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Hot Air Balloon Navigation, Dustin Blackwell
Hot Air Balloon Navigation, Dustin Blackwell
Aerospace Engineering
This report describes a program used for navigating a hot air balloon. The program, Balloon_Trip, was written using MATLAB and gives a flight path to follow from a start position to an end position. Balloon_Trip calculates the flight path by taking in wind conditions and then flying through these different winds so as to steer the hot air balloon. The program calculates the flight path by taking into consideration at all times how the wind will propel the balloon while it is rising or falling in elevation. It then takes the most direct and least complicated, if not fastest, …
Interplanetary Gravity Assisted Trajectory Optimizer (Igato), Jason Bryan
Interplanetary Gravity Assisted Trajectory Optimizer (Igato), Jason Bryan
Aerospace Engineering
Interplanetary space travel is an extremely complicated endeavor that is severely limited by our current technological advancements. The amount of energy required to transport a spacecraft from one planet to the next, or even further, is extraordinary and in some cases is even impossible given our current propulsive capabilities. Due to these complications, the search for other means of exchanging energy became imperative to future space exploration missions. One particularly powerful method that was discovered, and the most commonly used one, is referred to as planetary gravity assist. In order to plan out multiple gravity assist trajectories, complex and robust …
Senior Project: Global Position Determination From Observed Relative Position Of Celestial Bodies, Michael Holmes
Senior Project: Global Position Determination From Observed Relative Position Of Celestial Bodies, Michael Holmes
Aerospace Engineering
A method was developed to determine the latitude and longitude of an observer based on the observed position of the Moon and several other celestial bodies. The basic principal developed dealt with the proximity of the Moon. Its relative displacement from calculated values was measured using photography by comparison with stars near the Moon. Photographs were taken from a location in San Luis Obispo at Longitude 120°35.9' and Latitude 35°13.3'. The analysis method has determined the location of the observer to a Longitude of 117°43.8'. An additional method located the observer to 36°38.7'N Latitude and 114°47.6'W Longitude.
Autonomous Control Of The Cal Poly Motion Flight Simulator, Andrew M. Anderson
Autonomous Control Of The Cal Poly Motion Flight Simulator, Andrew M. Anderson
Aerospace Engineering
An autonomous controller for the Cal Poly Motion Flight Simulator was developed such that the simulated Van’s RV-7 flies a standard light aircraft traffic pattern without any human pilot input. First, an autopilot was developed in Simulink to control the aircraft’s altitude, airspeed, and heading independent of each other. The performance of the autopilot has been tested to perform with a response sufficient for precise navigation. A C++ s- function was written as a mission controller that followed a pre-programmed path around a known airport. The aircraft performs a standard left 45 degree entry into the traffic pattern, lands on …