certificate. Same day response!

13/11/13 Certified UAV Controller fixed wing, <2kg, VLOS, VMC. 13/01/14 emails to UAS Specialist regarding time frame for PAI

booking.

U.A.V. Surveying – Our Approval Process

17/01/14 Direct contact with UAS Specialist, PAI Booked. 23/01/14 Pre-Application Interview in Brisbane with CASA Rep. 3/02/14 Lodged Operators Certificate application with CASA. 11/02/14 UAV intercepted by aggressive Wedge Tail eagle !!!! 5/03/14 Phone call from CASA UAS Rep re: interview and flight test. 19/03/14 CASA Operations Interview and flight safety test at Singleton. 26/03/14 UAV Operators Certificate 1-10VCLV-01 issued. 5/06/14 Rio Tinto-C7 Aviation R.A.–(SGS Hart Aviation/RT Safety London)

How do we do this? 1. Flight Planning Client identifies the site and their expectation. This can be a Google earth polygon

or a DXF boundary. We look at, is it legal and is it safe.

How do we do this? 2. Flight Planning and Preparation Once all the safety concerns and risks have been addressed. We can undertake the

onsite mission planning and preparation.

How do we do this? 3. Flight operations and image capture Launc

h.

Landing.

Why adopt this Technology? Safety!!

What Surveyors ???

20 – 20 Hindsight……

Every product demonstration “ This technology will change Surveying ! “ Drones can do anything you can possibly think of. Marketing was and still is way ahead of reality. Especially when it comes to the technical Surveying part.

Drone, UAVs, RPAS -> Really are just another tool in your kit. The “Right tool for the Right Job” is so very true for this type of work. What goes up, must come down. We have had 4 catastrophic crashes. Broken 6 wings ($500pr), 3 propellers ($70pr), numerous body damage. 3 Cameras ruined. ($1,500ea) 5 LiPo Batteries rendered u/s. ($260ea)

What has gone wrong for us?


1st Bird Strike (Wedge Tail). 11/02/14 ($4000) Hard landing on rocky batter. 13/12/14 ($2,500) 2nd Bird Strike (Wedge Tail). 19/12/14 ($20,000) In-fight software flight cancellation. 16/02/16 ($7,000)

1st Bird Strike

No birds were sited prior to flight. The Eagles appeared over head and from behind our field of view. From initial sighting to impact was about 10 seconds. There was not much we could do to avoid the attack in flight. I had pressed the return to home. The UAV was starting to turn to return to home, the eagle impacted the

UAV. Called the OCE advised of Incident. Picked up the pieces, recovered LiPo battery and camera. Brief verbal report to Mine Manager and Incident recorded in register. Advised site that we would go back to the supplier for advice.

1st Bird Strike

648 STEERING FAILURE

• Truck 648 lost steering whilst empty heading towards 307 digger. Operator parked 648 up safely. Investigation Pending.

• Maintenance cleared rest of 789 fleet & 777 water cart.

• UAV attacked and assaulted by Reggie the Wedgie

1st Bird Strike Suppliers Response “The perceived threat of Raptor attack was underestimated in Australia!” Have you downloaded the latest version of the control software? There are some new functions to help with persistent eagles. We also started to do a bit more research on Wedge Tail Eagles We contacted the Raptor Keepers at Taronga and Western Plains Zoo’s. What does this mean for a UAV Controller ? Wedgies can see you before you see them. Wedgies can fly much higher than you can fly under Visual Flight Rules.

1st Bird Strike

1st Bird Strike Our Learning's No good having a spotter if you are both “Ball Watching”. Always check the supplier website and use the most up to date

software. Some Wedge Tail Eagles feed exclusively on other birds and will attack

without warning. Highlighted the basic requirement of operating a UAV in a controlled

environment where no people are being over flown outside of vehicles.

Partially dislodged wings still provided a relatively soft landing for UAV. Site was still happy to work with us for future projects.

Hard Landing The eBee has an Autonomous flight system and landing process A flight was planned and undertaken at a Quarry on the Mid North

Coast. The flight was within the 25nm control radius of Williamtown RAAF

Base. Under the advice of the Sqdr Cmdr the flight was planned for a

Saturday. A very steep and compact site with limited T/O and landing options. The autonomous landing approach was compromised when the ground

detection lowered the landing profile as the UAV had drifted off the access road and over the down slope batter. This became a negative feedback loop until UAV hit the batter as it corrected its heading.

Hard Landing

Wind Direction

Hard Landing Our Learning's We are dependant on the software for maintaining flight control. Our understanding of the limitations required further training. We were operating in conditions for which our standard /default settings

were inappropriate. We did not spend enough time assessing the potential issues with the

use of the chosen approach path We have since trialled landing with the ground detection set to off and

using GNSS only approach. We have successfully used this type of landing on a very difficult site

within active mining areas. We also pre Survey T/O and landing approaches so the clear line of

flight is clearly visible on the controller software.

2nd Bird Strike No birds were sighted prior to flight. First pair of Eagles approached from the NE but remained at a distance

about 8 minutes into the flight. After an initial close interaction this pair decided we were no threat and

moved on. The second pair was sighted circling above the tree line to our south. This

pair approached with greater intent. At this time I attempted to land but was unable to do so. Over the next 5-6 minutes we had an intense sustained attack from the

second pair and for the final 5 minutes the first pair joined in. Battery levels were now <30% and due to the nature of the flying were

quickly decreasing. Both pairs remained at altitude and I took my opportunity to land. One Eagle was flying towards the UAV as it was nearing its landing and

took a predation dive from about 200ft above. The last ground detection was 5m in altitude. So close. The Eagle dumped the UAV in the middle of a Dam.

2nd Bird Strike

2nd Bird Strike Due to a change in requirements on site, sign in took until after 9.30am,

this meant that our last flight did not start till 12.30pm. Our Learning's All paperwork and site access issues are dealt with the day before. Ground control is now completed the day before. All flights are completed in the time period from sunrise to 2.5 hrs after. If ground wind speeds during this time are above 20km/h then flights are

postponed. We still get the very occasional Wedge Tail interaction, but they now

have to expend much more effort to keep up and lose interest. Hawking and Falconers use this time period to avoid their birds

becoming prey.

2nd Bird Strike

In flight Shutdown ROM Stockpile flight for a small stockpile. Clear and Still conditions. Flight plan was uploaded and T/O initiated. Powered climb started and after 7 seconds the UAV pitched over and

commenced an uncontrolled descent from about 60ft in the air. Damage was catastrophic. Flight log shows: 07:13:22 : Taking off 07:13:29 : Database: flight cancelled 07:13:29 : Log file closed. 07:13:29 : Idle 07:13:29 : Ready to take off 07:13:30 : Drone not horizontal (pitch) 07:13:33 : Data downlink lost

In flight Shutdown

In flight Shutdown A.T.S.B. Reported incident to CASA. <1hr for

response.

In flight Shutdown A.T.S.B. Website generated reporting. Fairly detailed questioning. 30-40 minutes to complete. Airspace, Altitude, Departure, Destination, Weather, False

Indications, Injuries – crew, Injuries – passengers, Wind, Damage, etc. 22 different topics.

No response or follow up, to date.

In flight Shutdown Our Learning's Highlights the need to operate this equipment in a controlled area away

from other people. Software and Hardware is not perfect and still requires a level of

attendance to the job at hand. Service report indicated a bad airspeed reading in the on board log file

during the take off climb was the likely cause for the shutdown. Ensure that all critical sensors are clear, clean and free to operate

correctly.

In Conclusion Drones, UAVs, RPAS are an amazing piece of Kit. I have successful completed +350 jobs, in excess of 100hrs on type. Under the right conditions. On the right Job. Once all considerations are covered, Weather, Site Access, Prep. and

Eagles. Their capabilities are limited and they do need constant attention, they

are not set and forget technology.

Questions ?

UAVs, mining and the other side of the story - John Challinor

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Transcript of UAVs, mining and the other side of the story - John Challinor