JMU Students Go Global
This fall 2016, the City Walls team from the James Madison University VA Drones Class partnered with Ph.D. candidate Manuel Saba, a Structural Engineering student at the Technological Institute of Bolivar in Cartagena, Colombia. For his EU-funded conservational dissertation, Manuel plans to use a 3D model of the historic wall surrounding the city as a shell for information about density and chemical composition; with this information, he can run tests on the wall to determine its strength as a structure. With support from the James Madison University Office of International Programs and the 4-VA, students from the City Walls team traveled with JMU Industrial Design professor Audrey Barnes to implement the project in Cartagena, Colombia.
The team stops for a much-needed lunch break in the Panama City airport during their unplanned 7-hour layover.
Through months of research and planning, the team developed an innovative drone-based method of 3D modeling. The team will collect video of the wall from many angles and perspectives, split it into thousands of GPS-embedded images, isolate the wall from its background in Photoshop, and input it to AgiSoft, a program that stitches images together into a coherent 3D model. Manuel’s research on wall density and chemical composition will combine with the team’s model to allow for its structural analysis over the next two years.
City Walls Team Travels to Colombia!
The City Walls team arrives in Colombia Monday night and explores its plazas, restaurants, and walls. A long day has ended in an evening of excitement!
This week, our research comes to life as we fly our drone over the historic walls of Cartagena. The team hopes to create a model of the wall and train Manuel in 3D modeling for further research. In the process, the team seeks to cultivate James Madison University’s relationship with the University of Colombia and Technological Institute of Bolivar. Through our work, the team will develop our own professional skills, assist research on the wall, and represent James Madison University.
Sunday, January 8 at 8 P.M., the team left James Madison University by bus for Dulles airport. After many delays both in Dulles and in the Panama City layover, the team arrived in Cartagena 23 hours later on January 9. The journey involved three delays in Dulles, a night without sleep, power outages in the Panama City airport, and holes in the Cartagena runway that prevented the flight from landing. Exhausted, we planned a night in to recover from our travels, but as soon as we experienced the energy and beauty of the city, a night of exploration was the first thing on our minds.
Blowin’ in the Wind
The City Walls team meets their hosts at the Technological Institute of Bolivar.
Tuesday brought the first day of work. The team spent the morning exploring the old section of the city before meeting Manuel Saba at the Technological Institute of Bolivar. The university gave the team a warm welcome, and the students finally met Manuel, the man behind it all. The main point of discussion was the process of legal permission to fly the drone due to the fact that the walls are both protected heritage sites and within a no-flight zone. While the team waited for confirmation of permission, Manuel brought them to the section of the wall that they would survey, which was a bastion next to a highway and the ocean. Though a beautiful sight, the team realized an unexpected challenge: the forceful winds gusting from the ocean.
Team member Matthew Truitte enjoys the view while scoping out the area of the wall the team plans to survey.
How could the JMU Drones Project reach their goal without the reliability of their greatest resource, a drone? A typical January in Colombia brings mild winds, and the team’s drone-flying software does account for a certain amount of wind – but the team could not have anticipated the violence of the winds that could whip their drone off course. Team member Nick Sipes suggested tying fishing line to tie to the drone “like a kite.” The team hoped this method would prevent the wind from downing the drone in the ocean or the road; if the wind pushes the drone off its charted course, the team can physically guide it to a safe zone with the strong fishing line. Team member Caoimhe O’Sullivan Roche also suggested that by manually walking the camera along the foot of the wall, the team will limit the amount of footage that the drone will need to record. Check out the infographic below for more information about our team’s proposed interventions.
City Walls Prepared to Fly!
Students get creative at the Technological Institute of Bolivar’s Innovation Lab.
Wednesday, the City Walls team took taxis to the Technological Institute of Bolivar outside the city for a tour of their famous innovation lab, “Laboratorio de Innovación,” the only of its kind in the country. The laboratory contained a “Think Space,” which is a sacred space for innovation, without the clutter and distraction of books, technology, or food – ideas are written on the whiteboard walls, floors, and desks. In its other room, the lab employed 3D printers, computers, and even card games to stimulate creativity. There, the team assembled and tested the drone; we charted a flight and confirmed the drone’s functionality for the wall.
Nick Sipes assembles and flies the drone for the first time in Colombia at the Technological Institute of Bolivar.
The hosts from the university, including Dr. Luis Carlos Arraut Camargo, were so impressed with the work done thus far by City Walls team that they offered offered internships and other future opportunities to the students for their efforts with Manuel. But our job here is far from finished. Happily, during the tour of the Institute, the team received word that all permissions had been acquired, so we returned to the city and prepared to fly at the walls for the first time. The team hopes that a test will reveal that the drone will fly well in the wind, and they will spend the next few days implementing creative solutions to create the 3D model for the wall.
Check in soon to find out how we fared!
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