This week, I spent most of my time trying to get settled in in Boulder. We only worked two days this week because we had Monday and Tuesday off after the two-week deployment and had Friday off as well for the 4th. Because of this, this week was a little more about getting settled than work in the lab, although what we were doing in the lab was interesting as well. I’m living by myself in an apartment about a mile and a half from campus, and I have a bike to get around. So far, this has been working great; it only takes me about 10 minutes to get to work and I’ve had a bit of freedom.
In the lab, we worked on trying to improve the launching system of the aircraft. Previously we had used a winch system to pull the aircraft to take-off speed. The winch, however, takes a long time to set up and tear down, and a lot of space is needed to use it as well. RECUV wants to come up with a new system that is more compact and quicker to use as well. I’ve been helping design possible solutions, including a better winch system, a bungee system, and a pneumatic launcher. I’ve also been helping James test a new communications system for the aircraft. The team has used a tracking antenna in the past, but again, they want to come up with a system that is easier to use and less complicated. Specifically, I have been testing the range of different kinds of omnidirectional antennas to try to determine whether wi-fi or radio would work best.
James testing a wi-fi antenna on the roof of the engineering building at CU
In my free time, I’ve been making trips to the grocery store and exploring. So far, I’ve found a few things to do around Boulder to help keep me busy in the coming weeks. There’s a recreation center about as far away as CU is from me, so hopefully I’ll be able to use that to keep me occupied. Living alone is a little hard but certainly easier than I thought it would be, and so far it’s been a great experience. Looking forward to whatever comes my way!
Will working on a Skywalker UAV in The RECUV Fabrications Lab
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