A Trends Analysis of Image Processing in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

This paper describes an analysis of domestic and international trends of image processing for data in UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and also explains about UAV and Quadcopter. Overseas examples of image processing using UAV include image processing for totaling the total numberof vehicles, edge/target detection, detection and evasion algorithm, image processing using SIFT(scale invariant features transform) matching, and application of median filter and thresholding. In Korea, many studies are underway including visualization of new urban buildings.

Target Tracking by Flying Drone with Fixed Camera

This paper presents the software conception of a quadrotor UAV, named SKYWATCHER, which is able to follow a target. This capacity can at a long turn time permit to follow another drone and combine their performance in order to military missions for example. From a low-cost architecture constructed by five students we implemented a software and added a camera to create a visual servoing. This project demonstrates the possibility to associate the technology of stabilization and the technology of visual enslavement.

Optimization Based Tuning of Autopilot Gains for a Fixed Wing UAV

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have gained tremendous importance, in both Military and Civil, during first decade of this century. In a UAV, onboard computer (autopilot) autonomously controls the flight and navigation of the aircraft. Based on the aircraft role and flight envelope, basic to complex and sophisticated controllers are used to stabilize the aircraft flight parameters. These controllers constitute the autopilot system for UAVs. The autopilot systems, most commonly, provide lateral and longitudinal control through Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers or Phase-lead or Lag Compensators. Various techniques are commonly used to ‘tune’ gains of these controllers. Some techniques used are, in-flight step-by-step tuning, software-in-loop or hardware-in-loop tuning methods. Subsequently, numerous in-flight tests are required to actually ‘fine-tune’ these gains. However, an optimization-based tuning of these PID controllers or compensators, as presented in this paper, can greatly minimize the requirement of in-flight ‘tuning’ and substantially reduce the risks and cost involved in flight-testing.

Optimization of Kinematics for Birds and UAVs Using Evolutionary Algorithms

The aim of this work is to present a multi-objective optimization method to find maximum efficiency kinematics for a flapping wing unmanned aerial vehicle. We restrained our study to rectangular wings with the same profile along the span and to harmonic dihedral motion. It is assumed that the birdlike aerial vehicle (whose span and surface area were fixed respectively to 1m and 0.15m2) is in horizontal mechanically balanced motion at fixed speed. We used two flight physics models to describe the vehicle aerodynamic performances, namely DeLaurier-s model, which has been used in many studies dealing with flapping wings, and the model proposed by Dae-Kwan et al. Then, a constrained multi-objective optimization of the propulsive efficiency is performed using a recent evolutionary multi-objective algorithm called є-MOEA. Firstly, we show that feasible solutions (i.e. solutions that fulfil the imposed constraints) can be obtained using Dae-Kwan et al.-s model. Secondly, we highlight that a single objective optimization approach (weighted sum method for example) can also give optimal solutions as good as the multi-objective one which nevertheless offers the advantage of directly generating the set of the best trade-offs. Finally, we show that the DeLaurier-s model does not yield feasible solutions.

Optimal Design of Airfoil Platform Shapes with High Aspect Ratio Using Genetic Algorithm

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) performing their operations for a long time have been attracting much attention in military and civil aviation industries for the past decade. The applicable field of UAV is changing from the military purpose only to the civil one. Because of their low operation cost, high reliability and the necessity of various application areas, numerous development programs have been initiated around the world. To obtain the optimal solutions of the design variable (i.e., sectional airfoil profile, wing taper ratio and sweep) for high performance of UAVs, both the lift and lift-to-drag ratio are maximized whereas the pitching moment should be minimized, simultaneously. It is found that the lift force and lift-to-drag ratio are linearly dependent and a unique and dominant solution are existed. However, a trade-off phenomenon is observed between the lift-to-drag ratio and pitching moment. As the result of optimization, sixty-five (65) non-dominated Pareto individuals at the cutting edge of design spaces that are decided by airfoil shapes can be obtained.

Flight Control of TUAV with Coaxial Rotor and Ducted Fan Configuration by NARMA-L2 Controllers for Enhanced Situational Awareness

This paper focuses on a critical component of the situational awareness (SA), the control of autonomous vertical flight for tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (TUAV). With the SA strategy, we proposed a two stage flight control procedure using two autonomous control subsystems to address the dynamics variation and performance requirement difference in initial and final stages of flight trajectory for an unmanned helicopter model with coaxial rotor and ducted fan configuration. This control strategy for chosen model of TUAV has been verified by simulation of hovering maneuvers using software package Simulink and demonstrated good performance for fast stabilization of engines in hovering, consequently, fast SA with economy in energy can be asserted during search-and-rescue operations.

Integrate Communication Modeling into the Design Modeling at Early Stages of the Design Flow Case Study: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

This paper shows how we can integrate communication modeling into the design modeling at early stages of the design flow. We consider effect of incorporating noise such as impulsive noise on system stability. We show that with change of the system model and investigate the system performance under the different communication effects. We modeled a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a demonstration using SystemC methodology. Moreover the system is modeled by joining the capabilities of UML and SystemC to operate at system level.

An Evaluation on Fixed Wing and Multi-Rotor UAV Images Using Photogrammetric Image Processing

This paper has introduced a slope photogrammetric mapping using unmanned aerial vehicle. There are two units of UAV has been used in this study; namely; fixed wing and multi-rotor. Both UAVs were used to capture images at the study area. A consumer digital camera was mounted vertically at the bottom of UAV and captured the images at an altitude. The objectives of this study are to obtain three dimensional coordinates of slope area and to determine the accuracy of photogrammetric product produced from both UAVs. Several control points and checkpoints were established Real Time Kinematic Global Positioning System (RTK-GPS) in the study area. All acquired images from both UAVs went through all photogrammetric processes such as interior orientation, exterior orientation, aerial triangulation and bundle adjustment using photogrammetric software. Two primary results were produced in this study; namely; digital elevation model and digital orthophoto. Based on results, UAV system can be used to mapping slope area especially for limited budget and time constraints project.

Optimal Design of Airfoil with High Aspect Ratio in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Shape optimization of the airfoil with high aspect ratio of long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is performed by the multi-objective optimization technology coupled with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). For predicting the aerodynamic characteristics around the airfoil the high-fidelity Navier-Stokes solver is employed and SMOGA (Simple Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm), which is developed by authors, is used for solving the multi-objective optimization problem. To obtain the optimal solutions of the design variable (i.e., sectional airfoil profile, wing taper ratio and sweep) for high performance of UAVs, both the lift and lift-to-drag ratio are maximized whereas the pitching moment should be minimized, simultaneously. It is found that the lift force and lift-to-drag ratio are linearly dependent and a unique and dominant solution are existed. However, a trade-off phenomenon is observed between the lift-to-drag ratio and pitching moment. As the result of optimization, sixty-five (65) non-dominated Pareto individuals at the cutting edge of design spaces that is decided by airfoil shapes can be obtained.

Dynamic Model and Control of a New Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with Tilt-Wing Mechanism

In this work a dynamic model of a new quadrotor aerial vehicle that is equipped with a tilt-wing mechanism is presented. The vehicle has the capabilities of vertical take-off/landing (VTOL) like a helicopter and flying horizontal like an airplane. Dynamic model of the vehicle is derived both for vertical and horizontal flight modes using Newton-Euler formulation. An LQR controller for the vertical flight mode has also been developed and its performance has been tested with several simulations.

A Feasibility-study of a Micro- Communications Sonobuoy Deployable by UAV Robots

This paper describes a feasibility study that is included with the research, development and testing of a micro communications sonobuoy deployable by Maritime Fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (M-UAV) and rotor wing Quad Copters which are both currently being developed by the University of Adelaide. The micro communications sonobuoy is developed to act as a seamless communication relay between an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and an above water human operator some distance away. Development of such a device would eliminate the requirement of physical communication tethers attached to submersible vehicles for control and data retrieval.

Development of an Avionics System for Flight Data Collection of an UAV Helicopter

In this present work, the development of an avionics system for flight data collection of a Raptor 30 V2 is carried out. For the data acquisition both onground and onboard avionics systems are developed for testing of a small-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) helicopter. The onboard avionics record the helicopter state outputs namely accelerations, angular rates and Euler angles, in real time, and the on ground avionics system record the inputs given to the radio controlled helicopter through a transmitter, in real time. The avionic systems are designed and developed taking into consideration low weight, small size, anti-vibration, low power consumption, and easy interfacing. To mitigate the medium frequency vibrations embedded on the UAV helicopter during flight, a damper is designed and its performance is evaluated. A number of flight tests are carried out and the data obtained is then analyzed for accuracy and repeatability and conclusions are inferred.

Motion Control of TUAV having Eight Rotors for Enhanced Situational Awareness

This paper focuses on a critical component of the situational awareness (SA), the control of autonomous vertical flight for tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (TUAV). With the SA strategy, we proposed a two stage flight control procedure using two autonomous control subsystems to address the dynamics variation and performance requirement difference in initial and final stages of flight trajectory for a nontrivial nonlinear eight-rotor helicopter model. This control strategy for chosen model of mini-TUAV has been verified by simulation of hovering maneuvers using software package Simulink and demonstrated good performance for fast stabilization of engines in hovering, consequently, fast SA with economy in energy of batteries can be asserted during search-andrescue operations.

Development of Low-Profile Antenna for Mini UAV with Reconnaissance Mission

Microstrip antennas are conformable to planar and nonplanar surfaces, simple and inexpensive to fabricate using modern printed-circuit technology. Circular polarization of low-profile microstrip patch with high bandwidth is achieved in this research through the use of a three-cross-arms branch-line coupler with sequential rotated arrays, another low-profile antenna of hollow cylinder is also proposed and the function of reconnaissance with microstrip antenna on Mini UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) are evaluated in practical flight test.

UAV Position Estimation Using Remote Radio Head With Adaptive Power Control

The adaptive power control of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communications using Remote Radio Head (RRH) between multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with a link-budget based Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR) estimate is applied to four inner loop power control algorithms. It is concluded that Base Station (BS) can calculate not only UAV distance using linearity between speed and Consecutive Transmit-Power-Control Ratio (CTR) of Adaptive Step-size Closed Loop Power Control (ASCLPC), Consecutive TPC Ratio Step-size Closed Loop Power Control (CS-CLPC), Fixed Step-size Power Control (FSPC), but also UAV position with Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) ratio of RRHs.

Intelligent Condition Monitoring Systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Robots

This paper presents the application of Intelligent Techniques to the various duties of Intelligent Condition Monitoring Systems (ICMS) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Robots. These Systems are intended to support these Intelligent Robots in the event of a Fault occurrence. Neural Networks are used for Diagnosis, whilst Fuzzy Logic is intended for Prognosis and Remedy. The ultimate goals of ICMS are to save large losses in financial cost, time and data.

Low Latency Routing Algorithm for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Ad-Hoc Networks

In this paper, we proposed a new routing protocol for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that equipped with directional antenna. We named this protocol Directional Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (DOLSR). This protocol is based on the well known protocol that is called Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR). We focused in our protocol on the multipoint relay (MPR) concept which is the most important feature of this protocol. We developed a heuristic that allows DOLSR protocol to minimize the number of the multipoint relays. With this new protocol the number of overhead packets will be reduced and the End-to-End delay of the network will also be minimized. We showed through simulation that our protocol outperformed Optimized Link State Routing Protocol, Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol and Ad- Hoc On demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol in reducing the End-to-End delay and enhancing the overall throughput. Our evaluation of the previous protocols was based on the OPNET network simulation tool.

Ground System Software for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on Android Device

A Ground Control System (GCS), which controls Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and monitors their missionrelated data, is one of the major components of UAVs. In fact, some traditional GCSs were built on an expensive, complicated hardware infrastructure with workstations and PCs. In contrast, a GCS on a portable device – such as an Android phone or tablet – takes advantage of its light-weight hardware and the rich User Interface supported by the Android Operating System. We implemented that kind of GCS and called it Ground System Software (GSS) in this paper. In operation, our GSS communicates with UAVs or other GSS via TCP/IP connection to get mission-related data, visualizes it on the device-s screen, and saves the data in its own database. Our study showed that this kind of system will become a potential instrument in UAV-related systems and this kind of topic will appear in many research studies in the near future.

Flight Control of a Trirotor Mini-UAV for Enhanced Situational Awareness

This paper focuses on a critical component of the situational awareness (SA), the control of autonomous vertical flight for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Autonomous vertical flight is a challenging but important task for tactical UAVs to achieve high level of autonomy under adverse conditions. With the SA strategy, we proposed a two stage flight control procedure using two autonomous control subsystems to address the dynamics variation and performance requirement difference in initial and final stages of flight trajectory for a nontrivial nonlinear trirotor mini-UAV model. This control strategy for chosen mini-UAV model has been verified by simulation of hovering maneuvers using software package Simulink and demonstrated good performance for fast SA in realtime search-and-rescue operations.

An Algorithm for Autonomous Aerial Navigation using MATLAB® Mapping Tool Box

In the present era of aviation technology, autonomous navigation and control have emerged as a prime area of active research. Owing to the tremendous developments in the field, autonomous controls have led today’s engineers to claim that future of aerospace vehicle is unmanned. Development of guidance and navigation algorithms for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an extremely challenging task, which requires efforts to meet strict, and at times, conflicting goals of guidance and control. In this paper, aircraft altitude and heading controllers and an efficient algorithm for self-governing navigation using MATLAB® mapping toolbox is presented which also enables loitering of a fixed wing UAV over a specified area. For this purpose, a nonlinear mathematical model of a UAV is used. The nonlinear model is linearized around a stable trim point and decoupled for controller design. The linear controllers are tested on the nonlinear aircraft model and navigation algorithm is subsequently developed for for autonomous flight of the UAV. The results are presented for trajectory controllers and waypoint based navigation. Our investigation reveals that MATLAB® mapping toolbox can be exploited to successfully deliver an efficient algorithm for autonomous aerial navigation for a UAV.