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Dowd, Garrett E. "Improving Autonomous Vehicle Safety using Communicationsand Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1574861007798385.
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Foster, Tyler Michael. "Dynamic Stability and Handling Qualities of Small Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicles UNMANNED-AERIAL-VEHICLES." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2004. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/219.
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General aircraft dynamic stability theory was used to predict the natural frequencies, damping ratios and time constants of the dynamic modes for three specific small UAVs with wingspans on the scale from 0.6 meters to 1.2 meters. Using USAF DatCom methods, a spreadsheet program for predicting the dynamic stability and handling qualities of small UAVs was created for use in the design stage of new small UAV concept development. This program was verified by inputting data for a Cessna-182, and by then comparing the program output with that of a similar program developed by DAR Corporation. Predictions with acceptable errors were made for all of the dynamic modes except for the spiral mode. The design tool was also used to verify and develop dynamic stability and handling qualities design guidelines for small UAV designers. Using this design tool, it was observed that small UAVs tend to exhibit higher natural frequencies of oscillation for all of the dynamic modes. Comparing the program outputs with military handling qualities specifications, the small UAVs at standard configurations fell outside the range of acceptable handling qualities for short-period mode natural frequency, even though multiple test pilots rated the flying qualities as acceptable. Using dynamic scaling methods to adjust the current military standards for the short period mode, a new scale was proposed specifically for small UAVs. This scale was verified by conducting flight tests of three small UAVs at various configurations until poor handling qualities were observed. These transitions were observed to occur at approximately the boundary predicted by the new, adjusted scale.
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Ingebretsen, Thomas. "System Identification of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for fysikk, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-16776.
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The least squares method has been applied to estimate parameters inan aerodynamic model of a simulated aircraft, using data that can beexpected to available from sensors on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Acombination of two non-linear state observers have been implemented toestimate wind data such as angle of attack, sideslip and dynamic pressure.Simulations have confirmed that the observers are able to estimete thewind data using noisy sensor measurements. Parameter estimation havebeen demonstrated with both measured and estimated wind data.
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Johansen, Ingrid Hagen. "Autopilot Design for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-18458.
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This thesis will present a design of a guidance and control system to use on aircrafts, primarily on UAVs. One control method for heading control and two for pitch and altitude control will be investigated. The control methods are Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) and sliding mode control. PID will be tested on both heading and pitch and altitude control, while sliding mode will only be applied to pitch and altitude. There will be presented a path-following method, Line of Sight, for heading guidance and a kinematic controller for altitude reference. The presented methods are implemented in Matlab Simulink while the aircraft model used comes from the flight simulator X-Plane. X-Plane is also used to visualize the performance of the autopilot design.PID and sliding mode control are tested in four different scenarios to investigate which controller who has the best performance. After the simulations, it was observed that the PID had better performances than sliding mode control.
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Carnduff, S. D. "System identification of unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2008. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/7583.
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The aim of this research is to examine aspects of system identification for unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs). The process for aircraft in general can be broken down into a number of steps,
including manoeuvre design, instrumentation requirements, parameter estimation, model structure
determination and data compatibility analysis. Each of these steps is reviewed and potential
issues that could be encountered when analysing UAV data are identified. Problems which
may be of concern include lack of space within the airframe to mount sensors and a greater
susceptibility to the effects of turbulence in comparison to manned aircraft. These issues are
investigated using measurements from two experimental sources. Firstly, Cranfield University’s
dynamic wind tunnel facility is utilised, in which scale models are flown in semi-free
flight. The control surfaces are actuated so that inputs, similar to those used when flight testing
full-sized aircraft, can be applied and the resultant response of the model is recorded. Measurements
from a 1/12 scale model of the BAe Hawk and a 1/3 scale model of the FLAVIIR project
demonstrator UAV are used. An added benefit of the facility to this work is that the wind tunnel
models are comparable in size to the miniature class of UAVs. Therefore, practical issues,
similar to those faced for these aircraft, are encountered with the wind tunnel experiments. The
second source of experimental data is UAV flight test data supplied by BAE Systems.
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Yu, Kevin Li. "Coverage Planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/103705.
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This dissertation investigates how to plan paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for the task of covering an environment. Three increasingly complex coverage problems based on the environment that needs to be covered are studied. The dissertation starts with a 2D point coverage problem where the UAV needs to visit a set of sites on the ground plane by flying on a fixed altitude plane parallel to the ground. The UAV has limited battery capacity which may make it infeasible to visit all the points. A novel symbiotic UAV and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) system where the UGV acts as a mobile recharging station is proposed. A practical, efficient algorithm for solving this problem using Generalized Traveling Salesperson Problem (GTSP) solver is presented. Then the algorithm is extended to a coverage problem that covers 2D regions on the ground with a UAV that can operate in fixed-wing or multirotor mode. The algorithm is demonstrated through proof-of-concept experiments. Then this algorithm is applied to covering 2D regions, not all of which lie on the same plane. This is motivated by bridge inspection application, where the UAV is tasked with visually inspecting planar regions on the bridge. Finally, a general version of the problem where the UAV is allowed to fly in complete 3D space and the environment to be covered is in 3D as well is presented. An algorithm that clusters viewpoints on the surface of a 3D structure and has an UAV autonomously plan online paths to visit all viewpoints is presented. These online paths are re-planned in real time as the UAV obtains new information on the structure and strives to obtain an optimal 3D coverage path.<br>Doctor of Philosophy<br>This dissertation investigates how to plan paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Three increasingly complex coverage problems based on the environment that needs to be covered are studied. The dissertation starts with a 2D point coverage problem where the UAV needs to visit a set of sites on the ground by flying at a fixed altitude. The UAV has limited battery capacity which may make it impossible to visit all the points. A novel symbiotic UAV and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) system where the UGV acts as a mobile recharging station is proposed. A practical, efficient algorithm for solving this problem using Generalized Traveling Salesperson Problem (GTSP) solver is presented. Then the algorithm is extended to coverage of 2D regions on the ground with a hybrid UAV. The algorithm is demonstrated through proof-of-concept experiments. Then this algorithm is applied to covering 2D regions on 3D structures. This is motivated by bridge inspection application, where the UAV is tasked with visually inspecting regions on the bridge. Finally, a general version of the problem where the UAV is allowed to fly in 3D space and the environment to be covered is in 3D as well is presented. An algorithm that clusters points on the surface of a 3D structure and has an UAV autonomously plan online paths to visit all viewpoints is presented. These online paths are re-planned in real time as the UAV obtains new information on the structure and strives to obtain an optimal 3D coverage path.
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Bessemer, William G. "Transitioning to Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/2666.
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The Air Force is currently developing Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV). The UCAV is projected for initial testing by 2010. However, after reviewing the Office of Secretary of Defense's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap for 2005 2030<br>obtaining squadrons of UCAVs will cost billions of dollars and require decades to produce. The United States cannot afford to wait decades for unmanned weapons. Technology is spreading fast. Third world countries without stable economies and non-state actors are able to obtain/develop sophisticated weapons that are capable of destroying tactical aircraft. With sophisticated weapons easily obtainable, the risk of losing people in air combat is increasing significantly and that in turn is creating a level playing field for potential U.S. adversaries. Unmanned weapons technology can help America retain its military edge. However, since unmanned warfare capability is still decades away and is a multi-billion dollar project, America needs a quick fix. This study will argue that the most effective way to decrease risk-of-life and budget costs is to introduce F-16 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) aircraft for combat. This thesis will answer the question: How can the government seize the unmanned aircraft advantages and decrease defense spending until the UCAV is operational? The answer to this question will illustrate how an effective F-16 UAS force can synchronize resources to properly complete UCAV development while instantly reducing risk of life.
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Larkan, Jessica. "Centralised control of unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, Larkan, Jessica (2018) Centralised control of unmanned aerial vehicles. Honours thesis, Murdoch University, 2018. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/44790/.
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This report presents the supporting research, methods, and outcome of an endeavour to develop a centralised control system using NI Labview for unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Bitcraze. It outlines the structure of the work, the product, and its capabilities and significance as a contribution to the body of knowledge surrounding drone technologies.
In order to present precedent for the project and potential avenues of work, the current literature detailing similar applications and systems are summarised. These sections highlight preferable potential design choices and constraints, which were considered before a method was devised. From this research, the approach chosen for the development of the controller is detailed. The final method chosen was that of a controller developed within NI Labview and radio transmission via the Crazyradio PA dongle. This would be used in place of Bitcraze’s controller, the Crazyflie PC Client. The positioning would utilise the TDoA algorithm for positioning in combination with the Loco Positioning System.
The background of the system topology is then given. This outlines all aspects of the system which warrant significant explanation before the underlying methodology for the controller program can be presented. One important aspect was that of creating drivers for the Crazyradio dongle. The procedure for multi-UAV communication is then described. This involved assigning each Crazyflie a unique address, so that multiplexing could be performed with a single radio transceiver. The setup of the LPS and the sequence reasoning is described, as this functionality was a large component within code design. The final two sequences chosen for drone travel are a “snake” and a “circle” formation, devised to avoid collision and crashes.
A high-level walkthrough of the Labview VI assists in understanding the process followed and the potential for development of the existing code in the future. The most noteworthy sections of the code are analysed and explained, with reference to the findings of the investigation for the original system.
The outcome of the project is presented and critically examined. This includes a summary of the capabilities of the final product, as well as an assessment of the performance. It was determined that the controller effectively satisfied the key objectives defined for the endeavour. Any aims which were not adequately fulfilled are discussed, and potential methods for their future development are detailed. The most significant unfulfilled objective was implementing functionality for logging data. Potential areas for exploration through future endeavours, such as autonomy and inter-UAV communication, would allow for more complex swarm behaviour to be explored.
The result of the project was a controller capable of communication with up to five UAVs. It was capable of flight and position control and replicated the functionality available within the original Bitcraze client. This product reinforces the worth of unmanned aerial vehicle technology in the advance of society and opens avenues for further pursuit of swarm technology applications.
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DeJong, Paul. "COALITION FORMATION IN MULTI-AGENT UAV SYSTEMS." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2005. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/2712.
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Coalitions are collections of agents that join together to solve a common problem that either cannot be solved individually or can be solved more efficiently as a group. Each individual agent has capabilities that can benefit the group when working together as a coalition. Typically, individual capabilities are joined together in an additive way when forming a coalition. This work will introduce a new operator that is used when combining capabilities, and suggest that the behavior of the operator is contextual, depending on the nature of the capability itself. This work considers six different capabilities of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and determines the nature of the new operator in the context of each capability as coalitions (squadrons) of UAVs are formed. Coalitions are formed using three different search algorithms, both with and without heuristics: Depth-First, Depth-First Iterative Deepening, and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The effectiveness of each algorithm is evaluated. Multi agent-based UAV simulation software was developed and used to test the ideas presented. In addition to coalition formation, the software aims to address additional multi-agent issues such as agent identity, mutability, and communication as applied to UAV systems, in a realistic simulated environment. Social potential fields provide a means of modeling a clustering attractive force at the same time as a collision-avoiding repulsive force, and are used by the simulation to maintain aircraft position relative to other UAVs.<br>M.S.Cp.E.<br>Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering<br>Engineering and Computer Science<br>Computer Engineering
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Yu, Pengfei. "Aerial Perching and Grasping with Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, University of Sydney, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24493.
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This thesis aims to is to explore aerial perching and grasping capability on a quadrotor type UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) to pave the way for the future fully intelligent UAVs which are able to interact with the environment like a bird.
Aerial perching enables a quadrotor to have a "perch and stare" capability, which is a promising solution for the endurance problem of a quadrotor-type UAV. Another benefit of aerial perching is that the landing location could not be limited to flat surfaces which are required by the underactuated nature of the quadrotor.
Aerial grasping enables a quadrotor to interact with the environment other than simply observing it. With the development of the visual servoing, aerial grasping could facilitate potential applications in obstacle removing, intelligent farming, construction, delivering goods, environmental sampling and much more applications which involves aerial manipulation and interaction.
This thesis provides a full solution to the whole process of an aerial perching and grasping (including a bat-like upside-down perching) maneuver. This process includes a guidance module to identify and locate target perching or grasping object, a motion planning module to generate a feasible trajectory which is optimal and subject to constraints, a control module to follow the desired trajectory precisely and enable grasping in proper timing, and an aerial platform to perform all the control commands with less disturbance.
A step by step approach has been adopted to achieve the above goal.
Firstly, an adaptive flight test environment has been developed as the foundation for all the subsequent integrations.
Then a quadrotor flight platform with dual compliant end-effectors has been created. Unlike many other platforms equipped with manipulators requiring separate landing gear, the developed platform could achieve perching and grasping with the same set of the manipulators. With the developed configuration of the aerial platform and its manipulators and proposed architecture, successful perching and grasping demonstrations have been achieved.
Next, by extending the current quadrotor controller to a 3D controller (3D controller here refers to the controller enable a quadrotor to fly upside down) and applying a new half-flip motion planning module, the developed platform can achieve an upside-down perching like a bat with a motion capture system.
Finally, the upside-down perching maneuver has been demonstrated using only the onboard sensors by incorporating vision-based guidance. The platform is equipped with a single camera, a lidar and a VIO (Visual Inertial Odometry) device to achieve an upside-down perching on a colored target perching location.
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Sargeant, Nick. "Unmanned aerial vehicle payload development for aerial survey." Thesis, Sargeant, Nick (2012) Unmanned aerial vehicle payload development for aerial survey. Other thesis, Murdoch University, 2012. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/14812/.
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Aerial imaging is key part of remote sensing and surveying, however traditionalacquisition methods such as satellite imagery and manned aircraft suffer from some limitations, namely, “high capital, operational and personnel costs, slow and weather-dependent data collection, restricted manoeuvrability, limited availability, limited flying time, low ground resolution”[1].Unmanned Aerial Vehicle have gained increasing attention in recent years as technological advancements such as sensor minimization have made them a viable alternative for aerial photogrammetry applications.
This report outlines the design and development of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle suited for aerial survey. The first stage of the project involved a comprehensive literature review of existing research and evaluation of existing commercial solutions.
Existing commercial solutions such as the Gatewing X100 have proved capable in industry, however a number of limitations were identified; the most prominent being that the optical payload they carry is rigidly coupled to the airframe. As weather conditions become more adverse and wind gusts buffet aircraft, the camera’s axisis no longer orthogonal relative to groundwhich ultimately reduces the quality of the data captured.
Research identified from the literature review showed that “payload stabilization increases useful data capture during banking and increases processing success rate thanks to overall more predictable photo properties.” [7] In addition, “even when ordered to ‘fly straight’ over ground, deviations in roll and pitch of a few degrees occur due to turbulence and require extra image overlap pre-planned. Such overlap is costly in terms of flight time and performance worsens significantly during windy weather” [7]. As such, the primary focus of this project was to design an improved imaging payload design that actively stabilized the camera.
The project started by evaluating a sub $200, open source, autopilot called the Ardupilot in a fixed wing aircraft. An appropriate camera and airframe were selected and a stabilized gimbal designed. During the project, setbacks were encountered whenCyber Technology, a company that provides ‘UAV solutions for search and rescue operations, military support, high-end surveillance, law enforcement, environmental conservation, agricultural operations, oil & gas structural inspection operations, and cinematography/photography applications’[2] showed interest and suggested that the project should instead focus on designing a surveying payload for one of their flagship products, the CyberQuad MAXI. An imaging payload was designed that satisfied all design constraints and was successfully integrated onto the CyberQuad. A flight planning parameter calculator was created and trial flights were then conducted.
The planned test methodology to evaluate the gimbal was to collect imagery of a test site, flying repeated missions with a given overlap first with gimbal stabilization enabled and then again with the stabilization disabled such that the gimbal remained fixed.
By contracting licensed surveyors to conduct a conventional surveyof the test site, using their data as an absolute reference, it was planned that the imagery captured could be processed using photogrammetric software and any improvements due to stabilization be quantified.
Unfortunately the data from the ground control survey was not provided in time to be used forprocessing; however the gimbal did improve image acquisition. Further, in partnership with the aforementioned surveying company, a commercial test flight wasconducted at Kwinana Bulk Terminal surveying an iron-ore stockpile with industry grade models generated as a result.
Development of the project will continue beyond the submission of this thesis and it is hoped that the survey data can be obtained and used for processing. This should definitively prove one of the original hypotheses of the research; using a stabilized gimbal allows for more efficient flight plans as a lower level of overlap is required. Additionally, the data generated from processing should allow an estimated function of overlap vs. model accuracy to be determined allowing future flight plans to be optimized.
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Boulekchour, M. "Robust convex optimisation techniques for autonomous vehicle vision-based navigation." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2015. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/9412.
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This thesis investigates new convex optimisation techniques for motion and pose estimation. Numerous computer vision problems can be formulated as optimisation problems. These optimisation problems are generally solved via linear techniques using the singular value decomposition or iterative methods under an L2 norm minimisation. Linear techniques have the advantage of offering a closed-form solution that is simple to implement. The quantity being minimised is, however, not geometrically or statistically meaningful. Conversely, L2 algorithms rely on iterative estimation, where a cost function is minimised using algorithms such as Levenberg-Marquardt, Gauss-Newton, gradient descent or conjugate gradient. The cost functions involved are geometrically interpretable and can statistically be optimal under an assumption of Gaussian noise. However, in addition to their sensitivity to initial conditions, these algorithms are often slow and bear a high probability of getting trapped in a local minimum or producing infeasible solutions, even for small noise levels. In light of the above, in this thesis we focus on developing new techniques for finding solutions via a convex optimisation framework that are globally optimal. Presently convex optimisation techniques in motion estimation have revealed enormous advantages. Indeed, convex optimisation ensures getting a global minimum, and the cost function is geometrically meaningful. Moreover, robust optimisation is a recent approach for optimisation under uncertain data. In recent years the need to cope with uncertain data has become especially acute, particularly where real-world applications are concerned. In such circumstances, robust optimisation aims to recover an optimal solution whose feasibility must be guaranteed for any realisation of the uncertain data. Although many researchers avoid uncertainty due to the added complexity in constructing a robust optimisation model and to lack of knowledge as to the nature of these uncertainties, and especially their propagation, in this thesis robust convex optimisation, while estimating the uncertainties at every step is investigated for the motion estimation problem. First, a solution using convex optimisation coupled to the recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm and the robust H filter is developed for motion estimation. In another solution, uncertainties and their propagation are incorporated in a robust L convex optimisation framework for monocular visual motion estimation. In this solution, robust least squares is combined with a second order cone program (SOCP). A technique to improve the accuracy and the robustness of the fundamental matrix is also investigated in this thesis. This technique uses the covariance intersection approach to fuse feature location uncertainties, which leads to more consistent motion estimates. Loop-closure detection is crucial in improving the robustness of navigation algorithms. In practice, after long navigation in an unknown environment, detecting that a vehicle is in a location it has previously visited gives the opportunity to increase the accuracy and consistency of the estimate. In this context, we have developed an efficient appearance-based method for visual loop-closure detection based on the combination of a Gaussian mixture model with the KD-tree data structure. Deploying this technique for loop-closure detection, a robust L convex posegraph optimisation solution for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) monocular motion estimation is introduced as well. In the literature, most proposed solutions formulate the pose-graph optimisation as a least-squares problem by minimising a cost function using iterative methods. In this work, robust convex optimisation under the L norm is adopted, which efficiently corrects the UAV’s pose after loop-closure detection. To round out the work in this thesis, a system for cooperative monocular visual motion estimation with multiple aerial vehicles is proposed. The cooperative motion estimation employs state-of-the-art approaches for optimisation, individual motion estimation and registration. Three-view geometry algorithms in a convex optimisation framework are deployed on board the monocular vision system for each vehicle. In addition, vehicle-to-vehicle relative pose estimation is performed with a novel robust registration solution in a global optimisation framework. In parallel, and as a complementary solution for the relative pose, a robust non-linear H solution is designed as well to fuse measurements from the UAVs’ on-board inertial sensors with the visual estimates. The suggested contributions have been exhaustively evaluated over a number of real-image data experiments in the laboratory using monocular vision systems and range imaging devices. In this thesis, we propose several solutions towards the goal of robust visual motion estimation using convex optimisation. We show that the convex optimisation framework may be extended to include uncertainty information, to achieve robust and optimal solutions. We observed that convex optimisation is a practical and very appealing alternative to linear techniques and iterative methods.
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Bess, Philip K. "Spread spectrum applications in unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 1994. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA281035.
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Heath, Garrett D. "Simulation analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 1999. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA368265.
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Wagner, Thomas William Jr. "Digital autoland system for unmanned aerial vehicles." Texas A&M University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/5960.
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Autoland controllers are prevalent for both large and small/micro unmanned aerial vehicles,
but very few are available for medium sized unmanned aerial vehicles. These
vehicles tend to have limited sensors and instrumentation, yet must possess good
performance in the presence of modeling uncertainties, and exogenous inputs such
as turbulence. Quantitative Feedback Theory is an attractive control methodology
for this application, since it provides good performance and robustness for systems
with structured model uncertainties. It has been successfully applied to many aircraft
problems, but not to automatic landing, and only inner-loop synthesis has been
presented in the literature. This paper describes the synthesis and development of an
automatic landing controller for medium size unmanned aerial vehicles, using discrete
Quantitative Feedback Theory. Controllers for the localizer, glideslope tracker, and
automatic flare are developed, with a focus on the outer-loops synthesis. Linear, non
real-time six degree-of-freedom Monte Carlo simulation is used to compare the Quantitative
Feedback Theory controller to a baseline Proportional-Integral controller in
several still air and turbulent landing scenarios. The Quantitative Feedback Theory
controller provides performance similar to the Proportional-Integral controller in still
and in turbulent air. Both controllers show similar robustness to turbulence, but the
Quantitative Feedback Theory controller provides significantly better robustness to
model uncertainties in turbulent air as well as to sensor characteristics in turbulence.
Based on the results of the paper, the QFT controller is a promising candidate for an autoland controller.
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AVCİ, CEYLAN. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles SensingMissions Specification using SensorML." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för Informationsvetenskap, Data– och Elektroteknik (IDE), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-17500.
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SensorML is a programming language which an user can write any type of sensorspecification and group of sensors as a database in XML form. This thesis is written with thetarget of showing SensorML specifications and clarifying it with an example of type of UAVand its camera sensors. Four type of UAV platforms are used as examples:- a helicopter- a blimp- a quad copter- and a aircraftand five types of camera sensors are given as examples of sensors that equip the UAVplatforms:- low light- HD camera- thermal camera- and micro analog cameraThese UAV platforms and sensors are combined to represent four different UAV systems inSensorML.By the end this database information will be used in a small application to show SensorMLprogramming validation.The usage of this utilization of the SensoML is to support the selection of the best fit inrelation to UAV platform and sensor device for a given mission specified using the language.The main goal of the thesis is to highlight this utility.
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Noonan, Andrea L. "Flight plan generation for unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/385.
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Bayraktar, Selcuk. "Aggressive landing maneuvers for unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35581.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2006.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-70).<br>VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) vehicle landing is considered to be a critically difficult task for both land, marine, and urban operations. This thesis describes one possible control approach to enable landing of unmanned aircraft systems at all attitudes, including against walls and ceilings as a way to considerably enhance the operational capability of these vehicles. The features of the research include a novel approach to trajectory tracking, whereby the primary system outputs to be tracked are smoothly scheduled according to the state of the vehicle relative to its landing area. The proposed approach is illustrated with several experiments using a low-cost three-degree-of-freedom helicopter. We also include the design details of a testbed for the demonstration of the application of our research endeavor. The testbed is a model helicopter UAV platform that has indoor and outdoor aggressive flight capability.<br>by Selcuk Bayraktar.<br>S.M.
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Dinevik, Vilhelm, and Paula Carbo. "Motion Planning and Controlof Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för teknikvetenskap (SCI), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-230198.
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The core of this project focuses on how to makeaerial vehicles fly autonomously from an initial position to agoal. This is done by making a mathematical model for the UAV,a brief study of the sensors needed to estimate the UAVs state,then designing an LQR controller for the trajectory trackingand finally using an artificial potential field function for thenavigation. The mathematical model is done by studying thekinematics and dynamics for a single UAV, it is then linearisedand the system’s observability and controllability are checked todevelop the LQR. We conduct computer simulations to test thetheoretical findings and evaluate the proposed methods. Finally,we conclude the paper with a discussion and results, and providedirections and ideas to do further research on the topic.<br>Kärnan av detta projekt fokuserar på hur man kan få en obemmand flygfarkost att flyga autonomt från en initial punkt till ett mål. Detta uppnås genom att skapa en matematisk modell av flygfarkosten och sedan designa en LQR-regulator för att kunna följa den planerade banan. Slutgiltigen används en artificell potentialfältsfunktion för att navigera till målet. Först studeras kinnematiken och dynamiken av ygfarkosten för att designa den matematiska modellen. Modellen Lineariseras sedan och systemets observerbarhet och kontrollerbarhet kontrolleras sedan för att kunna utveckla LQR-regulatorn. Vi utför datorsimulationer för att testa de teoretika resultaten och evaluera metoderna som förerslås i denna raport. Avslutningsvis diskuteras resultat och ideér för framtida forskning inom området.
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Han, Chunyang. "Robust Control of Teleoperated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-278212.
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In this thesis, we first use the reachability theory to develop algorithms for state predictionunder delayed state or output measurements. We next develop control strategies forcollision avoidance and trajectory tracking of UAVs based on the devised algorithms andthe model predictive control theory. Finally, simulations results for collision avoidanceand trajectory tracking problems are presented, for different communication delays,using a UAV model with 6 degrees of freedom.<br>I denna avhandling använder vi först tillgänglighetsteorin för att utveckla algoritmerför tillståndsförutsägelse under fördröjda tillstånds- eller utgångsmätningar. Därefterutvecklar kontrollstrategier för undvikande av kollision och spårning av UAV: er baseradepå de planerade algoritmerna och modellen förutsägbar kontrollteori. Slutligenpresenteras simuleringsresultat för att undvika kollision och problem med spårningav banan, för olika kommunikationsförseningar, med en UAV-modell med 6 frihetsgrader.
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Elmagri, Loay Hatem Rajab. "Architecture and Drones: Accomodating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87584.
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Through out history, technological advancements have reshaped the built environment and its Architecture. The cities that we live in today were only made possible by the technologies of the first, second, and third industrial revolutions. Today, we are witnessing another technological revolution based on open source data and artificial intelligence.
As there is an enormous amount of prosperous innovations that would directly impact Architecture design tools, building and finishing materials, and construction methods, there are also other innovations that would require spaces, buildings, and cities to be designed to accommodate them. Among the latter mentioned innovations is the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also know as drones.
Like the automobile, drone technology will influence not only the way we live but also our design thinking and the components of our built environment. Along with drone�s ability to fly, UAV�s digital infrastructure is much more flexible and most importantly, invisible. Autonomous Drones� intelligent abilities allow them to provide a wide range of services in various fields such as; freight and delivery, transportation, infrastructure and buildings maintenance, survey, surveillance, policing, fire fighting, agriculture, and even construction, all of which will effectively reduce the amount of ground vehicle traffic, especially in populated cities. Today, as these possibilities are available and constantly under development, it is important for Architecture and Urban Design disciplines to address the challenge and provide comprehensive solutions to accommodate such a technology and allow its possibilities to prosper even further.
The intent of this thesis is to study UAV technology and design a mix-use complex that embraces and accommodates UAV services such as; delivery, transport, freight, and maintenance. The complex hosts a residential tower, a vertical garden tower, ground level commercial spaces, and an underground drone hub.<br>MArch
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Rennu, Samantha R. "Dynamic Mission Planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton16082274381124.
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Lawrance, Nicholas R. J. "Autonomous soaring flight for unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2011. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/21912.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide unique capabilities in a range of industrial, scientific and defence applications. A small UAV could extend flight duration without requiring additional propulsive power through the use of soaring. This thesis examines the aerodynamic mechanisms of soaring flight and proposes planning and control algorithms for a UAV to autonomously sense and utilise the wind environment to extend flight duration. In order to utilise soaring a thorough understanding of the energy interaction between an aircraft and the surrounding atmosphere is required. This thesis presents a mathematical model for a gliding aircraft and examines how wind contributes to the energy change of an aircraft. Conditions for optimal energy efficiency are identified for gliding and soaring flight in linear wind shear. The proposed path planner takes advantage of the energy equations for a gliding aircraft to plan energy efficient paths over a known wind field. Previous soaring planners have focused on a single type of energy gain such as static soaring. By using the energy equations directly the planner can exploit all energy gain conditions rather than relying on specialised controllers. The planner requires an adequate estimate of the wind field to plan reliable energy gain paths. A small UAV would typically only have access to direct wind observations taken during flight. Gaussian Process (GP) regression is proposed to generate a wind map from direct wind observations. This model-free approach can account for static and dynamic wind fields and does not restrict the planner to particular types of wind structure. Maintaining an accurate map requires the planner to ensure efficient map sampling and maintain sufficient energy to continue flight. The path planning algorithm exploits the variance estimate from the GP map to identify regions of the map which require improvement. The planner assesses the aircraft’s energy state and current map to determine target regions of the wind field for further exploration or energy exploitation. Results demonstrate that this architecture is capable of generating energy-gain paths in both static and dynamic wind fields. The mapping algorithm records direct samples of the wind to generate a wind map that is used by the planning algorithm to simultaneously explore and exploit the wind field to extend flight duration without propulsive power.
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Gledhill, Timothy J. "Measuring Human Workload in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6106.
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Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) often require multiple human operators fulfilling diverse roles for safe and correct operation. Reliably designing the human interaction, autonomy, and decision making aspects of these systems requires the use of modeling. We propose a conceptual model that models human machine interaction systems as a group of actors connected by a network of communication channels. We present a simulation framework implemented in Java, with an optional XML model parser that can be analyzed using the Java Pathfinder (JPF) model checker. We propose two human workload metrics based on a taxonomy extracted from the relevant literature. Using the simulator to produce a workload profile over time for each human actor, we conducted a case study by modeling a UAS integrated into the National Airspace System. Additionally we adapted an existing cognitive workload metric to act as a baseline. The results of this case study were consistent with known workload events and the results of our baseline metric.
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Larsen, Thor Liland. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Post Disaster Surveys." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2010. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/429.
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In the current built environment, structures require regular observation and maintenance. Many of these structures can be quite challenging to evaluate. The required scaffolding, lifts, or similar access facilities can become quite costly to rent and construct, and can be a long term disturbance to those who use and manage the particular structure. Furthermore, there are situations where examination for the purpose of detailed analysis can be quite hazardous, if not entirely unsafe for humans. In a post-disaster environment traditional methods may not be safe or adequate for gaining access to parts of a structure that require observation or analysis. The use of a remotely controlled unmanned vehicle is a reliable, safe and cost effective substitute for assessing structures before and after seismic, terrorist, or other destructive events.
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Cork, Lennon R. "Aircraft dynamic navigation for unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2014. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/71396/1/Lennon_Cork_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis describes the investigation of an Aircraft Dynamic Navigation (ADN) approach, which incorporates an Aircraft Dynamic Model (ADM) directly into the navigation filter of a fixed-wing aircraft or UAV. The result is a novel approach that offers both performance improvements and increased reliability during short-term GPS outages. This is important in allowing future UAVs to achieve routine, unconstrained, and safe operations in commercial environments. The primary contribution of this research is the formulation Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) which incorporates a complex, non-linear, laterally and longitudinally coupled, ADM, and sensor suite consisting of a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), Electronic Compass (EC), and Air Data (AD) Pitot Static System.
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Hauss, Jean-Marc C. (Jean-Marc Claude) 1975. "Design of a unmanned aerial vehicle." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50380.
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Anderson, Robert Blake. "Routing and Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Performing Contact-Based Tasks." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/103201.
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In this dissertation, two main topics are explored, the vehicle routing problem (VRP) and model reference adaptive control (MRAC) for unknown nonlinear systems.
The VRP and its extension, the split delivery VRP (SVRP), are analyzed to determine the effects of using two different objective functions, the total cost objective, and the last delivery objective. A worst-case analysis suggests that using the SVRP can improve total costs by as much as a factor of 2 and the last delivery by a factor that scales with the number of vehicles over the classical VRP. To test the theoretical worst-cases against the solutions of benchmark datasets,
a heuristic is developed based on embedding a random variable neighborhood search within an iterative local search heuristic. Results suggest that the split deliveries do in fact improve total cost and last delivery times over the classical formulation.
The SVRP has been developed classically for use with vehicles such as trucks which have large payload capacities and typically long ranges for deliveries, but are limited to traversing on roads.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are useful for their high maneuverability, but suffer from limited capacity for payloads and short ranges. The classical SVRP formulation is extended to one more suitable for UAVs by accounting for limited range, limited payloads, and the ability to swap batteries at known locations. Instead of Euclidean distances, path plans which are adjusted for a known, constant wind underlie the cost matrix of the optimization problem.
The effects of payload on the vehicle's range are developed using propeller momentum theory, and simulations verify that the proposed approach could be used in a realistic scenario.
Two novel MRAC laws are then developed. The first, MRAC laws for prescribed performance,
exploits barrier Lyapunov functions and a 2-Layer approach to guarantee user-defined performance. This control law allows unknown nonlinear systems to verify a user-defined rate of convergence of the tracking error while verifying apriori control and tracking error constraints.
Numerical simulations are performed on the roll dynamics of a delta-wing aircraft.
The second novel MRAC law is MRAC for switched dynamical systems which is proven in two different mathematical frameworks. Applying the Caratheodory framework, it is proven that if the switching signal has an arbitrarily small, but non-zero, dwell-time, then solutions of both the trajectory tracking error's and the adaptive gains' dynamics exist, are unique, and are defined almost everywhere, and the trajectory tracking error converges asymptotically to zero.
Employing the Filippov framework, it is proven that if the switching signal is Lebesgue integrable and has countably many points of discontinuity, then maximal solutions of both the trajectory tracking error and the adaptive gains dynamics exist and are defined almost everywhere,
and the trajectory tracking error converges to zero asymptotically. The proposed MRAC law is experimentally verified in the case where a UAV with tilting propellers is tasked with mounting an unknown camera onto a wall.
The previous results are then combined into a novel application in construction.
A method for using a UAV to measure autonomously the moisture of an exterior precast concrete envelope is developed which can provide data feedback through
contact-based measurements to improve safety and real-time data acquisition through the integration with the Building Information Model (BIM). To plan the path of the vehicle, the path planning and SVRP for UAV approaches developed in previous chapters are utilized.
To enable the UAS to contact surfaces, a switched MRAC law is employed to control the vehicle throughout and guarantee successful measurements. A full physics-based simulation environment is developed, and the proposed framework is used to simulate taking multiple measurements.<br>Doctor of Philosophy<br>The main goal of this dissertation is to provide an implementable approach to the routing and control problem for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) tasked with delivering payloads or taking images or videos of known locations. To plan routes for the fleet of vehicles, a split vehicle routing (SVRP) approach is utilized. UAVs are useful for their high maneuverability, but suffer from limited capacity for payloads and short ranges. Before extending the SVRP to a formulation more suitable for UAVs, we study the effects of using two different objective functions on the solutions to the optimization problem through a worst-case analysis. Namely, we study the minimum total cost function and the minimum last delivery function and their effects on both the classical vehicle routing problem (VRP), where only one vehicle can visit each customer, and the SVRP, where multiple vehicles can visit each customer. A custom heuristic is developed to solve several benchmark instances, and the results suggest that using the SVRP can save in total cost and last delivery over the VRP when using the same objective functions.
The classical SVRP formulation is then extended to one more suitable for UAVs by accounting for limited range, limited payloads, and the ability to swap batteries at known locations.
Instead of using straight line approaches to traversing between locations, a path planning approach is utilized and wind is accounted for. The effects of payload on the vehicle's range are also considered, and simulations verify that the proposed approach could be used in a realistic scenario.
After developing a routing approach for UAVs, the control problem is considered. The first control approach developed is for unknown nonlinear systems which necessitate control and tracking error constraints that can be set before the start of the mission. This result is achieved using a novel model reference adaptive control (MRAC) approach. In addition to verifying the constraints, a drawback of classical MRAC approaches, the poor performance in the transient stages, is addressed by providing the ability to guarantee a user-defined rate of convergence of the system. Numerical simulations are performed on the roll dynamics of a delta-wing aircraft.
A second MRAC approach is then developed for the cases in which the UAVs may be tasked with installing a payload at the customer location. An approach is used where the vehicles are considered to have different flight states, one where the vehicle is in free flight, and one where the vehicle contacts the wall. These types of systems are denoted as switched dynamical systems, and an adaptive control law is developed for unknown nonlinear switched plants that
must follow the trajectory of user-defined linear switched reference models. The proposed MRAC law is experimentally verified in the case where a UAV with tilting propellers is tasked with mounting an unknown camera onto a wall.
Finally, we seek to combine the new routing and control approach into an application to improve safety within a construction site. A method for using a UAV to measure autonomously the moisture of an exterior precast concrete envelope is developed which can provide data feedback through contact-based measurements to improve safety and real-time data acquisition through the integration with the Building Information Model (BIM). To plan the path of the vehicle, the path planning and SVRP for UAV approaches developed in previous chapters are utilized.
To enable the UAS to contact surfaces, a switched MRAC law is employed to control the vehicle throughout and guarantee successful measurements. A full physics-based simulation environment is developed, and the proposed framework is used to simulate taking multiple measurements.
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James, Gregory K. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and special operations : future directions /." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2000. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA386387.
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Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis (Aeronautics and Astronautics)) Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2000.<br>"December 2000." Thesis advisor(s): Gordon H. McCormick. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-107). Also available online.
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Gatzke, Benjamin Thomas. "Trajectory optimization for helicopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)." Thesis, Monterey, California : Naval Postgraduate School, 2010. http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2010/Jun/10Jun%5FGatzke.pdf.
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Thesis (M.S. in Applied Mathematics)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2010.<br>Thesis Advisor(s): Kang, Wei ; Second Reader: Zhou, Hong. "June 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 14, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Nonlinear model, trajectory optimization, state and control variables, cost function Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60). Also available in print.
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Ostler, Jon N. "Flight Testing Small, Electric Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2006. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1223.pdf.
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Kareliusson, Joakim. "Automatic Planning of Collaborating Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för innovation, design och teknik, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-32123.
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Collaboration between autonomous robots allows for complex mission to be executed more eciently.A collaborative mission typically consists of a number of robots and tasks where the robots havedierent roles and need cooperatively assign the tasks to the team resulting in a faster overall missionexecution time. Furthermore, certain tasks may require more than one robot for successful executionwhich further extend the application areas of the systems. In this work, a team of unmanned aircraft is considered. Aircraft operate in dynamic environmentswhere the conditions for the team can quickly change. Under such circumstances, the team mustbe able to independently update the current plan in real-time on embedded computers on-boardthe aircraft during mission execution in a fast and predictable manner. The planning system has togenerate good quality solutions and fulll certain application specic requirements set by the company. The work starts by presenting a limited structured literature review within the multi-agent taskplanning domain with specic focus on important criteria for the aircraft domain, namely real-timeperformance, connectivity requirements and solution quality. With the review as a basis, two marketbased approaches are modied and extended upon the handle the application specic requirements.Simulations show that the resulting systems produce good quality and conict free plans regardless ofinconsistencies in situational awareness among the aircraft. The two approaches are numerically analyzedwith respect to the above-mentioned criteria, and show promising results for real-time planningand replanning in dynamic environments.
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Hasnain, Syed Saad. "Navigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Image Processing." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-105628.
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The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possibility of using aerial or satellite images or eventually digital elevation models in order to localize the UAV helicopter in the environment. Matching techniques are investigated in order to match the available on-board image of the area with the live images acquired by the on-board video camera. The problem is interesting because it can provide a redundancy for the UAV navigation system which is based only on GPS. The thesis is in the context of the development of an integrated system for navigation using image sequences from an aircraft. The system is composed of relative position estimation, which computes the current position of the helicopter by accumulating relative displacement extracted from successive aerial images. These successive aerial images are then matched using certain image matching techniques.
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Oland, Espen. "Nonlinear Control of Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Doctoral thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-27263.
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Eriksson, Urban. "Dynamic Path Planning for Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-241243.
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This thesis project investigates a method for performing dynamic path planning in three dimensions, targeting the application of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Three different path planning algorithms are evaluated, based on the framework of rapidly-exploring random trees (RRTs): the original RRT, RRT*, and a proposed variant called RRT-u, which differs from the two other algorithms by considering dynamic constraints and using piecewise constant accelerations for edges in the planning tree. The path planning is furthermore applied for unexplored environments. In order to select a path when there are unexplored parts between the vehicle and the goal, it is proposed to test paths to the goal location from every vertex in the planning graph to get a preliminary estimate of the total cost for each partial path in the planning tree. The path with the lowest cost given the available information can thus be selected, even though it partly goes through unknown space. For cases when no preliminary paths can be obtained due to obstacles, dynamic resizing of the sampling region is implemented increasing the region from which new nodes are sampled. This method using each of the three different algorithms variants, RRT, RRT*, and RRT-u, is tested for performance and the three variants are compared against each other using several test cases in a realistic simulation environment. Keywords<br>Detta examensarbete undersöker metoder för att utföra dynamisk ruttplanering i tre dimensioner, med applicering på obemannade luftfarkoster. Tre olika ruttplaneringsalgoritmer testas, vilka är baserade på snabbt-utforskande slumpmässiga träd (RRT): den ursprungliga RRT, RRT*, och en föreslagen variant, RRT-u, vilken skiljer sig från dom två första algoritmerna genom att ta hänsyn till dynamiska begränsningar och använda konstanta accelerationer över delar av rutten. Ruttplaneraren används också i okända miljöer. För att välja en rutt när det finns outforskade delar mellan farkosten och målet föreslås det att testa rutten till målpunkten från varje nod i som ingår i planeringsträdet för att erhålla en preliminär total kostnad till målpunkten. Rutten med lägsta kostanden kan då väljas, givet tillgänglig information, även om den delvis går genom outforskade delar. För tillfällen när inga preliminära rutter kan erhållas på grund av hinder har dynamisk storleksjustering av samplingsområdet implementerats för att öka området från vilket nya noder samplas. Den här metoden har testats med dom tre olika algoritmvarianterna, RRT, RRT*, och RRT-u, och dom tre varianterna jämförs med avseende på prestanda i ett flertal testfall i en realistisk simuleringsmiljö.
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Clarke, Jonathan H. A. "Navigation and autonomy of soaring unmanned aerial vehicles." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2012. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/12337.
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The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has exploded over the last decade with the constant need to reduce costs while maintaining capability. Despite the relentless development of electronics and battery technology there is a sustained need to reduce the size and weight of the on-board systems to free-up payload capacity. One method of reducing the energy storage requirement of UAVs is to utilise naturally occurring sources of energy found in the atmosphere. This thesis explores the use of static and semi-dynamic soaring to extract energy from naturally occurring shallow layer cumulus convection to improve range, endurance and average speed. A simulation model of an X-Models XCalibur electric motor-glider is used in combination with a refined 4D parametric atmospheric model to simulate soaring flight. The parametric atmospheric model builds on previous successful models with refinements to more accurately describe the weather in northern Europe. The implementation of the variation of the MacCready setting is discussed. Methods for generating efficient trajectories are evaluated and recommendations are made regarding implementation. For micro to small UAVs to be able to track the desired trajectories a highly accurate Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) is needed. Detailed analysis of the practical implementation of advanced attitude determination is used to enable optimal execution of the trajectories generated. The new attitude determination methods are compared to existing Kalman and complimentary type filters. Analysis shows the methods developed are capable of providing accurate attitude determination with extremely low computational requirements, even during extreme manoeuvring. The new AHRS techniques reduce the need for powerful on-board microprocessors. This new AHRS technique is used as a foundation to develop a robust navigation filter capable of providing improved drift performance, over traditional filters, in the temporary absence of global navigation satellite information. All these algorithms have been verified by flight tests using a mixture of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and avionics developed specifically for this thesis.
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Olsson, Per-Magnus. "Positioning Algorithms for Surveillance Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Licentiate thesis, Linköpings universitet, KPLAB - Laboratoriet för kunskapsbearbetning, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-66060.
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Surveillance is an important application for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The sensed information often has high priority and it must be made available to human operators as quickly as possible. Due to obstacles and limited communication range, it is not always possible to transmit the information directly to the base station. In this case, other UAVs can form a relay chain between the surveillance UAV and the base station. Determining suitable positions for such UAVs is a complex optimization problem in and of itself, and is made even more difficult by communication and surveillance constraints. To solve different variations of finding positions for UAVs for surveillance of one target, two new algorithms have been developed. One of the algorithms is developed especially for finding a set of relay chains offering different trade-offs between the number of UAVsand the quality of the chain. The other algorithm is tailored towards finding the highest quality chain possible, given a limited number of available UAVs. Finding the optimal positions for surveillance of several targets is more difficult. A study has been performed, in order to determine how the problems of interest can besolved. It turns out that very few of the existing algorithms can be used due to the characteristics of our specific problem. For this reason, an algorithm for quickly calculating positions for surveillance of multiple targets has been developed. This enables calculation of an initial chain that is immediately made available to the user, and the chain is then incrementally optimized according to the user’s desire.
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Pham, The Hung. "Robust planning and control of unmanned aerial vehicles." Electronic Thesis or Diss., université Paris-Saclay, 2021. http://www.theses.fr/2021UPASG003.
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L'objectif de cette thèse est de réaliser la modélisation, la planification de trajectoire et le contrôle d'un robot hélicoptère sans pilote pour la surveillance de grandes surfaces, en particulier dans des applications d'agriculture de précision. Dans les missions de surveillance des ravageurs, les drones seront équipés de caméras spécialisées. Une trajectoire sera créée pour permettre aux aéronefs sans pilote de capturer des images de zones de cultures entières et d'éviter les obstacles pendant le vol. Les zones infectées seront identifiées en analysant les images prises. Lors de la pulvérisation d'insecticides, l'aéronef doit être contrôlé pour voler selon une trajectoire préprogrammée et pulvériser l'insecticide sur toutes les zones de culture infectées.Dans la première partie, nous présentons un nouvel algorithme de planification de chemin de couverture complet en proposant une nouvelle décomposition cellulaire qui repose sur une généralisation de la variante Boustrophédon, à l'aide de fonctions Morse, avec une extension de la représentation des points critiques. Cette extension conduit à un nombre réduit de cellules après décomposition. L'algorithme génétique (GA) et l'algorithme de problème du voyageur de commerce (TSP) sont appliqués pour obtenir le chemin le plus court pour une couverture complète. A partir des informations sur la carte concernant les coordonnées des obstacles, des zones infectées et non infectées, les zones infectées sont divisées en plusieurs régions non chevauchantes en utilisant une technique de regroupement. Un algorithme est proposé pour générer le meilleur chemin pour qu'un véhicule aérien sans pilote (UAV) distribue des médicaments à toutes les zones infectées d'un environnement agricole qui contient des obstacles non convexes, des zones exemptes de parasites et des zones infestées de parasites.Dans la deuxième partie, nous étudions la conception d'un système de contrôle robuste qui permet au véhicule de suivre la trajectoire prédéfinie d'un hélicoptère à modèle dynamique variable en raison des changements de coefficients dynamiques tels que la masse et les moments d'inertie. Par conséquent, les lois robustes d'observation et de contrôle sont nécessaires pour adopter les changements des paramètres dynamiques ainsi que l'impact des forces externes. La méthode proposée consiste à explorer les techniques de modélisation, de planification et de contrôle par l’approche Takagi-Sugeno. Pour avoir des algorithmes facilement implantables et adaptables aux changements de paramètres et de conditions d'utilisation, nous privilégions la synthèse de l'Observateur d'Entrées Inconnues (UIO) à Paramètre Linéaire Variable (LPV), et des contrôleurs retour d'état quadratique LPV, retour d'état robuste et retour de sortie statique. L'observateur et les contrôleurs sont conçus en résolvant un ensemble d'inégalités matricielles linéaires (LMI) obtenues à partir du lemme réel borné et de la caractérisation des régions LMI.Enfin, pour mettre en évidence les performances des algorithmes de planification de trajectoire et des lois de contrôle générées, nous effectuons une série de simulations à l’aide de MATLAB Simulink. L'algorithme de planification de trajectoire de couverture suggère que la trajectoire générée raccourcit la distance de vol de l'aéronef mais évite toujours les obstacles et couvre toute la zone d'intérêt. Les simulations pour l’observateur LPV UIO et les contrôleurs LPV sont effectuées avec les cas où la masse et les moments d'inertie changent brusquement et lentement. Le LPV UIO est capable d'estimer les variables d'état et les perturbations inconnues et les valeurs estimées convergent vers les vraies valeurs des variables d'état et les perturbations inconnues de manière asymptotique. Les contrôleurs LPV fonctionnent bien pour divers signaux de référence (impulsion, aléatoire, constant et sinusoïdale) et plusieurs types de perturbations (impulsionnelle, aléatoire, constante et sinusoïdale)<br>The objective of this thesis is to realize the modeling, trajectory planning, and control of an unmanned helicopter robot for monitoring large areas, especially in precision agriculture applications. Several tasks in precision agriculture are addressed. In pest surveillance missions, drones will be equipped with specialized cameras. A trajectory will be researched and created to enable unmanned aircraft to capture images of entire crop areas and avoid obstacles during flight. Infected areas will be then identified by analyzing taken images. In insecticides spraying, the aircraft must be controlled to fly in a pre-programmed trajectory and spray the insecticide over all the infected crop areas.In the first part, we present a new complete coverage path planning algorithm by proposing a new cellular decomposition which is based on a generalization of the Boustrophedon variant, using Morse functions, with an extension of the representation of the critical points. This extension leads to a reduced number of cells after decomposition. Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) algorithm are then applied to obtain the shortest path for complete coverage. Next, from the information on the map regarding the coordinates of the obstacles, non-infected areas, and infected areas, the infected areas are divided into several non-overlapping regions by using a clustering technique. Then an algorithm is proposed for generating the best path for a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to distribute medicine to all the infected areas of an agriculture environment which contains non-convex obstacles, pest-free areas, and pests-ridden areas.In the second part, we study the design of a robust control system that allows the vehicle to track the predefined trajectory for a dynamic model-changing helicopter due to the changes of dynamic coefficients such as the mass and moments of inertia. Therefore, the robust observer and control laws are required to adopt the changes in dynamic parameters as well as the impact of external forces. The proposed approach is to explore the modeling techniques, planning, and control by the Takagi-Sugeno type technique. To have easily implantable algorithms and adaptable to changes in parameters and conditions of use, we favor the synthesis of Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) Unknown Input Observer (UIO), LPV quadratic state feedback, robust state feedback, and static output feedback controllers. The observer and controllers are designed by solving a set of Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) obtained from the Bounded Real Lemma and LMI regions characterization.Finally, to highlight the performances of the path planning algorithms and generated control laws, we perform a series of simulations in MATLAB Simulink. Simulation results are quite promising. The coverage path planning algorithm suggests that the generated trajectory shortens the flight distance of the aircraft but still avoids obstacles and covers the entire area of interest. Simulations for the LPV UIO and LPV controllers are conducted with the cases that the mass and moments of inertias change abruptly and slowly. The LPV UIO is able to estimate state variables and the unknown disturbances and the estimated values converge to the true values of the state variables and the unknown disturbances asymptotically. The LPV controllers work well for various reference signals (impulse, random, constant, and sine) and several types of disturbances (impulse, random, constant, and sine)
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Wen, Edward A. "Compressive strength prediction for composite unmanned aerial vehicles." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 1999. http://etd.wvu.edu/templates/showETD.cfm?recnum=959.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 1999.<br>Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 117 p. : ill. (some col.) Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84).
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Li, Xiaokun. "Wireless Power Transfer Systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Thesis, Griffith University, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/413314.
Full textAbstract:
In recent years,unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVUAVs) have been widely used in various fields of military and civilian, given that they are fast, convenient, discrete and multifunctional. HoweveHowever, the short cruising time limits the development of UAVs due to the lack of UAV batteries At present, UAVs are charged using plug-in AC and DC chargers. This charging manner may cause mechanical wear, joint heating and electric spark. In addition, this manner of charging requires manual operation and cannot work outdoors. Wireless power transfer (WPT) can solve these problems and avoid the loss and safety risk caused by the plug-in. Therefore, WPT is a good choice for UAV battery charging to enhance the cruising capability of UAVs. Moreover, because of the inherent nature of the wireless connection, UAVs can be charged using WPT regardless of the environment, which makes UAV charging convenient and safe. However, the applications for UAVs wireless charging warrant future investigation and improvement due to drawbacks, such as transfer power lever, efficiency, stability and safety. This thesis aims to investigate and optimise WPT systems for UAVs and mainly focuses on the key component magnetic coupler in WPT systems. Magnetic materials, magnetic core structures and a magnetic flux concentrator are investigated to obtain UAVs WPT systems with high transmission efficiency, stability, security and practicability. Various simulation models and experimental testing platforms are implemented to verify and analyse the proposed magnetic couplers. The main contributions of this thesis are summarised as follows. The first contribution is the investigation and comparison of magnetic materials. To investigate the influence of different magnetic materials on the performance of magnetic couplers, ferrite, amorphous and nanocrystalline are added to a receiving coil, respectively. Results show that using thinner amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys can obtain a similar coupling coefficient when thicker ferrite is used. To investigate the influence of ferrite thickness on the performance of magnetic couplers, different thicknesses of ferrites are added to the receiving coil, respectively. Results show that the coupling coefficient increases with an increased thickness of ferrites. To investigate the effect of magnetic material layer stacked on the performance of magnetic couplers, different layer numbers of amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys are added to the receiving coil, respectively. Results show that the coupling coefficient increases with an increased number of layers. Therefore, amorphous and nanocrystalline can be a good choice for magnetic couplers in WPT systems, because they can obtain a better magnetic coupling, are thin and light, which will greatly reduce the volume and weight of magnetic couplers. The second contribution is proposing an optimised plug-in magnetic coupler for WPT systems of UAVs with brackets. The transmitting part of the magnetic coupler comprises a vertical magnetic core structure with ferrites and a transmitting coil. Moreover, the receiving coil is installed on the UAVs bracket. Results show that the proposed plug-in magnetic coupler has a high coupling coefficient. The magnetic flux is concentrated in the magnetic coupler, and the low leakage magnetic flux can effectively reduce electromagnetic interference problems. The third contribution is proposing two types of magnetic couplers for WPT systems of small UAVs with flat bottoms. One type is a magnetic coupler comprising vertical spiral coils with ferrite PQI cores. The transmitting part comprises a vertical spiral coil and a ferrite PQ core, and the receiving part comprises a vertical spiral coil and a ferrite I core, which is installed on the abdomen of UAVs. This magnetic coupler can achieve tight coupling when the receiving coil is inserted into the transmitting coil given the small air gap. Results show that this magnetic coupler can provide strong magnetic flux densities, achieve a high coupling coefficient and maintain stable power transfer. Another type of magnetic coupler comprises sandwich coils with ferrite PQI cores. The transmitting part is constructed from two series-connected transmitting coils and a PQ core, and the receiving part comprises two series-connected transmitting coils and an I core. The transmitting and receiving coils are vertical spiral coils, which can concentrate the magnetic flux and reduce leakage magnetic flux. Results show that this kind of magnetic coupler can obtain a strong and stable magnetic field and improve the power transfer of WPT systems. The final contribution is the design of WPT systems using a planar magnetic flux concentrator (MFC). This planar MFC is a conductive metal plate with a centre hole and a slit in the radial direction. A switch connected to both sides of the slit. The MFC can achieve magnetic field concentration or magnetic shielding when the switch is off or on. The simulation results show that in the transmitting coil with an MFC, the magnetic flux density of the transmitting and receiving coils increase around the centre hole (which can increase power transfer) and reduces on the outer surface of the transmitting and receiving coils (which can reduce leakage magnetic field). Magnetic shielding can be obtained by a short-circuited MFC. Meanwhile, the power of the receiving coil increases by using a small size receiving coil in the transmitting coil with an MFC. The equivalent T-circuit for the coupling coils with an MFC is proposed on the basis of the impedance analysis. The MFC design is optimised to achieve an optimal result by using an MFC with a higher thickness and a smaller slit width. Moreover, the investigation in the case of coupling coils adding ferrite cores and with and without an MFC is carried out. Results show that using an MFC can enhance the magnetic field and increase the receiving power.<br>Thesis (PhD Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>School of Eng & Built Env<br>Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology<br>Full Text
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Howe, William Beaman. "DESIGN METHODS FOR REMOTELY POWERED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2015. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1386.
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A method for sizing remotely powered unmanned aerial vehicles is presented to augment the conventional design process. This method allows for unconventionally powered aircraft to become options in trade studies during the initial design phase. A design matrix is created that shows where, and if, a remotely powered vehicle fits within the design space. For given range and power requirements, the design matrix uses historical data to determine whether an internal combustion or electrical system would be most appropriate. Trends in the historical data show that the break in the design space between the two systems is around 30 miles and 1 kW. Electrical systems are broken into subcategories of onboard energy sources and remote power sources. For this work, only batteries were considered as an onboard energy source, but both lasers and microwaves were considered for remote power transmission methods. The conventional sizing method is adjusted to so that it is based on energy consumption, instead of fuel consumption. Using the manner in which microwaves and laser propagate through the atmosphere, the weight fraction of a receiving apparatus is estimated. This is then used with the sizing method to determine the gross takeoff weight of the vehicle. This new sizing method is used to compare battery systems, microwave systems, and laser systems.
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Guerra, Elia. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) per applicazioni geomatiche." Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2016.
Find full textAbstract:
La tesi tratta i dispositivi UAV, in particolare i droni di peso inferiore ai 25 kg, facendo riferimento alla normativa ENAC. Vengono descritte le applicazioni pratiche in campo civile, concentrandosi sulle geomatiche, delineando i principali sensori esterni utilizzati come Camere digitali, termiche e multispettrali.
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Allegretti, Marcello. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: tecnologie e prospettive future." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2016. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/11979/.
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Partendo dalla definizione di UAV e UAS, arrivando a quella di drone, nella tesi saranno definiti i termini precedenti, ossia un sistema aereo senza pilota a bordo, la nascita del termine drone e le tendenze attuali. Dopo una precisa classificazione nelle quattro categorie principali (droni per hobbisti, commerciali e militari di me- dia grandezza, militari specifici di grandi dimensioni e stealth da combattimento) saranno descritti gli ambiti di utilizzo: da un lato quello militare e della sicurezza, dall’altro quello civile e scientifico. I capitoli centrali della tesi saranno il cuore dell’opera: l’architettura dell’UAV sarà descritta analizzando la totalità delle sue componenti, sia hardware che software. Verranno, quindi, analizzati i problemi relativi alla sicurezza, focalizzandosi sull’hacking di un UAV, illustrandone le varie tecniche e contromisure (tra cui anche come nascondersi da un drone). Il lavoro della tesi prosegue nei capitoli successivi con un’attenta trattazione della normativa vigente e dell’etica dei droni (nonché del diritto ad uccidere con tali sistemi). Il
capitolo relativo alla tecnologia stealth sarà importante per capire le modalità di occultamento, le tendenze attuali e i possibili sviluppi futuri degli UAV militari da combattimento. Il capitolo finale sugli sviluppi futuri esporrà le migliorie tecnologiche e gli obiettivi degli UAV negli anni a venire, insieme ad eventuali utilizzi
sia militari che civili. La ricerca sarà orientata verso sistemi miniaturizzati, multiple UAV e swarming.
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Valente, Evandro Gurgel do Amaral. "Composite construction of an unmanned aerial vehicle." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/3930.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2006.<br>Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Aerospace Engineering. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Susuz, Umut. "Aeroelastic Analysis Of An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Master's thesis, METU, 2008. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12609225/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
In this thesis aeroelastic analysis of a typical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) using MSC®<br>FlightLoads and Dynamics module and MSC®<br>NASTRAN Aero 1 solver was performed. The analyses were carried out at sea level, 1000m, 2000m and 4000m altitudes for Mach Numbers M=0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 for the full model of the UAV. The flutter characteristics of the UAV for different flight conditions were obtained and presented. The effect of altitude on flutter characteristics has been examined and compared with the theoretical and experimental trends in the literature. Also the divergence characteristics of the full model UAV was obtained.
In the study, some verification and test cases are also included. The results of the analyses of an untapered swept-wing and AGARD 445.6 wing models were compared with wind tunnel data and a maximum error of 1.3 % in the flutter speed prediction was obtained. In two different wing models the effect of taper was investigated.
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Tell, Fredrik. "CCUAV : Cloud Center for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-36304.
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Projektets syfte är att bryta kopplingen mellan en specifik användare och drönare. Målet med projektet är att flera användare ska kunna hantera flera drönare från en central. En länk mellan en internetbaserad plattform vid namn Thingworx och en drönare med en inbyggd styrenhet, som kallas Pixhawk, sammankopplas med mikrodatorn Raspberry Pi 3. Sjöräddningssällskapet i Sverige önskar ett interface där flera av deras drönare med den inbyggda styrenheten kan hanteras och se dess position och videoström. PDSVisions mål är att skapa en demonstrator i en nyutvecklad plattform som förenklar uppkoppling med enheter med hjälp av ett begrepp som kallas IoT (Internet of Things). Resultat har resulterat i en prototyp av Sjöräddningssällskapets drönare ämnad att kontrolleras via den internetbaserade plattformen Thingworx. Drönaren startar, lyfter från marken och flyger en planerad rutt utan pilot. Slutsatsen visade att projektet kunde genomföras samt att det är möjligt att kommunicera med drönare via Thingworx
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Waugh, Edward Michael. "An unmanned aerial vehicle for oceanographic applications." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.538988.
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Watkiss, Eric John. "Flight dynamics of an unmanned aerial vehicle." Thesis, Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/28222.
Full textAbstract:
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.<br>Moments of inertia were experimentally determined and longitudinal and lateral/directional static and dynamic stability and control derivatives were estimated for a fixed wing Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV). Dynamic responses to various inputs were predicted based upon the estimated derivatives. A divergent spiral mode was revealed, but no particularly hazardous dynamics were predicted. The aircraft was then instrumented with an airspeed indicator, which when combined with the ability to determine elevator deflection through trim setting on the flight control transmitter, allowed for the determination of the aircraft's neutral point through flight test. The neutral point determined experimentally corresponded well to the theoretical neutral point. However, further flight testing with improved instrumentation is planned to raise the confidence level in the neutral point location. Further flight testing will also include dynamic studies in order to refine the estimated stability and control derivatives
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Lee, Matthew, Daniel Lierz, and Jerome Younger. "Video Tracking System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." International Foundation for Telemetering, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/581754.
Full textAbstract:
ITC/USA 2012 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Eighth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2012 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California<br>Surveillance and tracking using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is a growing field and to visually track an object independent of a flight path requires a video transmission and control system. Applications utilizing UAVs to track a stationary or moving target are plentiful, from military to local law enforcement; every application introduces an alternative to placing a human into an aircraft and increases the usefulness over a fixed position recorded video. Here we have introduced a cost effective video tracking system that will provide a constant video transmission, manual control for tracking, and further implement an automatic control system to automatically correct for the UAV's roll and yaw. The video tracking system has been designed to be cost friendly while constrained to be applicable for small UAV applications. We have detailed the successful design of our system that overcomes the imposed constraints in great detail in the sections that follow.
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Bradley, Justin, and Breton Prall. "AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE PROJECT FOR UNDERGRADUATES." International Foundation for Telemetering, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/604143.
Full textAbstract:
ITC/USA 2006 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Second Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 23-26, 2006 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California<br>Brigham Young University recently introduced a project for undergraduates in which a miniature
unmanned aerial vehicle system is constructed. The system is capable of autonomous flight, takeoff,
landing, and navigation through a planned path. In addition, through the use of video and
telemetry collected by the vehicle, accurate geolocation of specified targets is performed. This
paper outlines our approach and successes in facilitating this accomplishment at the undergraduate
level.