Rotorcraft digital advanced avionics system (RODAAS) functional description

A functional design of a rotorcraft digital advanced avionics system (RODAAS) to transfer the technology developed for general aviation in the Demonstration Advanced Avionics System (DAAS) program to rotorcraft operation was undertaken. The objective was to develop an integrated avionics system design that enhances rotorcraft single pilot IFR operations without increasing the required pilot training/experience by exploiting advanced technology in computers, busing, displays and integrated systems design. A key element of the avionics system is the functionally distributed architecture that has the potential for high reliability with low weight, power and cost. A functional description of the RODAAS hardware and software functions is presented

Generic Drone Control Platform for Autonomous Capture of Cinema Scenes

The movie industry has been using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as a new tool to produce more and more complex and aesthetic camera shots. However, the shooting process currently rely on manual control of the drones which makes it difficult and sometimes inconvenient to work with. In this paper we address the lack of autonomous system to operate generic rotary-wing drones for shooting purposes. We propose a global control architecture based on a high-level generic API used by many UAV. Our solution integrates a compound and coupled model of a generic rotary-wing drone and a Full State Feedback strategy. To address the specific task of capturing cinema scenes, we combine the control architecture with an automatic camera path planning approach that encompasses cinematographic techniques. The possibilities offered by our system are demonstrated through a series of experiments

Search-based 3D Planning and Trajectory Optimization for Safe Micro Aerial Vehicle Flight Under Sensor Visibility Constraints

Safe navigation of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) requires not only obstacle-free flight paths according to a static environment map, but also the perception of and reaction to previously unknown and dynamic objects. This implies that the onboard sensors cover the current flight direction. Due to the limited payload of MAVs, full sensor coverage of the environment has to be traded off with flight time. Thus, often only a part of the environment is covered. We present a combined allocentric complete planning and trajectory optimization approach taking these sensor visibility constraints into account. The optimized trajectories yield flight paths within the apex angle of a Velodyne Puck Lite 3D laser scanner enabling low-level collision avoidance to perceive obstacles in the flight direction. Furthermore, the optimized trajectories take the flight dynamics into account and contain the velocities and accelerations along the path. We evaluate our approach with a DJI Matrice 600 MAV and in simulation employing hardware-in-the-loop.Comment: In Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Montreal, Canada, May 201

Demonstration Advanced Avionics System (DAAS) function description

The Demonstration Advanced Avionics System, DAAS, is an integrated avionics system utilizing microprocessor technologies, data busing, and shared displays for demonstrating the potential of these technologies in improving the safety and utility of general aviation operations in the late 1980's and beyond. Major hardware elements of the DAAS include a functionally distributed microcomputer complex, an integrated data control center, an electronic horizontal situation indicator, and a radio adaptor unit. All processing and display resources are interconnected by an IEEE-488 bus in order to enhance the overall system effectiveness, reliability, modularity and maintainability. A detail description of the DAAS architecture, the DAAS hardware, and the DAAS functions is presented. The system is designed for installation and flight test in a NASA Cessna 402-B aircraft

Autonomous Recharging and Flight Mission Planning for Battery-operated Autonomous Drones

Autonomous drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles) are increasingly popular for diverse applications of light-weight delivery and as substitutions of manned operations in remote locations. The computing systems for drones are becoming a new venue for research in cyber-physical systems. Autonomous drones require integrated intelligent decision systems to control and manage their flight missions in the absence of human operators. One of the most crucial aspects of drone mission control and management is related to the optimization of battery lifetime. Typical drones are powered by on-board batteries, with limited capacity. But drones are expected to carry out long missions. Thus, a fully automated management system that can optimize the operations of battery-operated autonomous drones to extend their operation time is highly desirable. This paper presents several contributions to automated management systems for battery-operated drones: (1) We conduct empirical studies to model the battery performance of drones, considering various flight scenarios. (2) We study a joint problem of flight mission planning and recharging optimization for drones with an objective to complete a tour mission for a set of sites of interest in the shortest time. This problem captures diverse applications of delivery and remote operations by drones. (3) We present algorithms for solving the problem of flight mission planning and recharging optimization. We implemented our algorithms in a drone management system, which supports real-time flight path tracking and re-computation in dynamic environments. We evaluated the results of our algorithms using data from empirical studies. (4) To allow fully autonomous recharging of drones, we also develop a robotic charging system prototype that can recharge drones autonomously by our drone management system

Effects of speed reduction in climb, cruise and descent phases to generate linear holding at no extra fuel cost

Best paper Award in Trajectory Optimisation Track - ICRAT 2016Speed reduction strategies have proved to be useful to recover delay if air traffic flow management regulations are cancelled before initially planned. Considering that for short- haul flights the climb and descent phases usually account for a considerable percentage of the total trip distance, this paper extends previous works on speed reduction in cruise to the whole flight. A trajectory optimization software is used to compute the maximum airborne delay (or linear holding) that can be performed without extra fuel consumption if compared with the nominal flight. Three cases are studied: speed reduction only in cruise; speed reduction in the whole flight, but keeping the nominal cruise altitude; and speed reduction for the whole flight while also optimizing the cruise altitude to maximize delay. Three representative flights have been simulated, showing that the airborne delay increases significantly in the two last cases with nearly 3-fold time for short-haul flights and 2-fold for mid- hauls with the first case. Results also show that fuel and time are traded along different phases of flight in such a way the airborne delay is maximized while the total fuel burn is kept constant.Peer ReviewedAward-winningPostprint (published version

Autonomous flight and remote site landing guidance research for helicopters

Automated low-altitude flight and landing in remote areas within a civilian environment are investigated, where initial cost, ongoing maintenance costs, and system productivity are important considerations. An approach has been taken which has: (1) utilized those technologies developed for military applications which are directly transferable to a civilian mission; (2) exploited and developed technology areas where new methods or concepts are required; and (3) undertaken research with the potential to lead to innovative methods or concepts required to achieve a manual and fully automatic remote area low-altitude and landing capability. The project has resulted in a definition of system operational concept that includes a sensor subsystem, a sensor fusion/feature extraction capability, and a guidance and control law concept. These subsystem concepts have been developed to sufficient depth to enable further exploration within the NASA simulation environment, and to support programs leading to the flight test