SIM-1 UAS: A FRAMEWORK FOR RAPID PROTOTYPING OF MATLAB DEVELOPED FLIGHT TEST CODE

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) like the ScanEagle have been employed in both military and research applications. Despite the ScanEagle’s low cost and operational flexibility, its utility for autonomy research is limited due to its proprietary hardware and software. With this in mind a new UAS, named SIM-1, was procured. It employs open-source hardware and software, making it suitable for research and development. In this thesis, the SIM-1 UAS was assembled and successfully flown in simulated and actual test flights. Simulations were conducted using Gazebo software, which employs a physics-based virtual environment, while flight tests were carried out at local flying fields. A basic MATLAB control algorithm was developed for SIM-1, and flight paths were planned through the ground control station (GCS). Notably, two methods of flight path planning were explored in this thesis. The first method uses open-source GCS software, QGroundControl, while the second method uses algorithms developed, tested, and ported to C++ code using MATLAB/Simulink. This second method provided an avenue for guidance, navigation and control (GNC) prototype algorithms to be flight tested rapidly. Finally, SIM-1 was also configured with a machine learning algorithm for object detection using its onboard camera payload, which opens up opportunities for more advanced research with this UAS platform.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.Military Expert 5, Republic of Singapore Air Forc

A Persistent Simulation Environment for Autonomous Systems

The age of Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Systems (AUAS) is creating new challenges for the accreditation and certification requiring new standards, policies and procedures that sanction whether a UAS is safe to fly. Establishing a basis for certification of autonomous systems via research into trust and trustworthiness is the focus of Autonomy Teaming and TRAjectories for Complex Trusted Operational Reliability (ATTRACTOR), a new NASA Convergent Aeronautics Solution (CAS) project. Simulation Environments to test and evaluate AUAS decision making may be a low-cost solution to help certify that various AUAS systems are trustworthy enough to be allowed to fly in current general and commercial aviation airspace. NASA is working to build a peer-to-peer persistent simulation (P3 Sim) environment. The P3 Sim will be a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) environment were AUAS avatars can interact with a complex dynamic environment and each other. The focus of the effort is to provide AUAS researchers a low-cost intuitive testing environment that will aid training for and assessment of decisions made by autonomous systems such as AUAS. This presentation focuses on the design approach and challenges faced in development of the P3 Sim Environment is support of investigating trustworthiness of autonomous systems

Development of Cursor-on-Target Control for Semi-Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Systems

The research presented in this thesis focuses on developing, demonstrating, and evaluating the concept of a Cursor-on-Target control system for semi-autonomous unmanned aircraft systems. The Department of Defense has mapped out a strategy in which unmanned aircraft systems will increasingly replace piloted aircraft. During most phases of flight autonomous unmanned aircraft control reduces operator workload, however, real-time information exchange often requires an operator to relay decision changes to the unmanned aircraft. The goal of this research is to develop a preliminary Cursor-on-Target control system to enable the operator to guide the unmanned aircraft with minimal workload during high task phases of flight and then evaluate the operator\u27s ability to conduct the mission using that control system. For this research, the problem of Cursor-on-Target control design has multiple components. Initially, a Cursor-on-Target controller is developed in Simulink. Then, this controller is integrated into the Aviator Visual Design Simulator to develop an operator-in-the-loop test platform. Finally, a ground target is simulated and tracked to validate the Cursor-on-Target controller. The Cursor-on-Target control system is then evaluated using a proposed operator rating scale

Small UAS-based wind feature identification system. Part 1: Integration and validation

This paper presents a system for identification of wind features, such as gusts and wind shear. These are of particular interest in the context of energy-efficient navigation of Small UnmannedAerialSystems(UAS).Theproposedsystemgeneratesreal-timewindvectorestimatesand a novel algorithm to generate wind field predictions. Estimations are based on the integration of an off-the-shelfnavigationsystemandairspeedreadingsinaso-calleddirectapproach. Windpredictions use atmospheric models to characterize the wind field with different statistical analyses. During the prediction stage, the system is able to incorporate, in a big-data approach, wind measurements from previous flights in order to enhance the approximations. Wind estimates are classified and fitted into aWeibullprobabilitydensityfunction. AGeneticAlgorithm(GA)isutilizedtodeterminetheshaping and scale parameters of the distribution, which are employed to determine the most probable wind speedatacertainposition. Thesystemusesthisinformationtocharacterizeawindshearoradiscrete gust and also utilizes a Gaussian Process regression to characterize continuous gusts. The knowledge of the wind features is crucial for computing energy-efficient trajectories with low cost and payload. Therefore, the system provides a solution that does not require any additional sensors. The system architecture presents a modular decentralized approach, in which the main parts of the system are separated in modules and the exchange of information is managed by a communication handler to enhance upgradeability and maintainability. Validation is done providing preliminary results of both simulations and Software-In-The-Loop testing. Telemetry data collected from real flights, performed in the Seville Metropolitan Area in Andalusia (Spain), was used for testing. Results show that wind estimation and predictions can be calculated at 1Hz and a wind map can be updated at 0.4Hz. Predictions show a convergence time with a 95% confidence interval of approximately 30s.Unión Europea MSCA-ITN-2014-642153Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación DPI2014-5983-C2-1-

Unmanned Aerial Systems Research, Development, Education and Training at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

With technological breakthroughs in miniaturized aircraft-related components, including but not limited to communications, computer systems and sensors and, state-of-the-art unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have become a reality. This fast growing industry is anticipating and responding to a myriad of societal applications that will provide either new or more cost effective solutions that previous technologies could not, or will replace activities that involved humans in flight with associated risks. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has a long history of aviation related research and education, and is heavily engaged in UAS activities. This document provides a summary of these activities. The document is divided into two parts. The first part provides a brief summary of each of the various activities while the second part lists the faculty associated with those activities. Within the first part of this document we have separated the UAS activities into two broad areas: Engineering and Applications. Each of these broad areas is then further broken down into six sub-areas, which are listed in the Table of Contents. The second part lists the faculty, sorted by campus (Daytona Beach---D, Prescott---P and Worldwide--W) associated with the UAS activities. The UAS activities and the corresponding faculty are cross-referenced. We have chosen to provide very short summaries of the UAS activities rather than lengthy descriptions. Should more information be desired, please contact me directly or alternatively visit our research web pages (http://research.erau.edu) and contact the appropriate faculty member directly

Aerial Vehicles

This book contains 35 chapters written by experts in developing techniques for making aerial vehicles more intelligent, more reliable, more flexible in use, and safer in operation.It will also serve as an inspiration for further improvement of the design and application of aeral vehicles. The advanced techniques and research described here may also be applicable to other high-tech areas such as robotics, avionics, vetronics, and space

UAS Collision Avoidance Algorithm that Minimizes the Impact on Route Surveillance

A collision avoidance algorithm is developed and implemented that is applicable to different types of unmanned aerial systems ranging from a single platform with the ability to perform all collision avoidance functions independently to multiple vehicles performing functions as a cooperative group with collision avoidance commands computed at a ground station. The collision avoidance system is exercised and tested using operational hardware and platforms and is demonstrated in representative missions similar to those planned for operational systems. The results presented are the first known flight tests of a global, three-dimensional, geometric collision avoidance system on an unmanned aircraft system. Novel developments using an aggregated collision cone approach allows each unmanned aircraft to detect and avoid collisions with two or more other aircraft simultaneously. The collision avoidance system is implemented using a miniature unmanned aircraft with an onboard autopilot. Various test cases are used to demonstrate the algorithms robustness to different collision encounters. Two-ship encounters at various engagement angles are flight tested. The flight test results are compared with ideal, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop tests