Need Help! Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

  1. #1
    Registered
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    I have not been on this forum in a long time, but I come here asking for help.

    The Situation:
    I'm currently in Army flight school about to finish Initial Entry Rotary Wing Training (IERW). It has been a long and very demanding journey getting to this point with a long way to go. Once finished with IERW we will find out what type of Helicopter will get to fly (Black hawk, Chinook, or Apache). In this final phase of training we have to make what is called hazard maps. It is a collection of 30 1:50,000 military maps folded into a book with power lines, air routes and towers hand drawn each map. It is an outdated practice not used in modern Army aviation and take 40-60 hours to complete. For those of you who are not familiar with Army flight school, you have no free time, you fly, go to academics, and study. There is very little time left over each day to spend with your family, yet alone 40-60 hours to spend hand drawing maps. This is where I need you help.

    The solution:
    CNC plotter

    The Problem:
    too many choices to choose from, limited budget, and limited time.

    The task:
    30 ~47.5mmx55mm maps
    Multiple Colors (black,Red,Orange,Light Blue, Dark Blue, Magenta, Yellow, Green)
    Simple lines, circles, and text. Doesn't need to be super accurate.

    My idea:
    I have access to the digital files of the maps. We cant print them as they have to be "hand" drawn on issued maps. So If I can load them into a program, trace the objects to be hand drawn and turn it into a cad file. Then put into a plotter, I could make the 30 map files and run them on a plotter saving 40 students every 2 weeks a ton of time on something they don't need to do.

    What I need:
    An easy to use 2D cam software
    Easy to learn CAM
    And something to control the CNC
    A CNC plotter kit, that is easy to assemble.

    Any ideas/suggestions/help would be really appreciated.

    Similar Threads:


  2. #2
    Flies Fast Superman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Antarctica
    Posts
    3110
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    Excuse me... but is that not part of the exercise of seeing danger & accessing risk
    - topography may have changed.... so you highlight those changes in red

    If you have someone or something else do this assessment...... what have you learned.... are the asset you are in control off, or passengers, or cargo "at any greater risk ?"......

    If I was an instructor......I'd say yes..... and you would be failed



  3. #3
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    usa
    Posts
    182
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    Try being a pilot for ships. You have to be able to draw a chart of the entire area from memory. You're lucky, you have the base map.



  4. #4
    Registered
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    Even though they are called "hazards' maps, it is more for navigation. The maps they give us are from the 70s. Well do all of our route planning on advanced computer software that has all the "hazards" and updated imagery, and then transfer our routes onto the old outdated maps. Less of a learning exercise and more of a "I did it so now your going to do it" thing. Most of instructor pilots I have flown with hate them and thing it is a waste of time and takes away from more important training. The aviation library on post has outdated hazard maps that a lot of students trace to try and save some time but end up with a lackluster product. With having a CNC plotter do it, I could add even more hazards and navigation information I.e. Tower heights(no one adds tower heights because it would take even more time).

    I do see your point from an outside point of view, if that is what they were trying to teach us, I would say make them do it, the prior Non commissioned officer in me strives for excellence.

    This is 100% a time saver to give soldiers more time with their family and less stress.


    A few of the instructors wives sell redrawn maps for a couple hundred bucks. So I know they wont have a problem with it.

    Here is a a sample of the image off the computer. Simple tracing.


    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Army pilots need your help with plotting maps-testmap-jpg  


  5. #5
    Member ger21's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Shelby Township
    Posts
    35538
    Downloads
    1
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    My idea:
    I have access to the digital files of the maps. We cant print them as they have to be "hand" drawn on issued maps. So If I can load them into a program, trace the objects to be hand drawn and turn it into a cad file. Then put into a plotter, I could make the 30 map files and run them on a plotter saving 40 students every 2 weeks a ton of time on something they don't need to do.

    What I need:
    An easy to use 2D cam software
    Easy to learn CAM
    And something to control the CNC
    A CNC plotter kit, that is easy to assemble.
    A plotter and a printer are the same thing.
    You can't print, but you can plot???

    Learn how to use Draftsight, and print pdf's and take them to Kinkos for plotting.
    Or look for a low priced used plotter on Ebay or Craigslist.

    Gerry

    UCCNC 2017 Screenset
    [URL]http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2017.html[/URL]

    Mach3 2010 Screenset
    [URL]http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html[/URL]

    JointCAM - CNC Dovetails & Box Joints
    [URL]http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html[/URL]

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)


  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    usa
    Posts
    182
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    I'd recommend you have your commanding officer respond to this thread and tell us that it's OK to help you.



  7. #7
    Member dharmic's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    1422
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    Time spent just doing the work: 40-60 hours.

    Money spent cheating the old fashioned way: $200

    Being a smartarse, locating a plotter, finding the up-to-date maps, finding a way of extracting the hazard features from that map to their own dataset, finding software that converts that data into vectors, finding software that scales correctly for the plotter, getting drivers for the plotter working and making the result look (forget hand drawn) just not look like utter crap.
    Time: 2000 hours
    Money: $2000+

    Sounds a bit like a kid who invests all his pocket money and a year's worth of weekends devising a machine to write lines for him. Instead of the other kids who just spend the half hour after school writing lines before getting on with their lives. Forget the unfairness of it all. You've chosen a career path, you have a task, maybe spend all this energy on cheating to instead just suck it up and get the job done: it will end up being the quicker and cheaper approach anyway.



  8. #8
    Registered
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

    Quote Originally Posted by dharmic View Post
    Time spent just doing the work: 40-60 hours.

    Money spent cheating the old fashioned way: $200

    Being a smartarse, locating a plotter, finding the up-to-date maps, finding a way of extracting the hazard features from that map to their own dataset, finding software that converts that data into vectors, finding software that scales correctly for the plotter, getting drivers for the plotter working and making the result look (forget hand drawn) just not look like utter crap.
    Time: 2000 hours
    Money: $2000+

    Sounds a bit like a kid who invests all his pocket money and a year's worth of weekends devising a machine to write lines for him. Instead of the other kids who just spend the half hour after school writing lines before getting on with their lives. Forget the unfairness of it all. You've chosen a career path, you have a task, maybe spend all this energy on cheating to instead just suck it up and get the job done: it will end up being the quicker and cheaper approach anyway.
    Ok, so were are not on the same page here. My fault, I guess I was not clear enough in my purpose of this thread. I have already completed my maps, I spent the time and hand drew my maps. I didn't trace them, I didn't pay to have them done, I gave up every ounce of my free time for 3 weeks completing them.

    I've always had a passion for CNC machines and I'm looking to help my brethren after me.

    In no way would this be considered cheating for anyone. I would not risk my career on something so stupid. I've been in the military for 6 years(2 deployments to Afghanistan), and they do not take kindly to cheating, or DUIs. Kind of a career killer.

    So back to the mission.



Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


About CNCzone.com

    We are the largest and most active discussion forum for manufacturing industry. The site is 100% free to join and use, so join today!

Follow us on


Our Brands

Army pilots need your help with plotting maps

Army pilots need your help with plotting maps