Whale Achoo

The goal of the Whale Achoo capstone project is to design, assemble, test, and remotely operate an aquatic platform dubbed “Whale Achoo” that can simulate whale blows.

The design and construction of a remote operated Whale Achoo will take ~4 months. A Gesundheit team member and drone pilot will assist the team and be the liaison between the two projects. Capstone students are actively working towards their Advanced Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) license. With the RPAS the students can pilot a drone to capture videos, stills, and measurements from Whale Achoo. They will investigate the misting blow tracking problem and the complex interaction blow and the stability of the drone. The team will conduct tests with our traditional and thermal cameras to verify that the blows emulate a whale. We will test Whale Achoo and the drone systems at an approved flight zone. The students will gain unique flight experiences by flying near hazardous objects. The team will also attempt manual flights through a whale blow to help the Gesundheit team path planning.