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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Error Characterization Of Vision-Aided Navigation Systems, Daniel A . Marietta
Error Characterization Of Vision-Aided Navigation Systems, Daniel A . Marietta
Theses and Dissertations
The goal of this work is to characterize the errors committed by an Image Aided Navigation (IAN) algorithm that has been developed for use as a navigation tool in GPS denied areas. The filter under study was developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology's Advanced Navigation Technology center, and has been the focus of numerous research efforts. Unfortunately, these studies have all been based on single runs or simulations, and such results may not be indicative of the true filter performance. This problem extends to IAN publications in general; no analysis of IAN based upon a sizable real world …
Inertial Navigation System Aiding Using Vision, James O. Quarmyne
Inertial Navigation System Aiding Using Vision, James O. Quarmyne
Theses and Dissertations
The aiding of an INS using measurements over time of the line of sight of ground features as they come into view of an onboard camera is investigated. The objective is to quantify the reduction in the navigation states' errors by using bearings-only measurements over time of terrain features in the aircraft's field of view. INS aiding is achieved through the use of a Kalman Filter. The design of the Kalman Filter is presented and it is shown that during a long range, wings level cruising flight at constant velocity and altitude, a 90% reduction in the aided INS-calculated navigation …
Development Of Autonomous Optimal Cooperative Control In Relay Rover Configured Small Unmanned Aerial Systems, Timothy J. Shuck
Development Of Autonomous Optimal Cooperative Control In Relay Rover Configured Small Unmanned Aerial Systems, Timothy J. Shuck
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis documents the research effort to develop, integrate and implement the system hardware and the software necessary to validate the Air Force Institute of Technology's theoretical advances in small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS) cooperative control. The end state objective of the research effort was to flight test an autonomous control algorithm on a communication relay unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was actively relaying data to and from a rover UAV. The relay UAV is one part of a SUAS designed to utilize cooperative control to extend the effective line-of-sight operating range for a rover UAV. An algorithm is integrated …
Power Requirements For Bi-Harmonic Amplitude And Bias Modulation Control Of A Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle, Justin R. Carl
Power Requirements For Bi-Harmonic Amplitude And Bias Modulation Control Of A Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle, Justin R. Carl
Theses and Dissertations
Flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAV) have been a growing field in the research of micro air vehicles, but little emphasis has been placed on control theory. Research is ongoing on how to power FWMAVs where mass is a major area of concern. However, there is little research on the power requirements for the controllers to manipulate the wings of a FWMAV. A novel control theory, BABM, allows two actuators to produce forces and moments in five of the FWMAV's six DOF. Several FWMAV prototypes were constructed and tested on a six-component balance. Data was collected for varying control parameters …
Development Of Optimized Piezoelectric Bending Actuators For Use In An Insect Sized Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle, Robert K. Lenzen
Development Of Optimized Piezoelectric Bending Actuators For Use In An Insect Sized Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle, Robert K. Lenzen
Theses and Dissertations
Piezoelectric bimorph actuators, as opposed to rotary electric motors, have been suggested as an actuation mechanism for flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) because they exhibit favorable characteristics such as low weight, rapidly adaptable frequencies, lower acoustic signature, and controllable flapping amplitudes. Research at the Air Force Research Labs and the Air Force Institute of Technology has shown that by using one actuator per wing, up to five degrees of freedom are possible. However, due to the weight constraints on a FWMAV, the piezoelectric bimorph actuators need to be fully optimized to support free flight. This study focused on three …
Information Encoding On A Pseudo Random Noise Radar Waveform, Joshua A . Hardin
Information Encoding On A Pseudo Random Noise Radar Waveform, Joshua A . Hardin
Theses and Dissertations
Navigation requires knowledge of current location and a planned destination. This is true with manned vehicles and unmanned vehicles. There are many ways to acquire the current location, including global positioning system (GPS), triangulation, radar, and dead reckoning. Today GPS is the most reliable and accurate navigation technique when there is a clear, unobstructed view of the satellite constellation. Various sensors can be used to perform indoor navigation; however, when the vehicle is autonomous the sensors need to provide the exact location to the system. This research determined if using a template replay strategy has the same RNR performance as …
Adaptations And Analysis Of The Afit Noise Radar Network For Indoor Navigation, Russell D. Wilson Iv
Adaptations And Analysis Of The Afit Noise Radar Network For Indoor Navigation, Russell D. Wilson Iv
Theses and Dissertations
After several years of development, the AFIT Noise Radar Network (NoNET) has proven to be an extremely versatile system for many standard radar functions. This pallet of capabilities includes through the wall target tracking capabilities due to its wide bandwidth and UHF operations. Utilizing White Gaussian Noise as its waveform, the NoNET can operate at much lower power levels than other comparable systems while remaining extremely covert. In an effort to explore new applications, the question arose could the NoNET provide a viable option for navigation capability in GPS denied and indoor environments? This research aims to provide proof of …
Real-Time Heading Estimation Using Perspective Features, James W. Dean
Real-Time Heading Estimation Using Perspective Features, James W. Dean
Theses and Dissertations
There are a large number of commercially available quad-rotor helicopters available from various manufacturers. All of these systems rely on a low cost MEMS based inertial measurement system for stabilization and navigation. These low cost inertial systems are all subject to rapid error growth in their attitude and position estimates unless bounded by external measurements. This thesis created real-time algorithm to integrate measurements from visual cues with measurements from onboard sensors to estimate the attitude position and velocity of a quad-rotor helicopter in a local navigation frame, a system model for the ARDrone, and a feed-back controller for the vehicle's …
Pseudolite Architecture And Performance Analysis For The Faa's Nextgen Airspace, Joseph A . Czabaranek
Pseudolite Architecture And Performance Analysis For The Faa's Nextgen Airspace, Joseph A . Czabaranek
Theses and Dissertations
By 2025 the FAA plans to have fully implemented its NextGen Airspace design. NextGen takes advantage of modern positioning technologies as well as automation, data sharing, and display technologies that will allow more efficient use of our ever busier National Airspace (NAS). A key element of NextGen is the transition from surveillance RADAR providing aircraft separation and navigation to the use of the GPS and Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B). ADS-B couples the precision of the GPS with networked ground and airborne receivers to provide precise situational awareness to pilots and controllers. The result is increased safety, capacity, and access …