Unmanned Systems Technology 022 | XOcean XO-450 l Radar systems l Space vehicles insight l Small Robot l BMPower FCPS l Prismatic HALE UAV l InterDrone 2018 show report l UpVision l Navigation systems

83 company maintains a fleet of five for aerial photogrammetry missions such as mapping and drainage research. The 2.7 kg fixed-wing aircraft measures 1.63 m across its wingspan and 1.2 m from nose to tail. A 30C, 5300 mAh lithium-ion battery powers the 900 W, nose-mounted brushless DC motor to give a 65 kph cruising speed and a maximum endurance of 50 minutes. Without an RTK processing base station on site to assist with the tagging of images and locations with centimetre- accurate satellite navigation coordinates, UpVision planned to set up a network of ground control points (GCPs) for georeferencing. The Sirius is rated to operate in temperatures between -20 and +45 C, as well as withstand flying through 50 kph winds or intermittent gusts of 65 kph, which was critical for working amid the turbulent and unpredictable weather of the region. Along with the integrated GPS and IMU systems, the Sirius used a GPS compass to help it navigate through the windy and turbulent airspace of the mine. In addition to the Sirius, supplemental operations were carried out by a 430 g DJI Mavic Air quadcopter with an FPV camera. This was for taking close-up images of perpendicular wall sections of the mine for future geological review. The small craft was powered by a 2375 mAh battery with an endurance limit of 21 minutes, and maximum ascent and descent speeds of 14.4 and 10.8 kph respectively. “Since it was a copper mine, there was some magnetic interference in the middle of the flight area, but it was eliminated thanks to several compass calibrations,” says UpVision’s UAS manager Jakub Karas. “Thus flying in the mine proceeded without major complications; the weather was the bigger complication.” Project background The open-pit mine sits at an altitude of about 1400 m, with 200 m between its lowest and highest points, and the area to be mapped measured roughly 5 km lengthways and 2 km in width. Erdenet is located in Mongolia’s Orkhon-Selenge region, 340 km from the capital Ulaanbaatar. It was founded as a base for mining operations in 1974, the area having been confirmed in the 1960s as a rich source of copper deposits. The mine employs around 8000 people, who in 2016 (for which the most recent figures are available) were responsible for mining 31,600,000 tonnes of ore to produce about 657,000 tonnes of copper concentrate and 4500 tonnes of molybdenum concentrate. Mining is responsible for an estimated 17% of Mongolia’s GDP and 87% of its exports, so the use of precision aerial surveys to plan out mining operations could be highly useful for economic stability. The mapping team consisted of Jakub Karas, who oversaw the mission, carried out pre-flight and post-flight work with the Sirius, and conducted the Mavic Air UpVision | In operation The Sirius is rated to operate in temperatures between -20 and +45 C – critical for working amid the region’s weather Unmanned Systems Technology | October/November 2018 A DJI Mavic Air was used to inspect the more vertical cliff walls of the mine