Download or read book Autonomous Aerobatic Flight of a Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle written by Willem Jacobus Hough and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Control and Obstacle Avoidance for Agile Fixed wing Aircraft written by Eitan Bulka and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been increasingly proposed for aerial surveillance, mapping, and delivery tasks. Historically these vehicles fall into two categories: conventional fixed-wing aircraft, which are capable of efficient flight over long distances but lack maneuverability, and rotorcraft, which are capable of agile and maneuverable flight but lack efficiency and endurance. Recent advancements in aerial vehicle design aim to incorporate characteristics from both rotorcraft and conventional fixed-wing aircraft, ultimately creating aircraft that are capable of both maneuverable and efficient long distance flight. These type of platforms are ideal for tasks that require both the ability to maneuver through cluttered environments, and the ability to fly long distances efficiently. An aircraft of this type, the agile fixed-wing aircraft, is a fixed-wing aircraft characterized by a high thrust-to-weight ratio (> 1), and large control surfaces capable of large deflections.The objective of this thesis is to further the autonomous capabilities of agile fixed-wing aircraft; specifically in the context of control systems and real-time collision avoidance. The thesis begins with a discussion of a previously developed flight dynamics model, and presents a method for validating a flight dynamics model in flight regimes that rely on feedback control. Subsequently, a single control architecture is developed that can track trajectories within both conventional and aerobatic flight regimes. This architecture is then extended to be applicable to many other types of vehicles, specifically vehicles which can generate a torque in an arbitrary direction, and can apply a single body-fixed force. We demonstrate autonomous aerobatic trajectories with an agile fixed-wing aircraft, specifically knife-edge, rolling harrier, aggressive turnaround and hovering maneuvers within conventional simulations, hardware-in-the-loop simulations, indoor flight tests and outdoor flight tests. We also validate the extension to other platforms by demonstrating flips with a quadrotor in both simulation and outdoor flight tests. All flights were performed with on-board sensing and computation.We then present a reactive obstacle avoidance algorithm that utilizes the maneuvering capabilities of agile fixed-wing aircraft and can be run in real-time with on-board sensing and computation. At each time step, trajectories are selected in real-time from a pre-computed library that lead to various positions on the edge of the obstacle sensor's field-of-view. A cost is assigned to each collision-free trajectory based on its heading toward the goal and minimum distance to obstacles, and the lowest cost trajectory is tracked. If all of the potential trajectories leading to the various positions at the edge of the obstacle sensor's field-of-view result in a collision, the aircraft has enough space to hover and come to a stop, which theoretically guarantees collision-free flight in unknown static environments. Autonomous flight in unknown and unstructured environments using only on-board sensing (stereo camera, IMU, and GPS) and computation is demonstrated with an agile fixed-wing aircraft in both simulation and outdoor flight tests. During the flight testing campaign, the aircraft autonomously flew 4.4 km in a tree-filled environment with an average speed of 8.1 m/s and a top speed of 14.4 m/s"--

Download or read book Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles written by Kimon P. Valavanis and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-02-26 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past decade has seen tremendous interest in the production and refinement of unmanned aerial vehicles, both fixed-wing, such as airplanes and rotary-wing, such as helicopters and vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. This book provides a diversified survey of research and development on small and miniature unmanned aerial vehicles of both fixed and rotary wing designs. From historical background to proposed new applications, this is the most comprehensive reference yet.

Download or read book Nonlinear Control of Fixed Wing UAVs with Time Varying and Unstructured Uncertainties written by Michail G. Michailidis and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-02-21 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces a comprehensive and mathematically rigorous controller design for families of nonlinear systems with time-varying parameters and unstructured uncertainties. Although the presented methodology is general, the specific family of systems considered is the latest, NextGen, unconventional fixed-wing unmanned aircraft with circulation control or morphing wings, or a combination of both. The approach considers various sources of model and parameter uncertainty, while the controller design depends not on a nominal plant model, but instead on a family of admissible plants. In contrast to existing controller designs that consider multiple models and multiple controllers, the proposed approach is based on the ‘one controller fits all models’ within the unstructured uncertainty interval. The book presents a modeling-based analysis and synthesis approach with additive uncertainty weighting functions for accurate realization of the candidate systems. This differs significantly from existing designs in that it is capable of handling time-varying characteristics. This research monograph is suitable for scientists, engineers, researchers and graduate students with a background in control system theory who are interested in complex engineering nonlinear systems.

Download or read book Design of an Autonomous Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle written by Blake Maloney and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unmanned aerial vehicles have the ability to monitor plant health when equipped with certain types of cameras that allow for visualization of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The result is a color-coded image that highlights areas that are in bad health and in need of maintenance. When utilized for maintenance of large crops, the unmanned aerial vehicles allow for maintenance optimization and overall cost reduction. This stage of the research focuses on the construction of an autopilot, fixed-wing aircraft that is capable of performing these flights. After experimentation with manual flight and simulated flights, a flying wing airframe was equipped with autopilot hardware and programmed to fly missions of appropriate length. A mission was successfully planned but the plane did not finish the mission due to a minor error that caused it to stray from the designated path. Further work should involve the installation of cameras modified for NDVI images. This thesis was completed as part of Dr. H.J. Sommer's Unmanned Aircraft for Agricultural Applications (UAAA) research initiative, which supports the development and testing of new methods for inspecting and treating plants, soil, and water using unmanned aircraft.

Download or read book Dynamics Modeling of Agile Fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles written by Waqas Khan and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Recent emergence of a special class of small fixed-wing UAVs called agile UAVs or highly maneuverable UAVs, has led to a renewed interest in modeling and understanding full-envelope fixed-wing aircraft dynamics. Agile UAVs are characterized by low weight and inertia, low aspect ratio surfaces with big control surfaces and large deflections, and a powerful thruster producing high thrust-to-weight ratio and a strong slipstream. Owing to this unique configuration, agile UAVs attain maneuverability that parallels that of rotary-wing and flapping-wing UAVs, therefore making them suitable for a wide range of tasks involving both conventional and extreme aerobatic flight. While RC pilots have long demonstrated the potential of agile UAVs, mimicking these capabilities autonomously remains at large a challenge, mainly because the behavior of these UAVs is not well understood. This work takes a first step towards understanding and simulating the behavior of agile UAVs for their full flight envelope. To this end, a six degree-of-freedom nonlinear dynamics model is presented. The model is validated for a YAK54 ARF Electric 3D Aerobat test platform having a wing span of 0.82 m. The inertial and geometric parameters are determined from measurements and a detailed CAD model. The agile UAV model incorporates aerodynamics based on a component breakdown approach. The full ± 180 deg. angle of attack and sideslip range is captured while also taking into account low aspect ratio as well as large control surface deflection effects both pre-stall and post-stall. The effect of quasi-steady and unsteady aerodynamics is also investigated. Aerodynamic interference between different components such as the wing, tail etc. is introduced in a simple fashion. Most of the aerobatic maneuvers of agile UAVs are possible due to its powerful thruster because it supports the aircraft weight, while its slipstream provides air over the aerodynamic and control surfaces to help maintain lift and control. In lieu of this, a detailed mathematical treatment for the thruster dynamics and the propeller slipstream effects have also been undertaken in the current work. A thruster dynamics model is developed by considering its components namely the battery, ESC, brushless DC motor, and propeller. Gyroscopic effects arising from large pitching and yawing of the thruster are also taken into account. For the slipstream, the effects of both axial and swirl components are considered. A novel model is presented to predict the axial velocity up to far downstream of the propeller.The last aspect of this work is the validation of the agile UAV model (implemented in Simulink). A multitude of experiments comprising of static bench tests and wind-tunnel tests are performed. A thorough validation is carried out against experimental data for the individual components as well as the overall agile UAV model. In general, the simulated results are in good agreement with experimental data. A final qualitative validation is also done by configuring the model to run in real-time with the pilot-in-loop and visual feedback provided through X-Plane. A professional RC pilot who has experience flying the real aircraft, tested the simulation by flying various RC maneuvers. His overall comments were that the simulation behaves much like the real aircraft." --

Download or read book A Low Cost Implementation of Autonomous Takeoff and Landing for a Fixed Wing UAV written by Thomas W. Carnes and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The take-off and landing of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is often the most critical and accident prone portion of its mission. This potential hazard coupled with the time and resources necessary to train a remote UAV pilot makes it desirable to have autonomous take-off and landing capabilities for UAVs. However, a robust, reliable, and accurate autonomous takeoff and landing capability for fixed-wing aircraft is not an available feature in many low-cost UAV flight control systems. This thesis describes the design of an autonomous take-off and landing algorithm implemented on an existing low-cost flight control system for a small fixed wing UAV. This thesis also describes the autonomous takeoff and landing algorithm development and gives validation results from hardware in the loop simulation.

Download or read book Autonomous and Semi autonomous Control of Agile Fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles written by Juan Carlos Hernandez Ramirez and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been increasingly employed for a wide range of civilian applications, including scientific and commercial endeavours. Striving for versatility, novel UAV designs have been proposed which incorporate features from different aircraft categories. The agile fixed-wing UAV is one such platform, which combines the fast andefficient flight of conventional fixed-wing aircraft with the highly maneuverable hovering capabilities of rotorcraft. These aircraft have enormous potential but are challenging to operate, demonstrating the need for control systems capable of harnessing their maneuvering capabilities. The objective of this thesis is to develop a comprehensive control strategy for the agile fixed-wing UAV, considering both autonomous, and pilot-assist, semi-autonomous operation. The thesis begins by introducing the fixed-wing UAV model, including previously developed aerodynamic and slipstream models needed for controller design and verification. Controllerdesign begins in the next chapter, where the core attitude control system is developed. We propose several geometric control strategies which are then evaluated through simulations and experiments. The next chapter presents a nonlinear control strategy to enable UAV velocity and position control. This is a unified control architecture, where a single controller is valid for steady and hover flight regimes. Rigorous stability analysis, together with simulations and experimental flights demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed system. The following chapter, we propose an additional control loop to enable path-following functionality, allowing us to prioritize the task of reaching and following spatial paths. As part of this system, a novel moving path frame is developed, specifically tailored for the task of motion control in three-dimensional space. Finally, a reference generator capable of translating limited pilot inputs into time-parametrized trajectories or spatial paths is developed. This system is then integrated with the control systems to achieve a semi-autonomous control solution. As demonstrated through experimental flights, the proposed system enables a human pilot to safely operate the aircraft inany regime without sacrificing its maneuverability"--

Download or read book Autonomous Take off and Landing for a Fixed Wing UAV written by Israel Lugo Cárdenas and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work studies some of the most relevant problems in the direction of navigation and control presented in a particular class of mini-aircraft. One of the main objectives is to build a lightweight and easy to deploy vehicle in a short period of time, an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of following a complete mission from take-o⁄ to the following waypoints and complete the mission with an autonomous landing within a delimitated area using a graphical interface in a computer. The Trajectory Generation It is the part that tells the drone where it must travel and are generated by an algorithm built into the drone. The classic result of Dubins is used as a basis for the trajectory generation in 2D and we have extended it to the 3D trajectory generation. A path following strategy developed using the Lyapunov approach is presented to pilot a fixed wing drone across the desired path. The key concept behind the tracking controller is the reduction of the distance between the center of mass of the aircraft p and the point q on the path to zero, as well as the angle between the velocity vector and the vector tangent to the path. In order to test the techniques developed during the thesis a customized C # .Net application was developed called MAV3DSim (Multi-Aerial Vehicle 3D Simulator). The MAV3DSim allows a read / write operation from / to the simulation engine from which we could receive all emulated sensor information and sent to the simulator. The MAV3DSim consists of three main elements, the simulation engine, the computation of the control law and the visualization interface. The simulation engine is in charge of the numeric integration of the dynamic equations of the vehicle, we can choose between a quadrotor and a xed wing drone for use in simulation. The visualization interface resembles a ground station type of application, where all variables of the vehicle s state vector can be represented on the same screen. The experimental platform functions as a test bed for the control law prototyping. The platform consists of a xed wing aircraft with a PX4 which has the autopilot function as well as a Raspberry PI mini-computer which to the implementation of the generation and trajectory tracking. The complete system is capable of performing an autonomous take-o⁄and landing, through waypoints. This is accomplished by using each of the strategies developed during the thesis. We have a strategy for take-o⁄ and landing, which is generated by the navigationon part that is the trajectory generator. Once we have generated the path, it is used by the trajectory tracking strategy and withthat we have landing and take-o⁄ autonomously.

Download or read book Autonomous Vertical Recovery of Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles written by Trevor R. Smouter and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) prevail in commercial and first responder applications, the need for safer and more consistent recovery methods is growing. Standard aircraft landing manoeuvres are only possible with a suitable runway which is often unavailable outside of military applications. Alternative recovery approaches can be either contained within the aircraft, ie. parachute or be setup on the ground ie. net landing. By integrating the recovery system into the vehicle, the flight preparation can be streamlined due to the fact that setting up recovering devices is no longer required. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the application of an autonomous vertical landing capability for fixed wing UAVs using articulated motors to enter vertical flight.

Download or read book Autopilot System for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Uav written by Zain Zafar and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AUTOPILOT SYSTEM FOR AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) contains Autonomous Navigation and Control system for a fixed wing plane (Autopilot system). The project includes the Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference Based Control system Development, and programming it into single board computer installed in the model aircraft. The software architecture was developed using C++ language in Linux operating system. All sensors, necessary for the control are interfaced with the system. It also includes Live data transmission with graphical representation in MATLAB (defining all states of the aircraft during flight); live video transmission for surveillance purpose and Intelligent control system for Online System Identification was developed & tested on a real flight.

Download or read book Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Design and Technology written by T. Hikmet Karakoc and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-12-19 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Design and Technology provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology basics. The book presents clear, concise guidance on UAS system design, components, control, and operations fundamentals. Additional chapters look at unmanned aerial regulations and ethics and the historical background of UAS technology. This textbook offers a well-rounded look at unmanned flight technology, making it an ideal primer for aviation and aerospace students and anyone interested in learning more about unmanned aerial systems, including engineers, technicians, drone and flight hobbyists, and civil aviation organization officials.

Download or read book Over 40 Publications Studies Combined UAS UAV Drone Swarm Technology Research written by and published by Jeffrey Frank Jones. This book was released on with total page 3840 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 3,800 total pages ... Just a sample of the studies / publications included: Drone Swarms Terrorist and Insurgent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Use, Potentials, and Military Implications Countering A2/AD with Swarming Stunning Swarms: An Airpower Alternative to Collateral Damage Ideal Directed-Energy System To Defeat Small Unmanned Aircraft System Swarms Break the Kill Chain, not the Budget: How to Avoid U.S. Strategic Retrenchment Gyges Effect: An Ethical Critique of Lethal Remotely Piloted Aircraft Human Robotic Swarm Interaction Using an Artificial Physics Approach Swarming UAS II Swarming Unmanned Aircraft Systems Communication Free Robot Swarming UAV Swarm Attack: Protection System Alternatives for Destroyers Confidential and Authenticated Communications in a Large Fixed-Wing UAV Swarm UAV Swarm Behavior Modeling for Early Exposure of Failure Modes Optimized Landing of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarms Mini, Micro, and Swarming Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Baseline Study UAV Swarm Operational Risk Assessment System SmartSwarms: Distributed UAVs that Think Command and Control Autonomous UxV's UAV Swarm Tactics: An Agent-Based Simulation and Markov Process Analysis A Novel Communications Protocol Using Geographic Routing for Swarming UAVs Performing a Search Mission Accelerating the Kill Chain via Future Unmanned Aircraft Evolution of Control Programs for a Swarm of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles AFIT UAV Swarm Mission Planning and Simulation System A Genetic Algorithm for UAV Routing Integrated with a Parallel Swarm Simulation Applying Cooperative Localization to Swarm UAVS Using an Extended Kalman Filter A Secure Group Communication Architecture for a Swarm of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Braving the Swarm: Lowering Anticipated Group Bias in Integrated Fire/Police Units Facing Paramilitary Terrorism Distributed Beamforming in a Swarm UAV Network Integrating UAS Flocking Operations with Formation Drag Reduction Tracking with a Cooperatively Controlled Swarm of GMTI Equipped UAVS Using Agent-Based Modeling to Evaluate UAS Behaviors in a Target-Rich Environment Experimental Analysis of Integration of Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Naval Special Warfare Operations Forces Target Acquisition Involving Multiple Unmanned Air Vehicles: Interfaces for Small Unmanned Air Systems (ISUS) Program Tools for the Conceptual Design and Engineering Analysis of Micro Air Vehicles Architectural Considerations for Single Operator Management of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Download or read book Smart Autonomous Aircraft written by Yasmina Bestaoui Sebbane and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2015-11-18 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the extraordinary growth of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in research, military, and commercial contexts, there has been a need for a reference that provides a comprehensive look at the latest research in the area. Filling this void, Smart Autonomous Aircraft: Flight Control and Planning for UAV introduces the advanced methods of flight contr

Download or read book Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Breakthroughs in Research and Practice written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-05-03 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First used in military applications, unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming an integral aspect of modern society and are expanding into the commercial, scientific, recreational, agricultural, and surveillance sectors. With the increasing use of these drones by government officials, business professionals, and civilians, more research is needed to understand their complexity both in design and function. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice is a critical source of academic knowledge on the design, construction, and maintenance of drones, as well as their applications across all aspects of society. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as intelligent systems, artificial intelligence, and situation awareness, this publication is an ideal reference source for military consultants, military personnel, business professionals, operation managers, surveillance companies, agriculturalists, policymakers, government officials, law enforcement, IT professionals, academicians, researchers, and graduate-level students.

Download or read book Modeling and Control of a Flying Wing Tailsitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle written by Romain Chiappinelli and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Tailsitters are a special class of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle intended to bridge the gap between rotorcraft and conventional fixed-wing aircraft. These systems are able to perform aerobatic and stationary maneuvers, including vertical takeoff and landing, as well as efficient level flight. However, this flying ability brings a control challenge due to the two distinct flight regimes. During vertical maneuvers, the wings are stalled and only the thrust forces support the aircraft's weight. The rear control surfaces, called elevons, are kept effective due to the slipstream generated by the thrusters. During level flight, the aircraft flies at a substantial forward velocity which generates lift from the wings as well as control authority from the elevons. In this research, a real time simulator is developed for the full flight envelope range, based on a component breakdown method. The simulator includes a flat plate aerodynamics model which includes the effect of control surfaces deflection, a ground contact model, as well as a semi-empirical thruster model. A single quaternion-based controller is developed and implemented in this simulated environment and also tested on the real platform. The autonomous maneuvers needed for a real flight mission are demonstrated through experiments, including vertical takeoff and climb, transition to level flight, back transition, stationary flight, vertical descent and landing. The results from both simulations and flight experiments are compared and used to qualitatively evaluate the performances of the simulator." --

Download or read book Unmanned Aviation written by Laurence R. Newcome and published by AIAA. This book was released on 2004 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newcome traces the family tree of unmanned aircraft all the way back to their roots as aerial torpedoes, which were the equivalent of todays cruise missiles. He discusses the work of leading aerospace pioneers whose efforts in the area of unmanned aviation have largely been ignored by history.