Development of collision avoidance system for useful UAV applications using image sensors with laser transmitter

The main goal of this study is to demonstrate the approach of achieving collision avoidance on Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (QUAV) using image sensors with colour-based tracking method. A pair of high definition (HD) stereo cameras were chosen as the stereo vision sensor to obtain depth data from flat object surfaces. Laser transmitter was utilized to project high contrast tracking spot for depth calculation using common triangulation. Stereo vision algorithm was developed to acquire the distance from tracked point to QUAV and the control algorithm was designed to manipulate QUAV's response based on depth calculated. Attitude and position controller were designed using the non-linear model with the help of Optitrack motion tracking system. A number of collision avoidance flight tests were carried out to validate the performance of the stereo vision and control algorithm based on image sensors. In the results, the UAV was able to hover with fairly good accuracy in both static and dynamic collision avoidance for short range collision avoidance. Collision avoidance performance of the UAV was better with obstacle of dull surfaces in comparison to shiny surfaces. The minimum collision avoidance distance achievable was 0.4 m. The approach was suitable to be applied in short range collision avoidance

Quadrotor UAV indoor localization using embedded stereo camera

Localization of Small-Size Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) such as the Quadrotors in Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environment such as indoors has been done using various techniques. Most of the experiment indoors that requires localization of UAVs, used cameras or ultrasonic sensors installed indoor or applied indoor environment modification such as patching (Infra Red) IR and visual markers. While these systems have high accuracy for the UAV localization, they are expensive and have less practicality in real situations. In this paper a system consisting of a stereo camera embedded on a quadrotor UAV (QUAV) for indoor localization was proposed. The optical flow data from the stereo camera then are fused with attitude and acceleration data from our sensors to get better estimation of the quadrotor location. The quadrotor altitude is estimated using Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) Feature Stereo Matching in addition to the one computed using optical flow. To avoid latency due to computational time, image processing and the quadrotor control are processed threads and core allocation. The performance of our QUAV altitude estimation is better compared to single-camera embedded QUAVs due to the stereo camera triangulation, where it leads to better estimation of the x-y position using optical flow when fused together

Development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based high altitude balloon (HAB) platform for active aerosol sampling

The knowledge on the abundance and diversity of the minute particles or aerosols in the earth's stratosphere is still in its infancy as aerosol sampling at high-altitude still possess a lot of challenges. Thus far, high-altitude aerosol sampling has been conducted mostly using manned flights, which requires enormous financial and logistical resources. There had been researches for the utilisation of high altitude balloon (HAB) for active and passive aerosol samplings within the stratosphere. However, the gathered samples in the payload were either brought down by controlling the balloon air pressure or were just dropped with a parachute to slow the descend speed in order to reduce the impact upon landing. In most cases, the drop location of the sample are unfavorable such as in the middle of the sea, dense foliage, etc. Hence a system that can actively sample aerosols at high-altitude and improve the delivery method in terms of quality and reliability using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is designed and tested in this study

Implementation of extended high-gain observer in low-cost optitrack motion tracking system for UAV control

The objective of this paper is to present the implementation procedure and experimental results of using Extended High-Gain Observer (EHGO) in estimating the states from low-cost Optitrack camera that is being used as the motion tracking in the Unmanned Aaerial Vehicle (UAV) system. Owing to the low-cost sensor, the signal produced is noisy which requires filters to produce a good signal. The standard procedure to obtain differentiated signal is complex. Therefore, this paper proposed an alternative method using EHGO. The theory of EHGO is presented, and the steps taken to transform EHGO algorithm from continuous to digital form are described. Validation is performed in open-loop and closed-loop flight test to analyze the performance. The results show that EHGO able to estimate the velocity state at the same performance quality as the standard procedure using Kalman filter. Nonetheless, the advantage of EHGO is due to its simple algorithm hence minimal parameters to tune

Performance measure of satellite flying in coplanar and non-coplanar formation

In order to fulfill specific mission objective demand, spacecraft performance can be further optimized by means of various methods or configurations. Like for instance, selection of orbit type and inclination with a periodically repeated ground track will ensure the high efficiency of ground target coverage be accomplished throughout the whole duration of mission. Unfortunately, a single monoli thic satellite most often unable to accommodate the requirement solicitated by many multi background users. So, to deal with the issue, an alternative solution would be to operate a swarm of satellites flying in synchronized formation. In this paper, three satellites flying in co-planar and non-coplanar formation were simulated. Here, the resulting model of two deputy satellites operating in the same orbital plane but different phase angle moved along the orbit path while both still maintaining constant relative distance with the non-coplanar chief spacecraft throughout the whole orbit period were presented. The use of unique projected circular orbit (PCO) formation arrangement allows the assessment of some important performance measure parameters like average overlapping coverage area and optimum swath width coverage distance. For the determination of area on the surface of the Earth overlapped by three satellites, the analys is was done using the multiple boundary overlap condition. Parametric studies were conducted involving different formation distance and formation height to observe pattern variation of average total overlapping area and maximum coverage distance. Preliminary result showed that at a specific Earth central angle, the total overlapped area decreased substantially with the increased distance in formation. Height factor does not have significant influence in the total overlapped area variation due to constraint imposed on satellites operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) altitude regime. Results were tabulated using 3-dimensional graphs to study the relationships exist between multiple variables. Finally, conclusions were made based on our findings with regards to the performance of positioning satellites in such configuration

Application of sliding mode control with extended high gain observer to stabilize the underactuated quadrotor system

This work proposes an output feedback controller for stabilization of the quadrotor underactuated system in the presence of time varying disturbances and model uncertainties. The proposed control is an improvement to the sliding mode control (SMC). An extended high-gain observer (EHGO) when combined with sliding mode control (SMC) able to give feasible performance beyond the performance of the standard sliding mode. It is able to bring the state trajectories of the closed-loop system close to the target system with a smaller ultimate bound of error and smaller control magnitude. The proposed method is illustrated by simulation

Peptide-Based, Two-Fluorophore, Ratiometric Probe for Quantifying Mobile Zinc in Biological Solutions

Small-molecule fluorescent sensors are versatile agents for detecting mobile zinc in biology. Capitalizing on the abundance of validated mobile zinc probes, we devised a strategy for repurposing existing intensity-based sensors for quantitative applications. Using solid-phase peptide synthesis, we conjugated a zinc-sensitive Zinpyr-1 derivative and a zinc-insensitive 7-hydroxycoumarin derivative onto opposite ends of a rigid P₉K peptide scaffold to create HcZ9, a ratiometric fluorescent probe for mobile zinc. A plate reader-based assay using HcZ9 was developed, the accuracy of which is comparable to that of atomic absorption spectroscopy. We investigated zinc accumulation in prostatic cells and zinc levels in human seminal fluid. When normal and tumorigenic cells are bathed in zinc-enriched media, cellular mobile zinc is buffered and changes slightly, but total zinc levels increase significantly. Quantification of mobile and total zinc levels in human seminal plasma revealed that the two are positively correlated with a Pearson’s coefficient of 0.73.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (GM065519

Relative position-based collision avoidance system for swarming UAVs using multi-sensor fusion

This paper presents the development of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is capable of quad-directional collision avoidance with obstacles in swarming applications through the implementation of relative position based cascaded PID position and velocity controllers. A collision avoidance algorithm that decides evasive manoeuvres in two dimensional flight by the means of net error calculation was developed. Sensor fusion of ultrasonic (US) and infrared (IR) sensors was performed to obtain a reliable relative position data of obstacles which is then fed into collision avoidance controller (CAC) for generating necessary response in terms of attitude commands. Flight tests performed proved the capability of UAV to avoid collisions with the obstacles and dummy non-flying UAVs that existed at a closer distance in its four primary directions of detections during flight successfully

Development and testing of open-jet wind tunnel for quadrotor flight testing

Station keeping of a hovering quadrotor under various turbulent wind condition has gained much attention these days due to its potential application in complex environments. Various types of control algorithm have been developed to increase the performance of the quadrotor under such wind conditions. These need to be tested and verified by flying the quadrotor itself. One of the quick and low-cost solutions would be to set up a test rig by modifying an existing wind tunnel to recreate such wind conditions. In order to cater such experiments, in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), an open-jet wind tunnel was attached to an existing open-loop wind tunnel, which initially has a test area of 1 meter by 1-meter size. By attaching the open-jet wind tunnel which has a diverged shape, the test section area is increased up to 2 meters in diameter size, ensuring sufficient space for manoeuvring and hovering the experimental quadrotor. A settling chamber is attached before the test section to characterize the output wind. The maximum wind speed at the opening is 8 m/s. The extended wind tunnel's flow characteristics are analyzed by anemometer for velocity distribution in four different distance from the opening. It has been found that the wind velocity distribution and turbulent intensity simulate the outdoor wind turbulent condition to test a quadrotor hovering control algorithm

Classical and novel TSPO ligands for the mitochondrial TSPO can modulate nuclear gene expression: Implications for mitochondrial retrograde signaling

It is known that knockdown of the mitochondrial 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) as well as TSPO ligands modulate various functions, including functions related to cancer. To study the ability of TSPO to regulate gene expression regarding such functions, we applied microarray analysis of gene expression to U118MG glioblastoma cells. Within 15 min, the classical TSPO ligand PK 11195 induced changes in expression of immediate early genes and transcription factors. These changes also included gene products that are part of the canonical pathway serving to modulate general gene expression. These changes are in accord with real-time, reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR. At the time points of 15, 30, 45, and 60 min, as well as 3 and 24 h of PK 11195 exposure, the functions associated with the changes in gene expression in these glioblastoma cells covered well known TSPO functions. These functions included cell viability, proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, migration, tumorigenesis, and angiogenesis. This was corroborated microscopically for cell migration, cell accumulation, adhesion, and neuronal differentiation. Changes in gene expression at 24 h of PK 11195 exposure were related to downregulation of tumorigenesis and upregulation of programmed cell death. In the vehicle treated as well as PK 11195 exposed cell cultures, our triple labeling showed intense TSPO labeling in the mitochondria but no TSPO signal in the cell nuclei. Thus, mitochondrial TSPO appears to be part of the mitochondria-to-nucleus signaling pathway for modulation of nuclear gene expression. The novel TSPO ligand 2-Cl-MGV-1 appeared to be very specific regarding modulation of gene expression of immediate early genes and transcription factors