Engineers and students from Western Kentucky University used a UAS to document, via video, a sinkhole which opened up under the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The engineers were able to get video footage from within the sinkhole, allowing them to provide an initial damage assessment without the need of putting anyone in harms way,
This application reminds me of the first time I realized my two interests of RC aircraft, and emergency response could merge after seeing video taken by engineers in Christchurch, NZ, who used a Parrot AR Drone to do damage assessment inside a cathedral following an earthquake,
This is one type of use for these systems I have been advocating for within my career field of emergency services.
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No offense taken. We were on site to aid the professional engineers and geologist that were trying to determine the safety and stability of the area surrounding the sinkhole. As a mechanical engineering student it was a great experience to be able to work with experts from different fields. I have a whole new respect for what they do.
Welcome to the discussion, Jesse! When I saw these videos, I knew I had to share. I am so glad you are on here and can answer questions. I am sorry if I offended by thinking you would be structural engineers. These are the guys I have mainly dealt with in regards to search and rescue and building collapse.
Hi All,
I am one of the four students that make up the WKU Mechanical Engineering quad copter team that was at the Corvette Museum. First off I want to say how awesome it is to be mentioned on a forum that I frequent when trying to learn about quad copters and further the development of our own. Our team was lucky to be in the right place at the right time and get a once in a life time opportunity. I thought I would take this opportunity to give back to the site and answer any questions you all might have.
Julian is correct. As one of my teammates explained it to me, we are free from breaking any FAA regulation concerning commercial interest due to the copter being operated by an educational institution.
This is exactly the kind of work drones should be doing! I suspect their student/university status protects them from being charged with being a commercial interest.
If it gets the job done, flashiness or stability are secondary. Life safety doesn't require flair.
Robert, systems like this would be great tools for emergency services. I have spoken with the director of CERT (community emergency response teams) about bringing volunteers with UAS of their own on board. He told me that if needed, he would love to call on trained volunteers with access to these systems.
John, I kinda thought it was flying like crap too, despite those issues. I've flown in my garage and had much better stability than that. Heck, I've flown in a 6 foot space with better stability than that.
About 1.5 years ago, the roof of a mall collapsed in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. There was a rescue operation, but everybody was afraid to go in because they didn't know if more would come down. They basically did nothing for 2 whole days while people were potentially trapped inside.
I was kicking myself that I didn't have a system operational at the time.
This is exactly the kind if thing multi's are great for, and what the big industrial players are terrified off. No need for huge and complex multi million dollar systems with expensive service contracts.
@EngineerX, they are flying indoors without GPS and close to objects generating a lot of side vortexes. It is very hard to hover at a stand still under such conditions.
I give those students a "A" for resourcefulness and effort and a "C" for implementation
They should've chosen a better platform that can hover steadier and with better "coolness" factor hehehehe......
But still, very cool to see the horrific, much hated, evildoing drones in a positive light instead of them hooligan, privacy violating snooping drones.
Luckily this happened when it was closed, can you imagine one second admiring those classic 50's Vettes and the next feeling the floor fall from under you. That blue ZR1 and black '57? look pretty usable still
I love where the camera picks up the drone shadow.
And guys, can we wait until the FAA actually does something stupid about this before starting the bashing?
The first thing I thought when seeing the surveillance video was it looked like something from an elaborate heist movie, gone wrong though. My Dad, who did geology research work around Mammoth Cave long before I was born sent me an email saying they just unexpectedly found another branch of the system.
Jack Crossfire, were likely structural engineering students, not aeronautical engineering students. Structural engineers are often called on to investigate failures of buildings, or other structures. There are engineers who make it their life's work. Also, there are disaster response engineers who assess safety of a structure before any search and rescue work can begin.
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