Toward Automated Aerial Refueling: Relative Navigation with Structure from Motion

The USAF\u27s use of UAS has expanded from reconnaissance to hunter/killer missions. As the UAS mission further expands into aerial combat, better performance and larger payloads will have a negative correlation with range and loiter times. Additionally, the Air Force Future Operating Concept calls for \formations of uninhabited refueling aircraft...[that] enable refueling operations partway inside threat areas. However, a lack of accurate relative positioning information prevents the ability to safely maintain close formation flight and contact between a tanker and a UAS. The inclusion of cutting edge vision systems on present refueling platforms may provide the information necessary to support a AAR mission by estimating the position of a trailing aircraft to provide inputs to a UAS controller capable of maintaining a given position. This research examines the ability of SfM to generate relative navigation information. Previous AAR research efforts involved the use of differential GPS, LiDAR, and vision systems. This research aims to leverage current and future imaging technology to compliment these solutions. The algorithm used in this thesis generates a point cloud by determining 3D structure from a sequence of 2D images. The algorithm then utilizes PCA to register the point cloud to a reference model. The algorithm was tested in a real world environment using a 1:7 scale F-15 model. Additionally, this thesis studies common 3D rigid registration algorithms in an effort characterize their performance in the AAR domain. Three algorithms are tested for runtime and registration accuracy with four data sets

1 May 1913 property agreement

Agreement between G. M. D. Bowers, W. W. Colson, and B. R. Colson to hold Dixieland Park land for Theophilus Brown Larimore. The one-page typewritten document is dated 1 May 1913

[Unsigned agreement to hold land unchanged for Larimore]

Unsigned agreement on Our Florida Friend letterhead where G. M. D. Bowers, W. W. Colson, and B. R. Colson agree to hold land for Theophilus Brown Larimore unchanged. The agreement is one-page typewritten and dated 1 May 1913

Letter from S. W. Colson to B. R. Colson

Letter from S. W. Colson to B. R. Colson. The three-page handwritten note is dated 8 February 1910. There is a transcript of the correspondence in the item PDF

Letter from C. W. Colson to B. R. Colson

Letter from C. W. Colson to B. R. Colson. The one-page handwritten correspondence is dated 11 February 1912. There is a transcript of the letter in the item PDF

Letter from S. W. Colson to B. R. Colson

Letter from S. W. Colson to B. R. Colson. The three-page handwritten note is dated 21 August 1907. There is a transcript of the correspondence in the item PDF

Letter from S. W. Colson to J. O. Barnes

Letter from S. W. Colson to J. O. Barnes. The one-page handwritten note is dated 24 May 1909. There is a transcript of the correspondence in the item PDF

Option contract between J. J. and Emma S. Freeze and W. W. Colson

Option contract dated 18 April 1912 between J. J. and Emma S. Freeze and W. W. Colson

BaCu3O4: High Temperature Magnetic Order in One-Dimensional S=1/2 Diamond-Chains

The magnetic properties of the alkaline earth oxocuprate BaCu3O4 are investigated. We show that the characteristic Cu3O4 layers of this material can be described with diamond chains of antiferromagnetically coupled Cu 1/2 spins with only a weak coupling between two adjacent chains. These Cu3O4 layers seem to represent a so far unique system of weakly coupled one-dimensional magnetic objects where the local AF ordering of the Cu2+ ions leads to an actual net magnetic moment of an isolated diamond chain. We demonstrate a magnetic transition at a high N\'eel temperature T_{N}=336 K