Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Autonomous Satellite Recovery Vehicle, William Lewis, Devonte Grantham, Francisco Pastrana, Shane Williams, Joshua Moffett, Jessy Law, Kyle Ouellette, Janet Marnane

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

In collaboration with ERFSEDS, we would like to send a small satellite attached to a quad-copter as the payload for ERFSEDS rocket which will reach an altitude of 10,000 feet. The quad-copters objective will be to collect atmospheric data as it descends. Our plan is to 3-D print a new chassis for the quad-copters electronic components and arms that will allow the quad-copter to fold its arms inwards to meet the required space constraints. After launching the rocket, the satellite will be deployed at the target altitude and begin collecting data once jettisoned from the rocket. Once reaching 2,000 feet …

Suborbital Spaceflight: A Student Team’S Plan To Send A Rocket To Space, Bryce Chanes, William Carpenter, Julio Benavides, Matthew Haslam, Brenda Haven

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The Eagle Space Flight Team was created with the goal of becoming the first undergraduate team to design, build, and launch a rocket capable of suborbital spaceflight. In order to achieve this goal, the team will have to design a rocket capable of atmospheric flight at speeds over Mach 5 and launch it on one of the largest amateur rocket motors ever made. Over the next three years, the team will progress towards accomplishing this feat through a series of incremental test flights. Before the space flight, the team will build three sub-scale rockets designed to reach altitudes of 30,000’, …

Atmospheric Weather Balloon For Near Space Research, Francisco F. Pastrana, Devonte Grantham, Shane M. Williams, Jessy Law, Jennifer Nason, Janet Marrnane

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

Atmospheric Weather Balloon for Near Space Research

The Society for S.P.A.C.E. has been working on the development of a weather balloon that will reach a height of 80 to 100 thousand feet and will collect data from the atmosphere. The weather balloon is attached to a Styrofoam box that contains an Arduino board controlling a set of sensors that will measure: temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction.

The data will be collected and transmitted through an Xbee antenna that will provide us with remote monitoring capabilities. The data and images gathered will aid understanding of the characteristics and …

Microcontrollers In The Aviation Classroom, Padraig Houlahan

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

Modern commercial aircraft are increasingly dependent on digital technologies that detect sensor data and pilot control movements, interpret them, and then issue appropriate control signals to remote motors that move control surfaces. Because such technologies are innately complex, it would appear there is an unacceptably large academic burden on introducing them into the undergraduate pilot's curriculum .

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of interest in using micro-controllers in academic teaching (high-school and undergraduate levels) and in hobby applications, resulting in a large, online, freely available knowledgebase of techniques and solutions. Here, I demonstrate how easy it …

Unlocking The Mysteries Of Flight: From The Top Down, Juan Merkt

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

Traditionally, principles of flight are taught from the bottom-up. That is, we start by examining underlying causes (properties of air) and later move up to top consequences (aircraft performance). This traditional approach is analogous to that used by airplane designers and is most obvious in theory of flight textbooks for pilots. The problem with a bottom-up approach is that it introduces basic concepts as isolated “parts” without providing a “big picture” context. This can lead to poor understanding among student pilots. I suggest an opposite approach. Rather than starting with the underlying causes of flight, we can unravel basic principles …

Thinking Rather Than Panicking About The Current Drone Threat, Tom Foley, Tyrone Groh

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

Originally titled "UAS Threats in Sport Venues," the authors opted to expand their focus to better to all threats from UASs, and to encourage better preparation for and responses to such threats. Foley and Groh discuss different strategies.

Low Fidelity Flight Simulation In Collegiate Aviation, Vladimir N. Risukhin

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

Aviation college pilot training programs, lessons and exercises contain portions that do not require training in sophisticated and highly expensive full flight simulators and flight training devices (FTD) with high fidelity of simulation, or in real aircraft flights. Relatively inexpensive personal-computer-based flight simulation facilities named low fidelity simulators (LFS) can boost development of aircraft pilots’ cognitive and behavioral skills. The paper attempts to reveal how the LFS can support aviation college flight training and research activities. In the Western Michigan University College of Aviation, peer mentoring technique proven to be helpful in higher education institutions has been applied to flight …

Developing A Robust Balance For Wingsuit Aerodynamic Research, Timothy A. Sestak

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

Research on wingsuit aerodynamics requires specialized wind tunnel equipment. There is the potential for the relatively large ram-air inflated fabric airfoils being examined to flap and oscillate uncontrolled in the wind tunnel airflow. This chaotic combination of motion and forces could damage the fragile precision balances currently used. Due to the relatively recent development of wingsuit flight as an active sport, there is very little background literature on wingsuit aerodynamics, wingsuit testing, and the equipment and sensors required. A new balance design, able to accurately measure and record basic lift and drag forces while also being able to withstand the …

Insights Into Uas Accidents And Incidents, Robert Joslin

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The proliferation and extension of unmanned aircraft systems from military to civil and public use applications has rapidly outpaced the safety analysis that is normally associated with the introduction of a new and novel aircraft. Insights into the types of anomalous events associated with accidents and incidents involving civil and public use unmanned aircraft systems operating in the National Airspace System were derived from an information synthesis of archival publically available reports from the FAA Preliminary Reports of Unmanned Aircraft System Accidents and Incidents database, as recorded in the Aviation Safety Information and Analysis Sharing system. The vast majority of …

Human Factors Considerations In Autonomous Lethal Unmanned Aerial Systems, Kristine Kiernan

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The United States military is committed to the development of complete autonomy in unmanned vehicles, including armed unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The design and deployment of autonomous lethal UAS raises ethical issues that have implications for human factors. System design, procedures, and training will be impacted by the advent of autonomous lethal UAS. This paper will define relevant vocabulary, review the literature on robot ethics as it applies to the military setting, discuss various perspectives in the research community, address levels of UAS autonomy, and discuss implications for operator training, responsibility, and human-machine interaction. Familiarity with these ethical issues and …