Wednesday, October 4, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Drones essential to OSU researchers
By Anthony Rimel
Corvallis Gazette-Times
CORVALLIS (AP) —
There’s a lot that can go
wrong in using unmanned
aircraft to do survey work for
research.
Weather can make a
scheduled flight impossible,
sometimes software control-
ling the vehicles has myste-
rious hiccups or the satellites
that guide the vehicle auton-
omously through a planned
route can’t be reached or an
important component is for-
gotten in the lab.
Since he began using
unmanned aircraft in his
research in 2012, Oregon
State University forestry
professor Michael Wing has
seen many ways a flight can
go wrong.
Once, in August, he even
had a turkey vulture threaten
to attack a quadcopter he was
using; the bird came within
about 15 feet of the vehicle,
he said.
Wing said nearly every
flight has some kind of
complication.
Wednesday, September
27, when Wing and one of his
graduate students surveyed a
vineyard near Amity, was no
exception.
On the first flight, Wing
and his student, Cory Garms,
briefly lost control of the
quadcopter they were using
to record infrared footage
of a vineyard as the craft’s
battery was ticking down to
near zero. The vehicle, which
was following a programmed
route, kept trying to follow
the route even as Garms was
attempting to take manual
control of it to land it as the
battery was getting low.
Garms eventually was
able to get control of the craft
and land it with about 10 per-
cent of its battery capacity
remaining. That’s well below
the 25 percent he and Wing
aim to have remaining when
they land, so that they don’t
risk thousands of dollars of
equipment falling out of the
sky when the battery dies.
Wing said that despite
the challenges, lots of new
research opportunities are
made possible by vehicles
like quadcopters and other
remote-controlled vehicles
equipped with cameras,
infrared sensors and LIDAR
systems to do survey work.
Wing said before these craft
were available, it took six
months to schedule a plane to
do a flyover to gather similar
data.
Although when he started
using unmanned vehicles
for survey work, the Federal
Aviation Administration
required a two- to five-month
process for approval of such
research flights, Wing said
that process was streamlined
in August 2016.
“We went from one flight
in 2012, to two flights in
2013 and from there it just
exploded,” he said.
Wing said the 2012 flight
was the first FAA-sanctioned
research flight in Oregon, but
there are now 15 to 20 other
researchers at OSU alone
using unmanned aerial vehi-
cles for research.
He said his Aerial
Information Systems
Laboratory at OSU has a
budget of anywhere from
$30,000 to $50,000 annu-
ally, and gets funds from the
U.S. Forest Service, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife and Oregon
Department of Forestry.
Wing is also the principal
researcher for OSU’s par-
ticipation as a core univer-
sity in the FAA’s Center of
Excellence for Unmanned
Aerial System Research.
Wing and his students
have done projects like sur-
veying a shipwreck, count-
ing sea turtles, studying elk
populations and doing topo-
graphical studies of volca-
nically active areas. These
studies have taken place
across the United States and
in Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey,
Germany and the Dominican
Republic.
Wednesday at the vine-
yard near Amity, Wing and
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Main Avenue Sisters
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Clearwater Gallery
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additional information call
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Sisters Saloon Karaoke
Night! 9 p.m. Every Thursday,
no cover! For additional
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Paulina Springs Books
Author Reading with
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Hardtails Bar & Grill
Karaoke Night! 9 p.m.
Every Friday, no cover! For
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SAT...OCT. 7
Sisters Saloon Live
Music with Riley’s Range
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Cork Cellars Live Music
with NTT 7 to 9 p.m. No
cover! For more info call
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corkcellarswinebistro.com.
Hardtails Bar & Grill
Karaoke Night! 9 p.m. Every
Saturday (if no live music is
scheduled), no cover! For
additional information call
541-549-6114 or go online to
hardtailsoregon.com.
TUES...OCT. 10
Sisters Saloon Trivia Night
6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sign-up is at
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For additional information call
541-549-7427 or go online to
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WED...OCT. 11
Hardtails Bar & Grill
Karaoke Night! 9 p.m. Every
Wednesday, no cover! For
additional information call
541-549-6114 or go online to
hardtailsoregon.com.
Sisters Saloon Texas Hold
’Em Tournament 7 p.m.
Every Wednesday! For
additional information call
541-549-7427 or go online to
sisterssaloon.net.
THURS...OCT. 12
Sisters Saloon Karaoke
Night! 9 p.m. Every Thursday,
no cover! For additional
information call 541-549-7427
or go to sisterssaloon.net.
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Hardtails Bar & Grill
Karaoke Night! 9 p.m.
Every Friday, no cover! For
additional information call
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SUN...OCT. 15
Main Avenue Sisters
Harvest Faire 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. It’s the 36th year of
the show that features juried
vendors of arts and crafts. And
Live Music with Bill Keale!
For additional information call
the Sisters Area Chamber of
Commerce at 541-549-0251 or
go to sisterscountry.com.
TUES...OCT. 17
Sisters Saloon Trivia Night
6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sign-up is at
6:15 p.m. Free, every Tuesday!
For additional information call
541-549-7427 or go online to
sisterssaloon.net.
WED...OCT. 18
Sisters Saloon Texas Hold
’Em Tournament 7 p.m.
Every Wednesday! For
additional information call
541-549-7427 or go online to
sisterssaloon.net.
Hardtails Bar & Grill
Karaoke Night! 9 p.m. Every
Wednesday, no cover! For
additional information call
541-549-6114 or go online to
hardtailsoregon.com.
THURS...OCT. 19
The Belfry Live Music with
Taarka and Hot Club of
Bend 7 p.m. Enjoy the
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manouche, gypsy blues,
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or go to belfryevents.com.
Sisters Saloon Karaoke
Night! 9 p.m. Every Thursday,
no cover! For additional
information call 541-549-7427
or go to sisterssaloon.net.
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