A Low Cost Implementation of Autonomous Takeoff and Landing for a Fixed Wing UAV

Abstract

A LOW COST IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTONOMOUS TAKEOFF AND LANDING FOR A FIXED WING UAV By Thomas W. Carnes, M.S. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014 Major Director: Dr. Robert H. Klenke, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering The take-off and landing of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is often the most critical and accident prone portion of its mission. This potential hazard coupled with the time and resources necessary to train a remote UAV pilot makes it desirable to have autonomous take-off and landing capabilities for UAVs. However, a robust, reliable, and accurate autonomous takeoff and landing capability for fixed-wing aircraft is not an available feature in many low-cost UAV flight control systems. This thesis describes the design of an autonomous take-off and landing algorithm implemented on an existing low-cost flight control system for a small fixed wing UAV. This thesis also describes the autonomous takeoff and landing algorithm development and gives validation results from hardware in the loop simulation.