Aeronautical Vehicles Commons^™

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’, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Development Of An Exteroceptive Sensor Suite On Unmanned Surface Vessels For Real-Time Classification Of Navigational Markers, Christopher Lloyd Kennedy

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This thesis presents the development of an exteroceptive sensor suite for real-time detection and classification of navigational markers on Unmanned Surface Vessels. Three sensors were used to complete this task: a 3D LIDAR and two visible light cameras. First, all LIDAR points were transformed from the sensor’s reference frame to the local frame using a Kalman filter to estimate instantaneous vehicle pose. Next, objects were chosen from the LIDAR data to be classified using either Multivariate Gaussian or Parzen Window Classifiers. Both produce 96% accuracy or better, however, multivariate Gaussian ran considerably faster than the Parzen and was simpler to …

Achieving Global Range In Future Subsonic And Supersonic Airplanes, Nihad E. Daidzic Ph.D., Sc.D.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

No commercial airplane in service today is able to fly half great-circle distances over the globe and achieve the non-stop or the global range to any antipodal location on Earth. A subsonic jetliner has the optimum cruising speed at Mach numbers approaching the drag divergence Mach number while still preserving relatively high aerodynamic efficiency. Various fuel-flow laws were used to investigate the cruise performance of subsonic and supersonic aircraft. The effect of wind and aircraft weight and how it affects the optimal cruising airspeed was investigated. Of all different operational cruising techniques, the cruise-climb at high Mach numbers is the …

Improving Airplane Touchdown Control By Utilizing The Adverse Elevator Effect, Nihad E. Daidzic Ph.D., Sc.D.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The main objective of this original research article is to understand the short-term dynamic behavior of the transport-category airplane during landing flare elevator control application. Increasing the pitch angle to arrest the sink rate, the elevator will have to produce negative lift to rotate the airplane’s nose upward. This has an immediate adverse effect of initially accelerating airplane downward. A mathematical model of landing flare based on the flat-Earth longitudinal dynamics of rigid airplane was developed which is realistic only on very short time-scales as pitch stiffness and damping were neglected. Pilot control scenarios using impulse and step elevator pull-up …

The Effects Of Rewards On The Ability Of An Autonomous Uav Controlled By A Reinforcement Learning Agent To Accomplish A Target Localization Task, Hemali Dinesh Virani

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The need for Unmanned Aerial System (UASs) is increasing in the fields of science, security, military and others. With an increasing number of challenges faced by mankind the need for system with advance autonomous and intelligent capabilities is growing rapidly. The required intelligent behavior can be achieved in an unmanned system with machine learning methods such as Reinforcement Learning (RL) theory. This theory presents algorithms which have the capability to learn how to adapt to its environment. Using RL methods, autonomous systems have the ability to use past experiences to improve future mission performance. In this research, the effects of …

The Role Of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas) In Disaster Response And Recovery Efforts: Historical, Current And Future, Dennis Vincenzi, David C. Ison, Brent A. Terwilliger

Publications

A wide range of legislation has been proposed or put into place that restricts the use of unmanned systems. These actions by legislators and regulators will stifle the growth of this technology and the associated surrounding industry. The largest obstacle to the proliferation of UAS in the U.S. is the FAA. The FAA has designated the location of six test sites that are anticipated to allow for less restrictive and formative research to assess the technologies that the FAA has claimed need to exist in order to integrate UAS into the NAS. Further complicating the adoption of UAS for beneficent …

Nasa Human Exploration Rover Challenge, Estelle Fortes, Aaron Taylor, Caitlin Talerico, Jessica Chow, Jessica Turcios, Johnnie Perry, Joshua Beck, Juana Cecilia Martin-Gonzalez, Lisa Ferguson, Michaela Branscomb, Mo Sabliny, Raeann Vansickle, Sarah Pearson, Sierra Dryer, Zach Henney, Brenda Haven

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race, held annually in at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is an engineering design challenge that asks teams of student engineers to design a human-­‐powered vehicle capable of traversing a simulated lunar surface. However, there is an interesCng sCpulaCon in the design of the moonbuggy: it must be able to be transported in a 4x4x4 foot cube, echoing the design constraint faced by the engineers who built the Lunar Roving Vehicles used by the astronauts of the later Apollo missions. The vehicle in this proposal, Ocelot, designed by the Society of Women Engineers at …

Robust And Adaptive Nonlinear Control Of Limit Cycle Oscillations In Uavs Using Synthetic Jet Actuators, Natalie Ramos Pedroza

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Limit cycle oscillations (LCO), also known as utter, cause significant challenges in fight control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and could potentially lead to structural damage and catastrophic failures. LCO can be described as vibrational motions in the pitching and plunging displacements of an aircraft wing. Even in low Reynolds number (low-Re) fight regimes, LCO can exceed the limiting boundary for safe UAV fight. Further, as practical considerations motivate the design of smaller, lighter weight UAVs, there is a growing need for UAV systems that do not require heavy mechanical actuators (e.g., ailerons). To address this, the use of synthetic …

Flying The U-2, Art Saboski

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Learn what it was like to fly the famous U-2, one of history’s most secretive aircraft, from a pilot who has done just that. Art Saboski spent most of his Air Force career flying the U-2; commanding U-2 organizations as well as planning and conducting reconnaissance/intelligence operations. He will give his unique perspectives on the high altitude aircraft, its history, development and current uses today.

The Application Of Advanced Composites For The Construction Of Commercial Transport Aircraft, Mark D. Severson

Graduate Student Works

This individual Capstone project examined and evaluated current industry methods of testing, certification, and maintenance of advanced composite materials for the construction of commercial transport aircraft and the FAA regulations governing their use. The project critically compared and contrasted existing FAA standards and regulations governing the testing, certification, and maintenance of advanced composites for commercial transport aircraft structural applications with current industry practices to determine whether there were any areas of conflict between the two in order to accept or reject that current testing, certification, and maintenance procedures for advanced composites used in primary and secondary commercial transport aircraft structures …

A (Declassified) History Of Military Drones, Stephen Rayleigh

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones, are said to be the newest technology of contemporary warfare, but the military's use of drones spans the last 100 years. Hear the riveting story of the numerous secret UAV programs around the world, starting with the Sperry Aerial Torpedo Project in 1918 (consulted by Orville Wright), the German cruise missile program, American remote controlled bombers in WWII, the Firebee recon drone used in Vietnam, Israel's highly successful UAV program, and finally the coming of age of UAV's in Operation Desert Storm.

The Development Of A Force Balance For Testing Micro Aerial Vehicles, Michael Christopher King

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this work was to create a six degree of freedom balance that could produce meaningful data for micro aerial vehicles. Research was conducted to investigate the common balance configurations, and the strengths and weaknesses of each configuration were used to select the most appropriate design. The limitations of available fabrication facilities, the desired level of performance and the end user of the balance were all considered to finalize the design. The balance and data acquisition system were fabricated over a period of several months, and unforeseen design issues were handled forthwith. Rigorous calibration and testing processes were …

State Of The Art Of Piloted Electric Airplanes, Nasa's Centennial Challenge Data And Fundamental Design Implications, Lori Anne Costello

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the current state of the electric airplane as primarily defined by results from NASA's Green Flight Challenge Competition. New equations must be derived in order to determine the endurance and range for electric airplanes since the standard equations depend upon weight change over a flight and the weight of an electric airplane does not change. These new equations could then be solved for the optimal velocity and altitude which were the two driving factors that could change range and endurance for a given airplane configuration. The best velocity for range and endurance …

Experimental Investigation And Cfd Simulation Of Active Damping Mechanism For Propellant Slosh In Spacecraft Launch Systems, Dhawal Leuva

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Motion of propellant in the liquid propellant tanks due to inertial forces transferred from actions like stage separation and trajectory correction of the launch vehicle is known as propellant slosh. If unchecked, propellant slosh can reach resonance and lead to complete loss of the spacecraft stability, it can change the trajectory of the vehicle or increase consumption of propellant from the calculated requirements, thereby causing starvation of the latter stages of the vehicle. Predicting the magnitude of such slosh events is not trivial. Several passive mechanisms with limited operating range are currently used to mitigate the effects of slosh. An …

Guidance, Navigation And Control Of A Fly-By-Wire Transport Category Airship Designed For Hover Cargo Delivery, Harshad H. Lalan

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this thesis is to develop fly-by-wire pilot controls for a transport category airship propelled with six thrust vectoring engines, and to develop control laws to maintain position, heading, and attitude during hover and cargo operations. Owing to the large body area, most airships require that they be pointed into the wind to maintain their position. This research aims at controlling an airship attitude and position during hover cargo delivery, irrespective of the wind direction.

Control laws were developed for two primary modes of the airship: Flight (High Speed Mode) and Hover (Cargo Delivery Mode). Different sets of …

Preliminary Design Of An Asteroid Hopping Mission, Michael D. Scheppa

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In 2010, NASA announced that its new vision is to support private space launch operations. It is anticipated that this new direction will create the need for new and innovative ideas that push the current boundaries of space exploration and contain the promise of substantial gain, both in research and capital.

The purpose of the study is to plan and estimate the feasibility of a mission to visit a number of near Earth asteroids (NEAs). The mission would take place before the end of the 21st century, and would only use commercially available technology. Throughout the mission design process, while …

Flying Uav’S In Iraq, Stephen Rayleigh

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAV’s, are a growing reality and an important new weapon for today’s military. Hear what it was like to fly the RQ-7B “Shadow” UAV during Operation Iraqi Freedom from Stephen Rayleigh who spent a year in Iraq and has more than 1,000 hours experience flying them.

Unmanned Aircraft System Propulsion Systems Technology Survey, Christopher Griffis, Timothy Wilson, Jeffrey Schneider, Peter Pierpont

Publications

This technology survey is an investigation of various propulsion systems used in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Discussed are existing and near-future propulsion mechanisms of UAS, such as reciprocating piston engines, Wankel rotary engines, gas turbine engines, rocket-powered systems, electric motors, and battery-based systems. Also discussed are systems that use proton exchange membrane fuel cells, photovoltaics, ultracapacitors, and propellers. Each system is described in reference to a larger conceptual framework, with instances and profiles of existing UAS employing the system being described. Advantages and disadvantages of each type of propulsion system are identified along with associated technical issues and their respective …

Heavy-Fueled Intermittent Ignition Engines: Technical Issues, Jeffrey Arthur Schneider, Timothy Wilson, Christopher Griffis, Peter Pierpont

Publications

This report contains an overview of the technology and engineering issues with nonturbine heavy-fueled engines for general aviation aircraft and Unmanned Aircraft Systems. In recent years, interest in these types of engines has grown, partly due to the cost, safety, and worldwide availability of gasoline fuels. Within 3 to 5 years, up to five engines will seek Federal Aviation Administration certification as heavy-fuel powerplants. Although there has been some progress, there is no universal standard for certification of these engines (under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 33), or their installation into normal category fixed-wing aircraft or rotorcraft …

A Technology Survey Of Emergency Recovery And Flight Termination Systems For Uas, Richard Stansbury, Wesley Tanis, Timothy Wilson

Publications

For safe flight in the National Airspace System (NAS), either under the current interim rules or under anticipated longer-term regulatory guidelines facilitating unmanned aircraft system (UAS) access to the NAS, the UAS must incorporate technologies and flight procedures to ensure that neither people nor property in the air, on the ground, or on or in the water are endangered by the failure of an onboard component, by inappropriate unmanned aircraft (UA) response to pilot commands, or by inadvertent entry by the UA into prohibited airspace. The aircraft must be equipped with emergency recovery (ER) procedures and technologies that ensure that …

On The Inside Of Spaceshipone, Dan Linehan

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Hear the inside story of the development, testing and flight of the world’s first privately built and piloted manned spacecraft by the author of “SpaceShip One” An Illustrated History”. Exciting photos, videos and animations will help explain how and why all this took place.

Formation Feedback Control Of Uav Flight, Stephen Stegall

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This thesis is a study of formation control with autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles using the formation as feedback. There is also an investigation of formation methods presenting insight into different algorithms for formations. A rigid formation is achieved using a proportional-derivative virtual structure with a formation feedback controller. There is an emphasis on stick controlled aerodynamics. The rigid formation is verified by a simulation of a longitudinal model. Formation control ideas are presented for rigid formations.

Book Review: Tourists In Space: A Practical Guide, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Tourists in Space : a Practical Guide by Erik Seedhouse. Springer/Praxis, 2008 314p, 9780387746432 $34.95

Evaluation Of Probabilistic Methodology For Predicting Satellite Tracking Resources, Matthew Lynn Stubbe

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This research evaluates a probabilistic methodology for estimating the ability of satellite tracking networks to provide tracking and data acquisition services to large constellations of satellites. This approach, developed by Hagar is evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations of optimal satellite contact scheduling on a tracking network for a certain class of satellites. The actual results of the scheduled Monte Carlo simulations were then compared to the predicted values computed with Hagar's methodology for a range constellation and network sizes. Comparison methods include percent difference, a Wilcoxon signed ranks test and a Mann-Whitney U test.

The Monte Carlo simulations were run …

Theoretical Analysis Of Transpiration Cooling Of A Liquid Rocket Thrust Chamber Wall, Philip A. Davis

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Transpiration cooling is a process that could reduce the overall weight of the cooling system of an actively cooled thrust chamber wall of a liquid rocket engine by up to 50% when compared to other active cooling techniques, increasing the thrust to weight ratio of the rocket engine. In this thesis, mathematical models and computer codes were developed for simulating the flow of a coolant and the transport phenomena in a transpiration cooled thrust chamber wall of a liquid rocket engine by treating the coolant in two ways: as an incompressible fluid and as a compressible fluid in local thermal …

Impact Simulation And Analysis Of Sandwich Structures, Daewon Kim

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Impact damage on aircraft and spacecraft can be a severe problem that may cause catastrophic results. Several aerospace structures have been used to resist or absorb energy in the occasion of impact. Among these, a sandwich structure has advantages with high stiffness, strength to weight ratio, and its relatively cheap cost. However, finding the impact structural response of a sandwich structure, by performing experiments, has disadvantages. First, impact is a complex problem with a multi-parameter nature and many factors should be considered. Secondly, it is a destructive test and the test subject may be damaged during the test. On the …

Improving The Capability Of Preliminary Aircraft Design Methodology By Incorporating Numerical Methods Into Segments Of A Proven Statistical Method, Igor Lebovic

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to identify any potential limitations of Roskam’s statistical aircraft flight performance estimation method, and to provide processes capable of improving those limitations. This project was conducted in collaboration with Diamond Aircraft Industries, and as any other general aviation manufacturer with limited time, manpower, and financial resources, Diamond wants the new process to be time and cost-effective. Presented in this study is a computational alternative that combines the speed and accuracy of low-order panel methods with the fully-coupled viscous/inviscid interaction method from the ISES code that was developed by Drela and Giles. Its benefit is …