Want to know more about being a commercial drone pilot?
https://www.lemac.org/want-to-know-more-about-being-a-commercial-drone-pilot/
How did you originally become involved with working with drones, what qualifications have you had to obtain?
In order to become a commercial drone pilot I studied for and achieved a RPQ-s certification. This involved passing both the theory and practical elements. In theory I could have used my British Model Flying Association (BMFA) experiences to bypass some of these requirements since for me a passion for and fascination for flying models started around 20 years ago whilst at university. This began as a physics undergraduate when I started developing some rudimentary rocket controls to explore some aerodynamic effects. Whilst my early experiments where not always successful and sometime where relatively expensive, this lead to a passion for remotely piloted systems of all sorts such as helicopters, gliders, airplanes and in later years also multirotor craft. There was something about helicopter collective pitch mechanisms, control servo’s and other control electronics that I found deeply fascinating. In the early days foe me going back 20 years, at the time there really wasn’t really official qualifications or any comprehensive legislations for installing cameras on flying equipment with a video data link back to the ground, so I relied upon the support and friendship of other model aviators and fellow BMFA members who gave me a good solid understanding of airmanship and how to ensure aviation safety when operating remotely piloted systems.
This worked well in the world of radio controlled planes and helicopters, but until recently even the BMFA did have anything to cover multirotor aircraft and increasingly sophisticated and automated on-board control equipment. I guess the world of making your own autonomous or semi-autonomous drone was such a niche it almost completely passed the legislators by until some manufactures when into mass producing low cost consumer level units. It was certainly a challenge trying to ensure that everything I was doing was legal according to the Air Navigation Orders, OFCOM Radio and other relevant legislation when it was rarely specifically aimed at what I was doing at the time.
Whilst it’s been a long time since my University days my interest in studying the physics of system and its measurement has remained. I guess this made me quite unique even amongst remote piloting communities as whilst most where happy to make a model fly, I always wanted to go one step further and make it fly itself. I completed my first completely autonomous computer controlled multirotor drone nearly a decade ago. Having successfully put together programmed and flown the first system I wanted to build another building on the experiences of the last. So needing to raise funds for the next one it was with some trepidation that I put it up for sale. It was at this point I realised that there was quite a buoyant market for such devices. The days of mass production have put an end to such cottage industry ventures, but those years did enable me to learn a great deal about command and control links and the inner workings of what has now become a modern consumer or professional drone.
What are the main projects you have worked on and are currently working on with drones?
In the commercial world of Aecom I find myself working on a number of projects at any one point in time. This typically involves using a drone with a sensor payload to measure Civil Infrastructure Assets for engineering purposes. We have completed a lot of work to incorporate and validate photogrammetric mapping into our BIM workflows with our partner software companies and this is something that we are doing with increasing regularity and efficiency.
Other commercial work that we are commonly involved in is in the early part of new developments collecting photos and videos to be used in public consultations. We have the capability in house to add 3D Visualisations of proposed developments and the eye in the sky view form a drone really helps to create a view of how things might look that people can really grasp.
I have a long running project aimed at sending an atmospheric sonde up to 30km altitude and safely recovering it. My current thinking is using a helium balloon launched glider equipped with an autonomous control system with instructions to safely navigating past air corridors and other congested airspace. Whilst this is not a commercial venture it involves solving a lot of rather unique and challenging problems. It’s worth noting I gave up on the idea of using rockets some years ago, and whilst to various legislative and technical hurdles I haven’t yet reached this goal, the lessons I have learnt over the years have stayed with me and have been built upon year by year.
Can you tell me about Aecom’s Nottingham Centre of Excellence?
The Nottingham Centre of excellence has been set up to build up on previous Research Partnerships with the University of Nottingham. Whilst I wasn’t personally part of the initial partnership I do have regular contact with those involved including academic institutions, though conferences and guest lectures we keep up to date with the latest scientific and technological innovations. Aecom has been a major player in the world of Drones Worldwide for a number of years and part of the role of the centre of excellence here in Nottingham is to engage with Aecom’s worldwide drone community and ensure best practice is adopted and adhered to within UK based operations. There are differing applications and modes of operations, but the lessons learnt as a company once passed onto and adopted by our drone operatives go forward to enable operation excellence and the delivery of best practice across the globe. As much of cliché as it sounds I am a big believer in leveraging global expertise to deliver excellence locally.
How have you seen the use of drones and technology change over the years? What do you expect from 2018?
Over the years that I’ve been into remotely piloted systems I have seen the shift from two streams that of enthusiastically produced machines by small groups and individuals for civil use to that of the sort of drones used by militaries. As technology has evolved and drones have become more of a main stream mass produced drones and as legislators have caught up and adopted the technology for civilian use the bar to entry has been progressively been lowering to enable the use of this technology.
Going back 20 years if you had very deep pockets you could buy a remote flying system, but you need a minimum of 20 hours training just to become airborne in a hover or just to be able to take off and land let alone capably operate the system. You really had to intimately understand the aerodynamics and operational parameters of the system to capably operate it. Now with the advent of reliable fly by wire systems the basic skills to get the craft in the air can be learnt relatively quickly. This is no way replaces a good grounding in airmanship that you would have picked up whilst learning the basics on a more involved system.
My anticipation for 2018 is to see an increasing level of sophistication of the systems available, some manufactures have led the way with sense and avoid technology and other pilot aids. I see this as a key enabler and I hope to see more drones go further and into more environments enabling their operator to stand out of harm’s way.
Whilst work above live infrastructure does occur, infrastructure operators get hung up on a small risk of a drone falling out of the sky often without assessing how this completely eliminates the hazard for an operator who would using traditional techniques have to stand protected by cones in a road or a by a Safe System of Work on a Railway. Not to mention of course the benefits to everyone being able to leave infrastructure live whilst surveys and inspections are carried out. After all who likes to be held up by road closures and road works and train cancellations due to engineering works. So whilst operations around and above live infrastructure are happening with drones, I think this year will see more of this work being delivered safely and effectively and the future standards for safe operation being set to accommodate advancements in technology.
What are the barriers that are still present with the technology and its take up by construction and engineering companies? Cost, time, too specialised? Etc
If you ‘ll forgive the pun drones are really taking flight and this is leading to all kinds of opportunities. I think as an industry we have a lot of work to do to gain the public, legislators and asset owners trust to fully enable the art of the possible using drones to eliminate hazards faces by workers, reduce the risk to operatives and public when assets are surveyed or inspected compared to other means. By leveraging the stand-off potential of drones we are now using this technology to plan safe systems of work and safeguard our operatives in the field without the need for disruptive closures.
For me some of the biggest challenges are getting people to buy into a new way of thinking about they gather information at the start of a project. After all we have all become used to power of aerial photography with a variety of web based maps. Drones can offer site realism with 3d Photo Models to specified accuracies a little like a web based map on steroids without the need for cumbersome and potentially incomplete CAD drawings.
Do you have a normal day, or can you best describe your average day at work?
I did try a normal days for a whilst, but then I found they held no real challenges or opportunities to improve on what I was doing. I guess I’ve always thought ‘outside the box’ and I normally mange to leap out if someone tries to put me back in. I’m very lucky that I work for a very progressive team who appreciate me leaping out of the box quite regularly to go exploring.
I’m always looking for new challenges and to improve the things I currently do. On this basis I try to keep my days as varied as possible with a mixture of work outside the office and in the field. I spend quite a lot of time planning for flight missions and working out how to safely collect a required data set and how best to process and deliver this. I’m very lucky to be working for such a forward thinking company as Aecom who have service level agreements with so many software houses as this enables to really explore solutions to work in a variety of environments and select the best possible solution to fit a client’s needs. Since the company is so large if I ever get stuck or hung up on a problem there are many technical practice group set up and there is normally someone willing to help.
In the field I try to be as regimented as it’s possible to be for someone of my personality. Working in Civil Engineering Environments can be very hazardous, the years have taught me that this can be managed, but clear communication of mission objectives and potential hazards are key to effective operations. Unlike my office work I like any flying operation I’m involved in to be as routine and uninteresting as possible to ensure safe reliable operations. I guess for me it’s better to let the data and deliverable do the exciting stuff.
What would be your advice for anyone wishing to become a professional drone pilot or wishing to become involved in the AEC area?
My recommendation to anyone wanting to learn to become a professional drone pilot would be start by learning airmanship first.
I guess everyone can’t follow this route, but an example would be flying a model remotely piloted glider under the tuition of an instructor at a model club. Not only is this very good fun, but you’ll learn more about the movement of air in the form of wind and thermals both up and down drafts. This will also teach you how to position yourself so you’re not blinded by the sun, when not to fly due to adverse weather and how to set up a flying site to take best advantage of the wind. Not of course forgetting how to do relevant pre-flight checks of radio, airframe and flight controls.
The real advantage to a glider is that it forces you to understand the conservation of energy and how to utilise the energy of a flight system effectively throughout the flight envelope, since atmospheric conditions typically affect a glider most then this also teaches what the air is doing throughout your flight and you’ll learn how to recognise air currents affect you’re flight. Whilst all of these things will affect flying machines to different levels, if you learn how to manage these factors and successfully hunt for thermals with a glider under the supervision of an instructor at a model club then you’ll be well on the way to becoming a competent airperson.
Whilst I appreciate that modern multirotor aircraft don’t so mush fly as beat the air into submission. If all you have to do is take it out of the box and charge some batteries before you fly. Even if you had read a one page leaflet from a supplier before taking to the sky the chances are you may be making some fundamentally bad decision as an airperson without realising.
Ross Manship BSc (Hons), MInstPhys, BMFA, SMAE, RPQ-s
UAV (Drone) Technical Lead I Senior Operations Manager
Europe I Intelligent Infrastructure
D: +44 (0)115 9077226 or 725 6226 (Internal)
AECOM
Chetwynd Business Park,
Chilwell, Nottingham, NG9 6RZ, England
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