Operational Field Trials: Full-System Mission Testing in the Outskirts of Bangalore

Mission days don’t begin with takeoff. They start the evening before — with planning, packing, and careful systems verification.

Pre-Mission Planning

By 6 PM the day before deployment, the entire team gathers to lock down the flight agenda, finalize test sequences, and streamline logistics. What follows is three hours of methodical prep.

Pre-flight checklist:

• Ground station, telemetry modules — packed
• Full system ground test — complete
• Batteries — charged, labeled, and logged
• Mission targets, tools, spares — organized
• Flight checklist — cross-verified by two members

By 9–10 PM, the prep winds down. Team members head home for a short rest before deployment.

Early Start

Between 4–5 AM, the team regroups — caps, sunscreen, water, and gear in hand. By 6:30 AM, all mission-critical equipment is loaded into transport and en route to the outskirts of Bangalore.

Arrival and Setup

Arrival time: 7:15–7:30 AM. After a quick breakfast, all equipment is manually moved to the field.

Pre-Mission Checks (8:00 AM)

• Propellers, fasteners, motors — inspected and secured
• Onboard modules — configured and tested
• Mission waypoints — uploaded
• GPS and telemetry links — confirmed

By 8:15 AM, the UAV is ready for its first flight.

Flight Operations

Flights span across the day — with recalibrations, battery swaps, and field-side debugging between missions. Operations pause at 12:30 PM for lunch, hydration, and battery recharge.

Testing resumes post-lunch, pushing through the complete flight stack. By 4 PM, the final sortie is complete.

Shutdown and Return

• Flight logs — backed up
• System health — reviewed
• Batteries — checked and stored
• Equipment — powered down, packed, and secured

Despite evening traffic, the team is back at campus by 6:30 PM. Gear is unloaded, cleaned, and stored in the lab.

Post-Mission Review

In the final stretch, we debrief: analyzing logs, noting anomalies, debugging failures, and planning next steps.

Conclusion

These field tests aren’t just routine—they’re critical. They validate our platform under real conditions, sharpen operational readiness, and ensure we’re mission-ready — one flight at a time.