Field Operations · Controlled Procedure
VC-SOP-0313 — Pollinator Drone Swarm Operations
The procedure for safe launch, mission tasking, airspace deconfliction, and recovery of the autonomous Pollinator Drone Swarm across the greenhouse canopy and open arboretum bays.
The swarm is never unsupervised. A qualified Swarm Marshal holds live abort authority for the full mission. Autonomy operates within a geofence and a hard return-to-base battery floor; no override may disable either. Operations over GCL-3+ zones require Containment concurrence.
1. Purpose
To define the controlled method for operating the Pollinator Drone Swarm — micro-drones performing precision pollen transfer, canopy inspection, and targeted VOC sampling — such that pollination targets are met without specimen damage, airspace conflict, cross-pollination error, or escape from the controlled volume.
2. Scope
Applies to all swarm sorties within the greenhouse canopy zones and open arboretum bays. Higher-level fleet tasking and deconfliction policy is set in VC-SOP-0131; imaging payload work coordinates with VC-SOP-0124 (Spectral Canopy Array). Sensor-node maintenance follows VC-SOP-0501. Excludes off-site field drones.
3. Definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sortie | A single launch-to-recovery mission flown by a defined drone group. |
| Geofence | The 3-D boundary beyond which a drone cannot fly; breach triggers immediate motor cut or tether. |
| Deconfliction | Separation of swarm flight volumes from personnel, fixed rigs, and other drone groups. |
| RTB Floor | The battery state-of-charge at which a drone autonomously returns to its dock, non-overridable. |
| Cross-Pollination Lock | A tasking constraint preventing transfer between incompatible or quarantined cultivars. |
| Marshal Hold | A commanded swarm-wide hover-and-await state issued by the Swarm Marshal. |
4. Responsibilities
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Swarm Marshal (Owner) | Authorizes and supervises every sortie; holds live abort/hold authority; owns this SOP. |
| Swarm Technician | Performs pre-flight inspection, dock servicing, and post-flight diagnostics. |
| Watch Commander | Clears the operating volume of personnel; coordinates with Containment for GCL-3+ zones. |
| CHLORA | Plans routes; enforces geofence, RTB floor, and cross-pollination locks; logs telemetry. |
| PhytoSense Mesh | Supplies bloom-readiness and target maps used for tasking. |
5. Equipment & Pre-Flight
- Drone docks reporting full charge and clean rotor/payload status
- Geofence and RTB-floor parameters loaded and verified for the target zone
- Cross-pollination lock list current (excludes quarantined stock per VC-SOP-0205)
- Operating volume cleared of personnel; canopy obstructions noted
- MDF comms link to swarm confirmed; Marshal abort control tested
6. Flight Envelope & Limits
| Parameter | Limit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Max drones per sortie | 48 | Per zone deconfliction capacity |
| Min separation (drone–drone) | 0.4 m | Enforced by CHLORA collision mesh |
| Min standoff (drone–personnel) | 2.0 m | Hard geofence around tracked badges |
| RTB floor | 25 % SoC | Non-overridable |
| Max wind / airflow (open bay) | 3.5 m·s⁻¹ | Sortie scrubbed above limit |
| Max continuous sortie | 22 min | Battery-bound; rotate groups |
7. Procedure
7.1 Pre-Flight & Volume Clearance
- Swarm Technician completes the dock checklist; any drone with a rotor, payload, or charge fault is grounded.
- Watch Commander confirms the operating volume is clear of personnel, or that all present carry tracked badges for standoff enforcement.
- For GCL-3+ zones, Containment concurrence is recorded before launch.
- Marshal verifies geofence, RTB floor, and cross-pollination locks on the CHLORA console.
7.2 Mission Tasking
- CHLORA generates the pollination route from the PhytoSense bloom-readiness map; Marshal reviews and approves the target set.
- Confirm cross-pollination locks exclude any incompatible or quarantined cultivar pairing. A lock conflict blocks tasking.
- Assign drone groups to deconflicted sub-volumes; verify min-separation mesh is armed.
7.3 Launch & In-Flight Supervision
- Launch in waves no larger than 12 drones; confirm each wave reaches station before the next launches.
- Marshal monitors live telemetry: position, SoC, payload state, and separation health.
- Issue a Marshal Hold for any anomaly — personnel entry, separation alert, or specimen-damage report — before resuming.
- Pollination accuracy is sampled live; a target with repeated transfer failure is flagged for manual follow-up.
7.4 Recovery & Post-Flight
- Drones return at the RTB floor or on mission completion; confirm full count docked against launch count.
- Any drone unaccounted for triggers a search and a no-launch hold until recovered.
- Technician runs post-flight diagnostics; payload residue is decontaminated before next sortie.
- CHLORA archives the sortie record and pollination coverage map to metrics.
7.5 Quality Checkpoints
- Launch count equals recovery count — zero drones lost
- No geofence or min-separation breach during the sortie
- Cross-pollination locks honored — no quarantined-stock contact
- Pollination coverage ≥ 95 % of tasked targets
- All payload residue decontaminated before redeployment
8. Alarm Responses
| Alarm | Indication | Immediate Action |
|---|---|---|
| Separation Alert | Two drones within 0.4 m | CHLORA auto-separates; Marshal Hold if it recurs; ground the affected group. |
| Personnel Intrusion | Badge enters operating volume | Swarm holds and retreats to 2.0 m standoff; resume only when clear. |
| Geofence Breach | Drone exits the 3-D boundary | Immediate motor cut / tether recovery; full sortie hold; investigate before relaunch. |
| Lost Comms | MDF link to drone dropped | Drone executes autonomous RTB; if non-responsive, declare lost-drone search per 7.4. |
| Specimen Damage | Contact/impact reported on a target | Marshal Hold; ground the group; log to monitoring and notify Cultivar Lead. |
9. Records
- Sortie authorization, tasking, and launch/recovery count (retained 3 years)
- Full flight telemetry and pollination coverage map (CHLORA)
- Anomaly, hold, and lost-drone reports (cross-filed to Monitoring)
- Post-flight diagnostics and decontamination log
10. References
- VC-SOP-0131 — Pollinator Drone Swarm Tasking & Deconfliction
- VC-SOP-0124 — Spectral Canopy Array Calibration & Imaging
- VC-SOP-0501 — PhytoSense Mesh Calibration
- VC-SOP-0205 — Specimen Intake & Quarantine
- Operational Metrics · Monitoring Systems
11. Revision History
| Rev | Date | Author | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2088-09-15 | Swarm Marshal | Initial issue; geofence and RTB floor established. |
| B | 2090-07-08 | Swarm Marshal | Cross-pollination locks and personnel standoff added. |
| C | 2091-03-30 | Swarm Marshal | Wave-launch sequencing and lost-drone no-launch hold formalized. CBO approval. |