sUAS Crash Investigation Remote Pilot

sUAS Crash Investigation Remote Pilot prepares students who are new to flying a small UAS (drone) to use this technology to reliably capture the photographic and video evidence at a crash scene for subsequent photogrammetric evaluation. sUAS and photogrammetric modelling techniques allow the details of a crash scene to be recorded in a fraction of the time taken with traditional survey station techniques and can produce photorealistic  three-dimensional models from which accurate measurements can be taken.  This course includes extensive hands on experience and is suitable for students without sUAS pilot experience and those who have basic flight skills but have not used them for the capture of crash scene images for photogrammetry.

Course Content

• UAS setup and configuration
• Camera configuration and settings
• Camera controls
• Pre-flight checks
• Flight planning and patterns
• Flight skills including emergency procedures
• Image capture for day and night scenes
• Terrestrial photography techniques for photogrammetry
• Field measurements
• UAS maintenance
• Real world issues:  Trees, powerlines, low light, wind, snow, etc.
• Obstacle navigation techniques
• Overview of 3D model construction and expected results from mock scene.  Demonstration of common capture errors.               

Course Materials

Weather appropriate outdoor clothing; Sunglasses; Hat.

All students need to bring a laptop computer (or other device) with a USB port(s) and Adobe Reader installed.  Student reference materials will be distributed in USB flash drives (files will accept electronic comments and highlighting and can be saved).  

DJI Inspire/1 sUAS craft will be provided for shared student usage and learning.

Who Should Attend

Officers and Civilians planning to fly sUAS=spelle> on behalf of their departments for crash investigation. Participant should have completed sUAS Knowledge Test Preparation or equivalent or hold a current 14 CFR Part 107 Certification.