PRE2015 3 Groep2 week5

Approaching Users

Experiment 1: Landing distance

Figure 1: Picture of the first experiment for determining the landing distance. Strips on the ground are giving the distance per 0.5m.

The variable landing distance is about the distance that users are still comfortable with the drone around. The optimal distance that users like and the nearest distance that people are comfortable with drones around are determined with an experiment. The subject (an user) stands on a given spot (l=0). The distances 1, 2, 3…7 meters are marked with masking tape (distance to test subject) on the ground. The drone will start at a distance of 7 meters (= l_start) as seen in figure 1. The drone will approach the person at a steady speed of approximately v = 1 m/s. It does so at a height of h = 1 meter. Whenever the test subject feels like the current distance between him and the drone is the most comfortable distance to land, the test subject will give off a sign and the drone will be given the order to land (l_end). The subject will redo the test to determine the nearest distance where he or she feels comfortable. Those distances are measured and rounded per 0.25m. The results are seen below.

Experiment	Optimal distance (m)	Nearest distance (m)
1	2.25	1.0
2	2.75	0.75
3	2.5	1.0
4	2.25	0.75
5	2.0	0.75
6	1.75	0.5
7	3.5	2.0
8	3.5	1.75
9	1.75	0.5

The mean value of the optimal distance is 2.47m with an standard deviation of 0.67. The nearest distance has a mean of 1.00m with an standard deviation of 0.53. These means give the landing distance from this experiment, the optimal landing distance is 2.5m with a nearest landing distance of 1.0m. The drone should be programmed to keep these distances as first option and starting point of the landing procedure.

Points of improvement

Though the experiment came with a clear conclusion, with a few outliners, some variables that might influence the results have not been touched upon. The experiment above gives a general idea for a distance to keep from the users, but does for instance not distinguish between different users. These differences may for example concern:

• Age
• Sex
• Experience (with drones)
• Length of the user
• And even general (in)security or character of the user

But also the drone itself can have influence on results:

• Approaching speed
• Size of the drone
• Appearance of the drone
• Noise
• Wind generated

Further research will have to show to what extend these factors play a role in approaching users with drones.

Experiment 2: Way of approach

Figure 2: Schematic representation of the experiment setup. Situation A, displayed in red. Situation B, displayed in green. Situation C, displayed in blue.

It's not online interesting to look at the best landing distance, but also at the way the drone approaches the user.For this, a distinction is made between three different situations. For a description of these situation see the list below and figure 2. In all these situations the test person is positioned at l = 0. The drone starts at a distance l_start and height h_start.

Situation A

The drone flies horizontally to a certain distance l_end then the drone lands vertically.

Situation B

The drone flies diagonally, at an angle α, to a certain point at distance l_end and height h_end. Then the drone lands vertically.

Situation C

The drones lowers itself vertically to a certain height h_end. It then flies horizontally to a certain distance l_end before it lands vertically on the ground.

During the experiment the three situation will get different values for the distance l_start and l_end. These distances will be 6, 4 and 2 meters. Note that the drone will never fly away from the test person. So when the distance l_start equals 4 meters, only the values of 4 and 2 meter will be used for l_end.

After each test variation the test person is asked to rate the experience with the values very bad/bad/neutral/good/very good.