Engineering Commons^™

Optimal Guidance Of A Relay Mav For Isr Support Beyond Line-Of-Sight, John H. Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis developed guidance laws to optimally position a relay Micro-UAV (MAV) to provide an operator with real-time Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) by relaying communication and video signals when there is no line-of-sight between the operator at the base and the rover MAV performing the ISR mission. The ISR system consists of two MAVs, the Relay and the Rover, and a Base. The Relay strives to position itself to minimize the radio frequency (RF) power required for maintaining communications between the Rover and the Base, while the Rover performs the ISR mission, which may maximize the required RF power. …