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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Toward Automated Aerial Refueling: Relative Navigation With Structure From Motion, Kevin W. Colson
Toward Automated Aerial Refueling: Relative Navigation With Structure From Motion, Kevin W. Colson
Theses and Dissertations
The USAF's 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 …
Geolocation Of Rf Emitters Using A Low-Cost Uav-Based Approach, Michael A. Magers
Geolocation Of Rf Emitters Using A Low-Cost Uav-Based Approach, Michael A. Magers
Theses and Dissertations
The proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in both military and civilian settings has prompted great interest in finding new and innovative ways to utilize these tools. One such application is to locate ground-based radio emitters from a UAV platform. The goal of this research is to study the feasibility of a low-cost (on the order of $1000) UAV geolocation platform. To accomplish this goal, a series of both real-world flight testing and computer simulated scenarios were conducted. Simulations for different sensor uncertainties and approach path scenarios such as loiter and button hook patterns were investigated. Results showed that a …
Design And Implementation Of A Unified Command And Control Architecture For Multiple Cooperative Unmanned Vehicles Utilizing Commercial Off The Shelf Components, Jeremy Gray
Theses and Dissertations
Small unmanned systems provide great utility to military applications due to their portable and expendable design. These systems are, however, costly to develop, produce, and maintain, making it desirable to integrate available commercial off the shelf (COTS) components. This research investigates the integration of COTS components through the development of a modular unified command and control (C2) architecture for heterogeneous and homogeneous vehicle teams to accomplish formation flocking and communication relay scenarios. A vehicle agnostic architecture was developed to be applied across different vehicle platforms, different vehicle combination, and different cooperative missions. COTS components consisting primarily of open source hardware …
Adaptive Automation Design And Implementation, Jason M. Bindewald
Adaptive Automation Design And Implementation, Jason M. Bindewald
Theses and Dissertations
Automations allow us to reduce the need for humans in certain environments, such as auto-pilot features on unmanned aerial vehicles. However, some situations still require human intervention. Adaptive automation is a research field that enables computer systems to adjust the amount of automation by taking over tasks from or giving tasks back to the user. This research develops processes and insights for adaptive automation designers to take theoretical adaptive automation ideas and develop them into real-world adaptive automation system. These allow developers to design better automation systems that recognize the limits of computers systems, enabling better designs for systems in …
The Cognition Of Multiaircraft Control (Mac): Cognitive Ability Predictors, Working Memory, Interference, And Attention Control In Radio Communication, Kelly M. Amaddio
The Cognition Of Multiaircraft Control (Mac): Cognitive Ability Predictors, Working Memory, Interference, And Attention Control In Radio Communication, Kelly M. Amaddio
Theses and Dissertations
As the number of U.S. Air Force missions requiring UAVs has rapidly increased without commensurate increases in manpower, systems which permit a single operator to supervise and control multiple, highly-automated aircraft are being considered. The operator of such a system may be required to monitor and respond to voice communications for multiple UAVs, each of which can have aircraft specific call signs. The need to monitor this array of call signs may impose excessive requirements on constrained operator attention, working memory, and cognitive processing. The current research investigates the cognitive load (number of aircraft call signs) an individual can handle …
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 …
Uas Collision Avoidance Algorithm That Minimizes The Impact On Route Surveillance, Austin L. Smith
Uas Collision Avoidance Algorithm That Minimizes The Impact On Route Surveillance, Austin L. Smith
Theses and Dissertations
A collision avoidance algorithm is developed and implemented that is applicable to different types of unmanned aerial systems ranging from a single platform with the ability to perform all collision avoidance functions independently to multiple vehicles performing functions as a cooperative group with collision avoidance commands computed at a ground station. The collision avoidance system is exercised and tested using operational hardware and platforms and is demonstrated in representative missions similar to those planned for operational systems. The results presented are the first known flight tests of a global, three-dimensional, geometric collision avoidance system on an unmanned aircraft system. Novel …
Wide Area Search And Engagement Simulation Validation, Michael J. Marlin
Wide Area Search And Engagement Simulation Validation, Michael J. Marlin
Theses and Dissertations
As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) increase in capability, the ability to refuel them in the air is becoming more critical. Aerial refueling will extend the range, shorten the response times, and extend loiter time of UAVs. Executing aerial refueling autonomously will reduce the command and control, logistics, and training efforts associated with fielding UAV systems. Currently, the Air Force Research Lab is researching the various technologies required to conduct automated aerial refueling (AAR). One of the required technologies is the ability to autonomously rendezvous with the tanker. The goal of this research is to determine the control required to fly …
Performance Analysis Of A Cooperative Search Algorithm For Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Under Limited Communication Conditions, Kevin M. Morris
Performance Analysis Of A Cooperative Search Algorithm For Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Under Limited Communication Conditions, Kevin M. Morris
Theses and Dissertations
This research investigates the impacts of realistic wireless communications upon a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) utilizing a distributed search algorithm. The UAVs are used to survey an area for mobile targets and they require communication to cooperatively locate the targets. The mobile targets do not continually radiate energy, which exacerbates the search effort; a UAV could fly directly over a target and not detect it. A simulation of cooperative UAVs is implemented using the OPNET Modeler network simulation tool. The search performance of a group of UAVs is observed when communication range, data rate, and the number of …