Progress 05/17/23 to 05/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience: 1. Power Utilities - a new method for installing bird diverters will increase safety and decrease costs. 2. Farmers - a reduction in bird casualties providing increased consumption of insects by those birds. 3. Bird Hunters - a reduction in bird casualties will boost populations and allow for greater intentional take of game fowl. 4. Outdoor Recreation - the general public will benefit from preserving natural resources. 5. Electric Utility Ratepayers - users of electrical energy may benefit from decreased rates associated with utility installation costs for bird diverters. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As part of this project Pitch involved 3undergraduate students and 1 graduate student. These students obtained first had professional experience in mechanical engineering, engineering design, manufacturing, and testing. Zachary Adams (PhD) and Aykut Satici (PhD), the projects Co-Directors directly mentored these students and provided engineering and scientific oversight, training, and direction. Alex Peterson, a Graduate student successfully defended his Masters thesis in part due to the research performed under this Ph I SBIR. Additionally, Pitch Aeronautics sponsored several individuals under the Department of Defense Skillbridge Program which enables military veterans to obtain professional civilian experience prior to departing the military. We sponsoed Skillbridge interns which assisted with the execution of this project primarily in the areas of drone operations and drone maintenance and repair. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Pitch Aeronautics has disseminated the results of this Ph I effort to several communities of interest. Pitch engineers and staff participated in a local school STEM event which taught students about drone technology and career paths in engineering. The aim was to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math through fun and interactive engagement. Pitch attended two Avian Powerline Interaction Committee conferences which were attended by several stakeholders within the industry including utilitity personnel, wildlife conservation groups, and others. During both events, Pitch staffed a table to share our technology including our drone platform and our bird diverter product which helps birds see and avoid power lines. Finally, Pitch held several informational sessions with utilities intersted in deploying our bird diverter product on their power lines. During these engagements, Pitch educated utility personnel on the benefits of our bird divertersand capabilities of our drone platform to install these components. As a result of these informational sessions, Pitch has submitted quotes to interested utilities in excess of 8,000 units. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Pitch Aeronautics accomplished both major goals during the SBIR Ph I effort. Major Goal: Demonstrate bird diverterinstallation by Astria Hybrid Cyclorotor Drone on a de-energized cable. Pitch Aeronautics successfully developed the control system for physical contact with a power line cable and demonstrated the installation of multiple bird diverters in a single flight. This required first maturing the flight control system so that the drone could fly sufficiently precisely to touch a power cable and updating the flight control system to maintain stability when in contact with a power cable. That engineering development allowed Pitch Aeronautics to demonstrate the first bird diverter installation of a single bird diverter in April 2023. Next, Pitch Aeronautics advanced the drone control system to allow detection and compensation for aircraft center of gravity changes--this enabled the installation of six bird diverters in a single drone flight in August 2023. In the course of flight testing, Pitch Aeronautics was able to show that the cyclorotor could help reject small-scale wind disturbances and improve control authority. Major Goal: Demonstrate a state-estimation system adjacent to a simulatedpowered cable in the laboratory. Pitch Aeronautics and Boise State University worked to advance a state-estimation system to improve control performance next to energized power lines. The aim was to combine electric and/or magnetic field sensors with cameras and time-of-flight (distance measuring) sensors for determining the position and orientation of the drone relative to the power line. Our team developed a unique methodology for leveraging the oscillating electric-magnetic fields for positioning and tested the method in a computer simulation. Next, we built a laboratory apparatus that creates a magnetic field similar to that of high-current power lines and designed and built a custom magnetic field sensor array for drone state estimation. We performed numerous tests of the sensor next to the line and demonstrated that we could determine drone heading and bearing to the power line. These experiments successfully demonstrated the overall navigation methodology and identified problems with data acquisition that need correcting prior to commercial implementation. Data from the experiments was used to tune our algorithms and state estimation model.

Publications