Cat Wrangling – Local Festival – Artemis Rising
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Cat Wrangling
Ever wrangled cats? I am blaming the low effort blog entry on problem of getting a cat to the vet, a strong, adopted feral cat. I have been pursuing some challenges that feel like cat wrangling. Juggling them has kept me occupied all week. The headlines are a dumpster fire of impending war, climate cataclysm, and political acrimony. I try to absorb it all, but it seems rather spicy these days. Take your pick, Sweet Brown. I always thought that capitalism would drive us off a cliff. There’s probably an overpriced waterslide waiting for us there.
I have been disputing a permit process to teach for a week. I won the dispute. Endeavor to persevere and look good with more grey hair.
I updated some fleet management software, took a teaching drone out to a local parking lot for an outdoor test. Lost a prop trying to fly a line through the car from the front left door to the rear right window. I was catching some gusts from that storm. It increased the turbulence the drone experienced while moving through the windows, small apertures that generate turbulence and high-pressure zones where the drone strays too close to a surface.
Local Festival
A local festival happened in Brownsville. Attendance was low. Here is an image of the active area in Figures 3-5.
The small squares are the vendors. In Figure 2., you can see the stage. They had a DJ, crafts, food, local stuff. I asked the organizer for a photo op, and I was up. The weather has been dodgy, but the sudden drop in temps gave me a boost on running training. This fall, I will be doing some follow-along trail shots through the incredible foliage of the Laurel Highlands.
I flew through the new arch (Figure 6) from the position here the Snowden Building once stood before collapsing in 2020 after a generation of neglect. Downtown Brownsville sits on a floodplain, but the bridge is tethered to bedrock. Bridge 1, Snowden Building 0. The arch is significant. The first cast-iron bridge in America sits underneath market Street, Figure 4. far left. The old Dunlap’s Creek Bridge is now sort of buried underneath infrastructure designed to stabilize adjacent structures razed long ago. The place where the Snowden building once stood is now an empty grass lot. There is talk to develop it into It is an excellent place to fly drones out over the river. Loose talk like that, it certainly raises eyebrows and drops jaws, but does it help Brownsville? Of course it does.
Reading List
- “Energetic particle loss mechanisms in reactor-scale equilibria close to quasisymmetry”
- “The non-Riemannian nature of perceptual color space”
- ” Unmanned Aircraft Pilot Medical Certification Requirements”
- “Benchmarking TinyML Systems: Challenges and Direction” CHALLENGES AND DIRECTION”
Basically, with the kids and work-at-home wife in the same room with me (kid yelling at me as I type), I can do nothing. It is hard for me to rub two brain cells together. I need peace and quiet. I would rather be outside, flying a drone. .
Verticals Community Learning Center
Drone Cinematography Classes!
So, everyone who attempted the test passed and earned an FAA TRUST certificate. We tested through a site administered by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University because I support their UAV technology courses.
The three days I participated as a volunteer instructor at Verticals were as follows: April 28th, May 5th and May 12th, 2022. I guided students through the process of learning how to safely fly drones in uncontrolled airspace. Two students flew my professional drone over the nearby Monongahela River, by an old truss bridge. One landed the professional drone, wow! On the first day! We planned a video with storyboards and a huddle on production elements. They brainstormed, scheduled shots, got gear, and produced the footage. One the last day, students edited and shared footage.
I basically hustled parts, minor repairs, battery charging, and network connections to and from supply to the production locations. I answered questions. One team was outside the building, another inside. I invited students to explore their own styles. They had fun. The teams erupted with creativity and effort. I had hoped to use the course module in a creative writing lesson or a programming lesson. The presentation that I use sort of serves as a class rubric, but I supply the students with worksheets to plan their productions step-by-step.
I learned some crucial limitations and opportunities for the next session. The most valuable thing is to have a report formatted to assign communication channels, teams, roles, and work schedules. Safety issues were routinely handled successfully. All craft and pilots, tablets and other parts of the Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) made it back in the box, so to speak. All inventory recovered, repairs and orders made, all data shared in the cloud, students back in their districts, rooms ready for the next class.
Verticals Plug
Verticals is a local community development center that gives kids a choice of after-school programs that enrich young lives and provide a sense of pride in community. A link to the group is provided. Some school districts, like Monessen and Brownsville, pony up transportation. It makes a huge difference to the kids, and I am grateful to meet the van drivers. They like the class, too!
- How to fly recreational drones with basic and advanced maneuvers.
- How to plan flights for capturing media.
- Get the soon-to-be mandatory – and EASILY OBTAINED – TRUST flyer certificate from the FAA, online for free.
- How to film, edit, and share a video you make with drone footage and apps.
- How to fly a drone with Scratch Python block code.
- Provide information about industrial drone applications and jobs.
Local Resource in Action
Community groups will have some authority to determine the nature of its flight operations in local airspace come this fall 2022. As long as a responsible pilot is connected to the group, the area can develop flight operations that best suits the needs of the group. A FRIA is basically an area supported by a Part 107 drone pilot or more qualified pilots. The FAA determines the location and quality of FRIAs.
I can see a drone academy being a part of an 21st-century community, so I am studying what we need to do to qualify to become a FRIA. I have a break from school in a month, and I like to read legislation. One of the problems is that it’s not 1986 anymore. These rules were written before the Internet absolutely debased the concept of community. It used to involve, at the very least, physical mail for remote correspondence, on land lines, even. Brick and mortar have given way to ones and zeros. The architecture is in an electric field instead of a dirt lot. “Model aviation” was a concept that existed before FPV, before streaming, before smart phones, before laptops. Ridiculous changes continue to occur and need to occur more quickly because of climate change.
- (1) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
- (2) is exempt from tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
- (3) the mission of which is demonstrably the furtherance of model aviation;
- (4) provides a comprehensive set of safety guidelines for all aspects of model aviation addressing the assembly and operation of model aircraft and that emphasize safe aeromodelling operations within the national airspace system and the protection and safety of individuals and property on the ground, and may provide a comprehensive set of safety rules and programming for the operation of unmanned aircraft that have the advanced flight capabilities enabling active, sustained, and controlled navigation of the aircraft beyond visual line of sight of the operator;
- (5) provides programming and support for any local charter organizations, affiliates, or clubs; and
- (6) provides assistance and support in the development and operation of locally designated model aircraft flying sites.
Topics in the Verticals Youth Empowerment program include artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, drones, digital fabrication, coding, media production, design studio, blockchain, and crypto. Courses in the topics are presented alongside fitness and wellness resources. The center director is retired NFL pro-football player William James, who stepped off the gridiron and into a new life arena. William has an amazing base of supporters, collaborators, volunteers, and stakeholders who help make this happen. Very grateful.
Verticals Youth Empowerment Center is designed to stimulate young minds, give parents an inclusive environment in which to socialize, and to offer youth a sense of pride in themselves and their community. There are other facilities in the works.
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I became a drone technology service integration researcher in 2017 while in university. I have a passion for drones. Contact me for information about services.
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