A Special Presentation by a Guest Speaker: Cliff Johnson
March 11, 2021
Today, we had a great presentation by Cliff Johnson, a research engineer, program manager, and technical expert for the Aviation Research Division at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ. We learned a lot about drone testing, drone safety, and air traffic control. Thanks, Cliff, for a great presentation, and thanks to everyone who showed up!
A Special Presentation by a Guest Speaker: Felipe Varon
January 28, 2021
We started off the new year with a great presentation by Felipe Varon, Founder and CEO of Varon Vehicles! We learned a lot about urban air mobility infrastructure, path planning, and airspace integration architecture in urban environments. It was great to learn about all the new developments in the field and the future of Vertical Take-off and Lift vehicles (VTOL). Thanks to everyone who showed up!
A Special Presentation by a Guest Speaker: Yaniv Gelnik
October 15, 2020
We had a very educational and informative session on the work that Zipline Inc. Thanks to Yaniv Gelnik, a business development lead at Zipline, for his presentation! We learned a lot about the drone logistics in delivering medical supplies in remote regions and Zipline's role in delivering supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We'd like to thank the UHS MED Club for partnering with us to create questions for the Q&A session and everyone who showed up as well. You can watch his presentation here: Yaniv's Presentation to the club
We had a very educational and informative session on the work that Zipline Inc. Thanks to Yaniv Gelnik, a business development lead at Zipline, for his presentation! We learned a lot about the drone logistics in delivering medical supplies in remote regions and Zipline's role in delivering supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We'd like to thank the UHS MED Club for partnering with us to create questions for the Q&A session and everyone who showed up as well. You can watch his presentation here: Yaniv's Presentation to the club
A Special Presentation by a Guest Speaker: Juha Turalba
August 18, 2020
Thanks to Juha Turalba of Aurora Flight Sciences for a great presentation on an overview of the sUAS work that Aurora does. We learned a lot about the various types of aircraft that are flown and tested at Aurora, as well as the "day in the life" of an aerospace engineer. Thanks to everyone who showed up! Here is the link to the full video presentation: Juha's Presentation to the club
A Special Presentation by a Guest Speaker: Steven Chen
June 11, 2020
We had a very interesting and informative session on drone research applied to forestry and agriculture. We are thankful to Steven Chen, who is a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania's GRASP lab (https://www.grasp.upenn.edu/) for giving us a great presentation on the subject. We learned a lot. Thanks to everyone who showed up as well. Here is a link to the full video presentation: Steven's Presentation to the club
Visiting Pietro's Mushroom Farm
June 21, 2019
We visited Pietro's Mushroom Farm to take a tour of the farm and learn about the mushroom growing business. Here. we met the farm's Operations Manager, Mr. Brian Donohue, who explained the conditions in which mushrooms grow best and what technologies would be required to ensure this.
Mr. Donohue told us that one of the most important tasks on the mushroom farm is to see that there is a uniform temperature distribution inside the warehouses in which the mushrooms grow. Using a path-planning algorithm, we can program a drone to travel alongside the large racks shown below and measure the temperature at which the mushrooms are growing. With this data, we can create a chart to show the temperature distribution. This data would be useful for knowing where to increase or decrease the temperature in the warehouse. Right now, we are creating a small temperature sensor that can be mounted on a drone.
We were also told of problems that can occur in the roofs of the warehouses. It is important to make sure that there are no holes in the roofs, because holes allow small animals to enter the warehouse and consume the mushrooms. Currently, the farm has people climb onto the roof to check for holes. However, using drones can allow one to identify holes without the risk of sending a human to climb the roof.
We thank Pietro's Mushroom Farm and Mr. Brian Donohue for giving us a great tour on their farm!
Here are some photos of our tour and interview:
Mr. Donohue told us that one of the most important tasks on the mushroom farm is to see that there is a uniform temperature distribution inside the warehouses in which the mushrooms grow. Using a path-planning algorithm, we can program a drone to travel alongside the large racks shown below and measure the temperature at which the mushrooms are growing. With this data, we can create a chart to show the temperature distribution. This data would be useful for knowing where to increase or decrease the temperature in the warehouse. Right now, we are creating a small temperature sensor that can be mounted on a drone.
We were also told of problems that can occur in the roofs of the warehouses. It is important to make sure that there are no holes in the roofs, because holes allow small animals to enter the warehouse and consume the mushrooms. Currently, the farm has people climb onto the roof to check for holes. However, using drones can allow one to identify holes without the risk of sending a human to climb the roof.
We thank Pietro's Mushroom Farm and Mr. Brian Donohue for giving us a great tour on their farm!
Here are some photos of our tour and interview: