Zenith Propulsion, 2020 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Zenith Propulsion, Bryce Smoldon, Matthew Boban, Maxwell Kauker, Jonathan Noble, Stefan Johnson, Andrew Lucka, Nicholas Wright
Undergraduate Student Works
Launch Vehicle Design for the FAR-Mars Competition The Zenith Propulsion team took on the challenge put forth by the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR), to build and launch a rocket propelled by a liquid rocket engine. In 2018-2019, a capstone team called Tiber Designs successfully designed and tested a 1,000 lbf-thrust rocket engine, named Janus, that uses liquid oxygen and jet-A (aviationgrade kerosene) as propellants. Zenith Propulsion would design a vehicle – 21 ft long, 6 in diameter, 170 lbm loaded – that uses the Janus rocket engine to fly to a target altitude of 30,000 ft above ground level. …
Nonlinear Least Squares 3-D Geolocation Solutions Using Time Differences Of Arrival, 2020 University of New Mexico
Nonlinear Least Squares 3-D Geolocation Solutions Using Time Differences Of Arrival, Michael V. Bredemann
Mathematics & Statistics ETDs
This thesis uses a geometric approach to derive and solve nonlinear least squares minimization problems to geolocate a signal source in three dimensions using time differences of arrival at multiple sensor locations. There is no restriction on the maximum number of sensors used. Residual errors reach the numerical limits of machine precision. Symmetric sensor orientations are found that prevent closed form solutions of source locations lying within the null space. Maximum uncertainties in relative sensor positions and time difference of arrivals, required to locate a source within a maximum specified error, are found from these results. Examples illustrate potential requirements …
Aircraft Leading Edge Strakes On Conventional Naca Wings, 2020 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Aircraft Leading Edge Strakes On Conventional Naca Wings, Anthony Pirone
Discovery Day - Prescott
The prevention of stall on aircraft wings has been a great challenge over the history of airplanes. As the aircraft become more and more complex, it becomes harder to fit high lift devices and leading-edge devices onto high camber, supercritical airfoil aircraft wings. In the fighter jet class of aircraft the obstacle of stall is usually delayed by the implementation of leading-edge root extensions or strakes. Strakes create a tip vortice along the sharp leading edge that transitions over the surface of the wing preventing separation on both the upper and lower surface of the wing allowing the fighter jet …
Sae Aero West Heavy Lift Competition Team - Eaglenautics, 2020 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Sae Aero West Heavy Lift Competition Team - Eaglenautics, Anthony Pirone, Evan Stuart, Jessica Millard, Nathaniel Scott
Discovery Day - Prescott
ERAU’s SAE Aero Design West Competition team encourages students of all majors who have an interest in the design of heavy-lift cargo and passenger aircraft to design, build, and fly a large RC aircraft to meet a new set of regulations each competition year. Since the team, Eaglenautics, was founded in 2017 it has successfully been to competition once in April 2019 in California. The team’s aircraft flew 4 out of 5 flight rounds, passed all technical inspections, and is now on display in ERAU’s Aero-Fab in the AXFAB. The 2020 competition requirements are unique in that the cargo’s weight-to-volume …
Launch Vehicle Design For The Far-Mars Competition, 2020 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Launch Vehicle Design For The Far-Mars Competition, Matthew Boban, Bryce Smoldon, Jonathan Noble, Stefan Johnson, Maxwell Kauker, Nicholas Wright, Andrew Lucka
Discovery Day - Prescott
Zenith Propulsion is constructing a launch vehicle, named Altair, to compete in a competition hosted by the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) and the Mars Society. The objective for Zenith Propulsion is to design, build and launch Altair to a qualifying altitude of 30,000 feet in the FAR-Mars competition. Altair will utilize a rocket engine that has been in development at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott campus since late 2018. This engine, named Janus, uses liquid oxygen and Jet-A and is designed to deliver 1000 lbf of thrust. Altair will be launched from the FAR launch site, in Mojave, CA, on …
Nothing But A Number: A Closer Look At Stall Speed, 2020 Minnesota State University, Mankato
Nothing But A Number: A Closer Look At Stall Speed, Nihad E. Daidzic
Aviation Department Publications
CFIS REPEAT IT LIKE A MANTRA: An airplane can stall at any airspeed, in any pitch attitude. Your trainer’s wing always stalls when it exceeds its critical angle of attack—and that can happen even if the airplane is pointed straight down and approaching VNE. So what do the stall speeds published in the pilot’s operating handbook mean? These only apply for the stated conditions: often level flight, maximum gross weight, and most forward center of gravity, with flaps retracted (VS1) or in the landing configuration (VS0). Factors such as total weight, load factor, power, and center of gravity location affect …
A System Architecture For Phased Development Of Remote Suas Operation, 2020 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
A System Architecture For Phased Development Of Remote Suas Operation, Eric Ashley
Master's Theses
Current airspace regulations require the remote pilot-in-command of an unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to maintain visual line of sight with the vehicle for situational awareness. The future of UAS will not have these constraints as technology improves and regulations are changed. An operational model for the future of UAS is proposed where a remote operator will monitor remote vehicles with the capability to intervene if needed. One challenge facing this future operational concept is the ability for a flight data system to effectively communicate flight status to the remote operator. A system architecture has been developed to facilitate the implementation …
Cyber Risk Assessment And Scoring Model For Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, 2020 Air Force Institute of Technology
Cyber Risk Assessment And Scoring Model For Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Dillon M. Pettit
Theses and Dissertations
The commercial-off-the-shelf small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market is expanding rapidly in response to interest from hobbyists, commercial businesses, and military operators. The core commercial mission set directly relates to many current military requirements and strategies, with a priority on short range, low cost, real time aerial imaging, and limited modular payloads. These small vehicles present small radar cross sections, low heat signatures, and carry a variety of sensors and payloads. As with many new technologies, security seems secondary to the goal of reaching the market as soon as innovation is viable. Research indicates a growth in exploits and vulnerabilities …
Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies And Operations, 2020 Kansas State University - Polytechnic Campus
Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies And Operations, Randall K. Nichols, Hans C. Mumm, Wayne D. Lonstein, Julie J.C.H Ryan, Candice Carter, John-Paul Hood
NPP eBooks
As the quarter-century mark in the 21st Century nears, new aviation-related equipment has come to the forefront, both to help us and to haunt us. (Coutu, 2020) This is particularly the case with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These vehicles have grown in popularity and accessible to everyone. Of different shapes and sizes, they are widely available for purchase at relatively low prices. They have moved from the backyard recreation status to important tools for the military, intelligence agencies, and corporate organizations. New practical applications such as military equipment and weaponry are announced on a regular basis – globally. (Coutu, 2020) …
Congressional Committee Resources On Space Policy During The 115th Congress (2017-2018): Providing Context And Insight Into U.S. Government Space Policy, 2020 Purdue University
Congressional Committee Resources On Space Policy During The 115th Congress (2017-2018): Providing Context And Insight Into U.S. Government Space Policy, Bert Chapman
Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research
Article 1 of the US Constitution assigns the US Congress numerous responsibilities. These include creating new laws, revising existing laws, funding government programs, and conducting oversight of these programs' performance. Oversight of US Government agency space policy programs is executed by various congressional space policy committees, including the House and Senate Science Committees, Armed Services, and Appropriations Committees. These committees conduct many public hearings on space policy which invite witnesses to testify on US space policy programs and feature debate on the strengths and weaknesses of these programs. Documentation produced by these committees is widely available to the public, except …
Applications Of Drones In Atmospheric Chemistry, 2020 University of Kentucky
Applications Of Drones In Atmospheric Chemistry, Travis J. Schuyler
Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry
The emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) has changed the composition of the atmosphere during the Anthropocene. A major technical and scientific challenge is quantifying the resulting fugitive trace gas fluxes under variable meteorological conditions. Accurately documenting the sources and magnitude of GHGs emission is an important undertaking for discriminating contributions of different processes to radiative forcing. Therefore, the adverse environmental and health effects of undetected gas leaks motivates new methods of detecting, characterizing, and quantifying plumes of fugitive trace gases. Currently, there is no mobile platform able to quantify trace gases at altitudes(UASs), or drones, can be deployed on-site in …
Dynamic Delegated Corridors And 4d Required Navigation Performance For Urban Air Mobility (Uam) Airspace Integration, 2020 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Dynamic Delegated Corridors And 4d Required Navigation Performance For Urban Air Mobility (Uam) Airspace Integration, Trong Van Nguyen
Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research
Increased traffic congestion on urban road networks has impacted the travel time for commuters in highly populated urban centers. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is recognized as a system that transports the passenger and air cargo from any location to any destination within a metropolitan area. UAM may offer a solution to the problematic issue of automobile urban surface transportation congestion. However, the predicted significant growth in the demand for integration of UAM operations into the existing airspace system in the next 20 years and beyond may exceed the capacity of current air traffic control (ATC) system resources, particularly the ATC …
Improving The Biological Control Of Persicaria Perfoliata (Polygonaceae) Using Rhinoncomimus Latipes Korotyaev (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), 2020 West Virginia University
Improving The Biological Control Of Persicaria Perfoliata (Polygonaceae) Using Rhinoncomimus Latipes Korotyaev (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Jaewon Kim
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross (Polygonaceae; Mile-a-minute weed) is a rapid-growing invasive vine introduced from eastern Asia to northeastern United States in the 1930s. This vine has been invaded in disturbed areas and reforestation sites in 15 states in the U.S. and forms dense, monocultural patches that may inhibit natural forest regeneration. To control this weed, a host-specific biocontrol agent, Rhinoncomimus latipes Korotyaev (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has been released in the P. perfoliata invaded states in the U.S. during the past 15 years. Currently, R. latipes is released by hand to the invaded area where the presence of the weed is …
Parametric Study Of A Turbojet Engine With Auxiliary Bypass Combustion- The Turboaux Engine, 2020 Old Dominion University
Parametric Study Of A Turbojet Engine With Auxiliary Bypass Combustion- The Turboaux Engine, Kaleab Fetahi, Sharanabasaweshwara A. Asundi, Arthur C. Taylor, Adem H. Ibrahim, Syed Firasat Ali
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications
A parametric study of a novel turbojet engine with an auxiliary combustion chamber, nicknamed the TurboAux engine is presented. The TurboAux engine is conceived as an extension of a turbojet engine with an auxiliary bypass annular combustion chamber around the core stream. The study presented in this article is motivated by the need to facilitate clean secondary burning of fuel at temperatures higher than conventionally realized from air exiting the low-pressure compressor. The parametric study is initiated by performing a simple optimization analysis to identify optimal ‘fan’ pressure ratios for a series of conventional low-bypass turbofan engines with varying bypass …
Developing A Uas-Deployable Methane Sensor Using Low-Cost Modular Open-Source Components, 2020 The University of Akron
Developing A Uas-Deployable Methane Sensor Using Low-Cost Modular Open-Source Components, Gavin Demali
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
This project aimed to develop a methane sensor for deployment on an unmanned aerial system (UAS), or drone, platform. This design is centered around low cost, commercially available modular hardware components and open source software libraries. Once successfully developed, this system was deployed at the Bath Nature Preserve in Bath Township, Summit County Ohio in order to detect any potential on site fugitive methane emissions in the vicinity of the oil and gas infrastructure present. The deliverables of this project (i.e. the data collected at BNP) will be given to the land managers there to better inform future management and …
Design Of Banner Tow Mechanism For Bush Plane, 2020 The University of Akron
Design Of Banner Tow Mechanism For Bush Plane, Kyle Ciarrone, Ivan Martin, Rishabh Gadi, Tyler Brandt
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
The 2019-2020 AIAA DBF objective was to design, build, and test a banner-towing bush plane that carries wooden passengers and luggage. Senior members on the team undertook the creation of the banner tow mechanism subsystem as their senior design project on behalf of the design team due to the challenge of its mechanical design and the aerodynamic considerations regarding its placement and enclosure aboard the aircraft. The competition as well as access to campus resources were canceled due to COVID-19, so full testing and integration of the mechanism was not achieved. However, the engineering design process was experienced from the …
Redesign And Analysis For Landing Gear Components, 2020 The University of Akron
Redesign And Analysis For Landing Gear Components, Daniel Clarke
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
A project for Collins Aerospace, the company I co-op at, where I will redesign several components of a landing gear for a military program. Any structural/stress analysis will also be performed. The goal is to reduce weight while maintaining strength and structural integrity.
Research And Design Of A Two-Stage Supersonic Rocket, 2020 The University of Akron
Research And Design Of A Two-Stage Supersonic Rocket, Ryan Hannaford, James Gase, Matthew Reppa, Harrison Lewis
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
This report documents the entire design process for a two-stage vertical launch vehicle and highlights the team’s research, design work, testing, and construction of the launch vehicle. Every major system of the launch vehicle, including motors, electronics systems, interior and exterior structures, and recovery, will be individually analyzed and assessed during the design process. The launch vehicle will compete at the 2020 Spaceport America Cup in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Undergoing this project will allow the team members to further develop the skills learned throughout the Mechanical Engineering curriculum and Aerospace Systems Engineering curriculum at the University of Akron. Additionally, …
Low-Cost Skewed Redundant Imu Configuration For State-Space Recovery In A Saturated Environment, 2020 West Virginia University
Low-Cost Skewed Redundant Imu Configuration For State-Space Recovery In A Saturated Environment, Levi S. Hubbard
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Low-cost sensors for state space determination can be used successfully for ground vehicles, robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Internet-of-Things applications. When a high fidelity Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) cannot be obtained for state space determination, low-cost sensors can be used to satisfactory standards, despite their limitations in capabilities, by using various implementation techniques. The research group was experimentally investigating state space information of an unstable flying vehicle for motion simulation validation. The high fidelity motion capture system would intermittently lose track of the flight vehicle which lost critical flight data.
The goal was to determine the potential of low-cost off-the-shelf …
Mini Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uav) - A Review Of The Parameters For Classification Of A Mini Uav., 2020 Lovely Professional University
Mini Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uav) - A Review Of The Parameters For Classification Of A Mini Uav., Ramesh Ps, Muruga Lal Jeyan
International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace
In the recent years, Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has generated a lot of interest both in military and civilian applications. Contemporary innovations have seen the entry of Mini UAV into a wide range of hitherto fore unexplored domains. Advancement in computer systems, miniaturisation of electronics, artificial intelligence and composite materials is propelling the development of Mini UAV. Mini UAV is a class of UAV within the large family of unmanned systems categorised by a set of parameters. However, there are glaring inconsistencies and lack of uniformity in specifying the parameters which define a Mini UAV. The paper explores the …