NIST

Introduction

The NIST Open Lane Test is the only nationally recognized flight proficiency exam for small multi rotor UASs. It is widely used with first responders and being adopted in many other fields. The goal of this tutorial is to provide an overview of the Open Lane Test and the terminology used. For additional information please see the NIST documentation linked here.

Our NIST Scenarios

NIST Training

NIST Training in Zephyr is as close as you can get to the real life experience.

NIST Testing Course

Evaluate your NIST flight skills in this test version of the NIST courses.

NIST Park

A lovely neighborhood park packed with official NIST training and testing equipment. This scenario also includes a house with a flyable interior.

APSA

BPERP Modules created in collaboration with the Airborne Public Safety Association.

Training vs. Testing Scenarios

The Zephyr simulation has a “NIST Training Course” and “NIST Testing Course.” The training course has extra visual aids to ensure you learn the proper procedure. We strongly encourage you to become familiar with the NIST Training Course first, before progressing on to the NIST Testing Course. The NIST Testing Course removes most of the visual guides but still offers visual and auditory instructions to complete the test.

NIST Testing Types

The Open Lane Test requires the user to complete five maneuvers which are titled Position, Traverse, Recon, Orbit and Spiral. To complete these maneuvers, the user will align the aircraft around a series of “bucket stands.” Points are earned by capturing a picture of a target located at the bottom of the appropriate bucket.

Bucket Anatomy

Each Bucket Stand has 5 buckets labeled by a letter and/or a number. The number indicates the order of the bucket stands relative to the launchpad.

The closest bucket stand is called stand 1. The second closest stand to the launch pad is stand 2, the third is stand 3, and the final stand is stand 4.

The letters indicate a specific bucket of the stand and is labeled in a clockwise pattern. Bucket A will point towards the launch pad, while C points away. Bucket B points to the left in relation to the launch pad and D points to the right.

The user will be told which target they need to capture by being told first the stand number and then the bucket letter.

For example, the instruction may read “Climb to altitude “S” and alight with target 2A.” In this example, the user would need to position the drone so they can see the target on bucket A on stand 2.

Each stand also has a bucket pointing straight up. This bucket does not have a letter associated with it and is identified only by the stand number it is on. For example, the top bucket on stand 3 would simply be called, bucket 3.

Altitude Requirements

The scenarios will ask you to fly to or hover at Altitude “S.” S is a variable in this context, and differs based on which test variation you are flying. If you are flying the 10 ft position test, S is equal to 10 feet. Most of the objectives are at “S” feet, however, if you are asked to hover at “2S” you should move to 2 x 10 feet, or 20 feet. Each of the bucket stands are located S feet apart. When you hover at altitude S, the target is typically S feet away, meaning the camera will be placed at 45 degrees when perfectly aligned with the angled buckets. The tolerance for S altitude in the simulator is 30% of S.

Note, the Orbit test does not have an altitude requirement. You may capture buckets at any altitude in this maneuver.

Capture/Alignment Requirements

As previously mentioned, the pilot is awarded points by capturing pictures of targets at the bottom of the buckets. The targets have a green ring around the outside perimeter. To earn a point, the target must be completely aligned so that the green ring is continuous around the target.

Once you are aligned, press the capture button. By default, the capture button is P on the keyboard, the underside/right button of the FS-i6S controller, or the down button on the D-Pad on a gamepad. If you wish to change this configuration, you can do so in the Controller -> Mapping Menu in Zephyr. You will only get one capture attempt per objective in the Test scenario so it is important to make sure you are aligned before capturing the image.

Conclusion

We’re excited to offer this as a solution to aid with establishing a national flight proficiency standard. If you wish to learn more about the NIST Open Lane test, please see the links below or if you have questions about the simulator you can contact us directly. Thank you, and enjoy the simulator.