Author: Leonardo Georgescu, Email: georgl3@unlv.nevada.edu
Date Last Modified: 06/11/2018

Hi, my name is Leonardo Georgescu. I departed Las Vegas, Nevada on June 1, 2018 and I will be coming back on August 10, 2018. For the duration of the trip, I will be staying in Daejeon, South Korea, and I will study at the Unmanned Systems Lab under Professor David Shim at KAIST, a world renowned research university. This journal will not only show my research progress, but also my cultural experience. In each entry I will be discussing the following:

• 1. Photo of the Week
• 2. New Korean that I met
• 3. Cultural Insight
• 4. What did I learn about myself?
• 5. Research Status

First week in South Korea has been one of the most exciting weeks of my life. I not only focused on research, but I also had the honor to meet some Korean locals who showed me around Daejeon. The objective of this week was to get accustomed with the university, dorm, and Daejeon.

Even though I am not part of the Hubo Lab at KAIST, this is my photo of the week because I was extremely impressed upon arriving at their lab. Once we arrived at KAIST, our first point of contact was at the HUBO Lab. They were extremely nice, as many other Koreans, and helped us get settled into our dorms. Additionally, I caught the cold last week and needed to get some medicine from the pharmacy, but it was a holiday and the pharmacy on campus was closed. I reached out to them and they were quick to help me find a pharmacy around KAIST that was open. Also, later upon arrival they greeted us with some outdoor Korean barbecue. This was one of my first experiences with how friendly and helpful Koreans are. They were very quick to accept us in their group. It helps knowing that there is someone willing to help us if something does not work out. Their lab was also very impressive. Most of the things in their lab are manufactured there. They have someone who works only with the CNC machine. I was shocked by the number of Hubo robots they have. It was great being able to compare out lab in Las Vegas to the lab here at KAIST.

This is Professor Lee and I in front of the Donghaksa Buddhist Temple. Professor Lee is a professor at Woosong College teaching social issues. It was a great pleasure meeting him and being able to experience Korean culture with someone as knowledgeable as him. He is trying to practice his English while showing me around Korea. I cannot thank him enough for his kindness. I have learned so much about Korea from him.

Professor Lee took me to a Korean traditional restaurant. It was my first time experiencing this and I enjoyed every part of it. We had to take off our shoes and sit on the floor. The food was extremely delicious and the table was packed with a variety of vegetables and meat. The rice was served in a very interesting dish. This also let me firsthand explore true Korean food in the countryside.

After we finished eating, Professor Lee took me to the famous Donghaksa Buddhist Temple near Daejeon. I have always wanted to visit a Buddhist Temple, but I never had the opportunity. After parking the car, we walked up the mountain for 30 minutes and I arrived at this beautiful temple. The air was very clean and the atmosphere was peaceful. Professor Lee showed me some Buddhist prayers that I was able to partake in.

Professor Lee is very enthusiastic about connecting with foreigners and showing them Korean culture. I appreciate him taking the time out of his busy schedule to show me around.

Something very interesting about Korea that probably surprises many foreigners is that Koreans like to share. Whether I would go to a small seafood place in downtown Seoul or a traditional restaurant, Koreans like to share their food. In America we tend to order what we want from the menu and each person eats what is on his or her plate. On the contrary, in Korea everything is put on the table and shared between the diners. I think this is very important in creating a bond between the people. While eating in America feels more independent, in Korea it feels more group orientated. I enjoy going out and eating in Korea as it helps create better relationships with people.

Yu Hang and I went about our own ways and ended up meeting at a palace in Seoul. Before arriving in Korea, I was extremely worried about getting lost. In this picture, it shows both of us ending up where we wanted to be without getting lost. It's a little intimidating at first to be in a different place, but Yu Hang and I learned very fast. Our second day in Seoul we knew how to navigate around using the subway and bus. Obvious, the Naver app on the phone helped a lot. Even when we didn't speak the language, Koreans would do their best to help us around. I learned that I can survive even in a country that I don't speak the language.

I learned very much at the lab this past week. On the third day at the lab, the members took me for a test flight. A master's student it working on creating a deep learning program for collision avoidance with another aircraft. It surprised me how much equipment they have and how expensive it is. They flew the plane using high end military equipment and filmed it using a 4K DJI drone.

Of course, the purpose of my trip to Korea is to learn more about drones and RTK. One lab member designed a flight controller that they use for all the drones. Additionally, he programmed the software. I am surprised that they make their own products. I guess this is a very good way of having them really learn about what they're designing. I will be able to learn more about flight controllers from the people that made their own.

Last week I was able to learn how to use Autodesk Eagle to create transistors, op amps, and other electric components. Additionally, I was able to design a circuit board in Eagle. This is extremely useful to know since most of the things at this lab are made from scratch. Additionally, I would like to design my own circuit board and have it printed using the CNC machine once I arrive back at the DASL Lab.

I learned about flight controllers, and how they work. I learned the basic code programming for a drone using inertial measurements. First, I learned that a drone code has three main components to it. The first is for the controller to read sensor values, rotational rates and angles. Then we interpret what those mean by using time intervals. The second part is reading values from the remote control. The third part is the most difficult, and it involves processing the data to be able to create different flight modes such as stabilize, acro mode, etc.

Before coming to Korea, I was having issues with landing the RC fixed-wing. I spent a lot of time this week researching different methods to provide precise waypoints. Asking their advice, I was able to come up with a couple of plans for the skywriting project and how to get the best drawings on the sky.

One of my side projects is learning python and programming using DroneKit which allows an interface between a raspberry pi and pixhawk. I think this will be extremely useful in the skywriting project.

This week I will focus intensely on learning how to draw an image, interpret the image as GPS coordinates, and have them sent to the drone. Additionally, I will be working with a Master's student on getting the 50 drones to take off from one position instead of having them scattered around.

Being around these lab members helped motivate me to do more work. I am able to see their work ethic, as well as the interesting projects they are working on. I look forward to learning much more in the following weeks.