Drone Navigation in Polar and Cryospheric Regions

Aerial and underwater drones present a paradigm shift away from the long term use of manned airplanes, helicopters and mini-submarines. This is evident from the number of scientific research articles that focus on research data obtained with drones. For instance, a special edition of the International Journal of Remote Sensing consists of 65 articles focused solely on aerial drone research (Remote Sensing, Vol 38, 2017). A second special edition consists of another 36 aerial drone articles (Remote Sensing, Vol 39, 2018). While less prevalent, underwater drones are also playing an ever increasing role in scientific research and proving to be effective contributors in many contexts (Harris, 2018; Zhou et al 2019). For example, if a typical daily drop camera productivity rate is 700 images per day, underwater drones can already achieve 15,000 images per day (Smale et al 2012). This study predominantly examines the use of aerial drones at high latitudes and in cryospheric regions. The study aims to provide insights into the navigation accuracy of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) use for drones, and the accuracy levels of drone positioning data achieved by GNSS augmentation. Currently, drone use in the global polar and cryospheric community is limited, and there is a scarcity of data on drone GNSS navigation and augmented measurements. The drone use survey in this study attempted to gain insights on general GNSS accuracy and augmented GNSS. The drone survey data obtained is the first representative sample from this close-knit community across the specialisms of climatology, ecology, geology, geomorphology, geophysics and oceanography. The drone survey data revealed that many different combinations of augmentation were used to obtain sub-metre and even sub-decimetre accuracy

Unmanned Vehicle Systems & Operations on Air, Sea, Land

Unmanned Vehicle Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land is our fourth textbook in a series covering the world of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS). (Nichols R. K., 2018) (Nichols R. K., et al., 2019) (Nichols R. , et al., 2020)The authors have expanded their purview beyond UAS / CUAS systems. Our title shows our concern for growth and unique cyber security unmanned vehicle technology and operations for unmanned vehicles in all theaters: Air, Sea and Land – especially maritime cybersecurity and China proliferation issues. Topics include: Information Advances, Remote ID, and Extreme Persistence ISR; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles & How They Can Augment Mesonet Weather Tower Data Collection; Tour de Drones for the Discerning Palate; Underwater Autonomous Navigation & other UUV Advances; Autonomous Maritime Asymmetric Systems; UUV Integrated Autonomous Missions & Drone Management; Principles of Naval Architecture Applied to UUV’s; Unmanned Logistics Operating Safely and Efficiently Across Multiple Domains; Chinese Advances in Stealth UAV Penetration Path Planning in Combat Environment; UAS, the Fourth Amendment and Privacy; UV & Disinformation / Misinformation Channels; Chinese UAS Proliferation along New Silk Road Sea / Land Routes; Automaton, AI, Law, Ethics, Crossing the Machine – Human Barrier and Maritime Cybersecurity.Unmanned Vehicle Systems are an integral part of the US national critical infrastructure The authors have endeavored to bring a breadth and quality of information to the reader that is unparalleled in the unclassified sphere. Unmanned Vehicle (UV) Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land discusses state-of-the-art technology / issues facing U.S. UV system researchers / designers / manufacturers / testers. We trust our newest look at Unmanned Vehicles in Air, Sea, and Land will enrich our students and readers understanding of the purview of this wonderful technology we call UV.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1035/thumbnail.jp

NASA Thesaurus. Volume 1: Hierarchical listing

There are 16,713 postable terms and 3,716 nonpostable terms approved for use in the NASA scientific and technical information system in the Hierarchical Listing of the NASA Thesaurus. The generic structure is presented for many terms. The broader term and narrower term relationships are shown in an indented fashion that illustrates the generic structure better than the more widely used BT and NT listings. Related terms are generously applied, thus enhancing the usefulness of the Hierarchical Listing. Greater access to the Hierarchical Listing may be achieved with the collateral use of Volume 2 - Access Vocabulary

NASA thesaurus. Volume 1: Hierarchical Listing

There are over 17,000 postable terms and nearly 4,000 nonpostable terms approved for use in the NASA scientific and technical information system in the Hierarchical Listing of the NASA Thesaurus. The generic structure is presented for many terms. The broader term and narrower term relationships are shown in an indented fashion that illustrates the generic structure better than the more widely used BT and NT listings. Related terms are generously applied, thus enhancing the usefulness of the Hierarchical Listing. Greater access to the Hierarchical Listing may be achieved with the collateral use of Volume 2 - Access Vocabulary and Volume 3 - Definitions

Impact of Supercapacitors on a Fuel-Cell-Based Triple Hybrid for Small Unmanned Aircraft

Hybrid fuel-cell-based propulsion systems have the potential to transform the use of small electric powered unmanned aircraft. Offering the possibility of greatly increased flight endurance and range over existing battery systems, hybrid systems also overcome some of the limitations inherent with fuel cell only systems such as low specific power and comparatively slow dynamic response. However, although there have been many fuel-cell/battery hybrid systems developed for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) propulsion, alternative power storage devices such as supercapacitors have not been adequately explored. Supercapacitors are fast acting with a high specific power and cycle lifetime, making them ideal candidates for use in a fuel cell hybrid system. This research develops and evaluates the use of hybrid fuel cell propulsion systems incorporating supercapacitors in the overall hybrid architecture. First, the performance of supercapacitors is evaluated and compared with the performance of fuel cells and batteries to enable an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the different energy sources. Next, the integration of supercapacitors with fuel cells is performed in a robust and efficient manner that ensures the hybrid system architecture maximises the benefits inherent in each of the power sources. A comparison is made between fuel-cell/battery, fuel-cell/supercapacitor, and fuel-cell/battery/supercapacitor hybrids for a UAV propulsion application through hardware-in-the-loop simulation. Finally, flight testing of a fuel-cell-based triple hybrid in a small UAV is performed to validate the operation and performance of the power system

Routing algorithm for the ground team in transmission line inspection using unmanned aerial vehicle

With the rapid development of robotics technology, robots are increasingly used to conduct various tasks by utility companies. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an efficient robot that can be used to inspect high-voltage transmission lines. UAVs need to stay within a data transmission range from the ground station and periodically land to replace the battery in order to ensure that the power system can support its operation. A routing algorithm must be used in order to guide the motion and deployment of the ground station while using UAV in transmission line inspection. Most existing routing algorithms are dedicated to pathfinding for a single object that needs to travel from a given start point to end point and cannot be directly used for guiding the ground station deployment and motion since multiple objects (i.e., the UAV and the ground team) whose motions and locations need to be coordinated are involved. In this thesis, we intend to explore the routing algorithm that can be used by utility companies to effectively utilize UAVs in transmission line inspection. Both heuristic and analytical algorithms are proposed to guide the deployment of the ground station and the landing point for UAV power system change. A case study was conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed routing algorithm and examine the performance and cost-effectiveness --Abstract, page iii

Lift 2012 Spring

https://commons.erau.edu/lift-magazine/1019/thumbnail.jp

Materials dependencies for dual-use technologies relevant to Europe's defence sector

In order to support the European Commission in the preparation of future initiatives fostering the sustainability of strategic supply chains, this study was commissioned to assess bottlenecks in the supply of materials needed for the development of technologies important to Europe's defence and civil industries. The study focuses on five dual-use technology areas, namely advanced batteries, fuel cells, robotics, unmanned vehicles and additive manufacturing (3D printing). The technologies are preselected on the basis of a previous study (EASME, 2017) that explored the dual-use potential of key enabling technologies in which Europe should strategically invest. In addition, this report examines how these technologies could address specific military needs and their differences in relation to civil needs and identified opportunities for future defence research areas that could potentially serve as a basis for the design of research initiatives to be funded under the future European Defence Fund. Moreover, potential opportunities for common policy actions are also identified, notably: to strengthen Europe's position in the selected technologies’ supply chains; to facilitate collaboration between stakeholders; to increase industry involvement with special emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises; to improve existent legislation; and increase synergies between civil and defence sectors in order to speed up progress in promising research areas.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

On Small Satellites for Oceanography: A Survey

The recent explosive growth of small satellite operations driven primarily from an academic or pedagogical need, has demonstrated the viability of commercial-off-the-shelf technologies in space. They have also leveraged and shown the need for development of compatible sensors primarily aimed for Earth observation tasks including monitoring terrestrial domains, communications and engineering tests. However, one domain that these platforms have not yet made substantial inroads into, is in the ocean sciences. Remote sensing has long been within the repertoire of tools for oceanographers to study dynamic large scale physical phenomena, such as gyres and fronts, bio-geochemical process transport, primary productivity and process studies in the coastal ocean. We argue that the time has come for micro and nano satellites (with mass smaller than 100 kg and 2 to 3 year development times) designed, built, tested and flown by academic departments, for coordinated observations with robotic assets in situ. We do so primarily by surveying SmallSat missions oriented towards ocean observations in the recent past, and in doing so, we update the current knowledge about what is feasible in the rapidly evolving field of platforms and sensors for this domain. We conclude by proposing a set of candidate ocean observing missions with an emphasis on radar-based observations, with a focus on Synthetic Aperture Radar.Comment: 63 pages, 4 figures, 8 table