Development of an autonomous unmanned aerial system to collect time-stamped samples from the atmosphere and localize potential pathogen sources

摘要

This paper presents the hardware development and testing of a new concept for air sampling via the integrationudof a prototype spore trap onboard an unmanned aerial system (UAS).We propose the integration of a prototypeudspore trap onboard a UAS to allow multiple capture of spores of pathogens in single remote locations at highudor low altitude, otherwise not possible with stationary sampling devices.We also demonstrate the capability ofudthis system for the capture of multiple time-stamped samples during a single mission.Wind tunnel testing wasudfollowed by simulation, and flight testing was conducted to measure and quantify the spread during simulatedudairborne air sampling operations. During autonomous operations, the onboard autopilot commands the servoudto rotate the sampling device to a new indexed location once the UAS vehicle reaches the predefined waypointudor set of waypoints (which represents the region of interest). Time-stamped UAS data are continuously loggedudduring the flight to assist with analysis of the particles collected. Testing and validation of the autopilot andudspore trap integration, functionality, and performance is described. These tools may enhance the ability to detectudnew incursions of spores