Aerial Device Research Articles

Torsional behaviors of motor rotor of permanent magnet semi-direct drive system for aerial passenger device

Considering the influence of motor shaft torsional damping, the torsional dynamics equations of a permanent magnet semi-direct drive rotor system in an aerial passenger device are derived. The derivation relies on the coupling between the mathematical model and the gear dynamics model of the permanent magnet motor, and the Lagrange–Maxwell equations are used for streamlined analysis. To protect the motor under extreme working conditions, the influence of supercritical Hopf bifurcation caused by different torsional dampings of the motor shaft on the torsional vibration of the motor rotor is investigated. Based on the Hurwitz criterion, the influence of the linear control gain and nonlinear gain of the washout filter on the system bifurcation point and the limit cycle amplitude of the system is analyzed. Then, from the perspective of the system instability and oscillation caused by friction damping change of the drive motor and the complex electromechanical coupling behavior in the permanent magnet semi-direct drive cutting drive system of the aerial passenger device, the system stability domain is defined. The results can be applied to effectively suppress the torsional vibration of the shaft system in the permanent magnet semi-direct drive system of the aerial passenger device, providing a theoretical guidance for stable operation of the system.

Ultra-lightweight aerial passenger device safety behavior detection model based on channel spatial interaction and cascade grouping

Ultra-lightweight aerial passenger device safety behavior detection model based on channel spatial interaction and cascade grouping

One-Degree Aerial Device: Control and Experimental Development

The ball and beam experimental platform is an unstable nonlinear system widely used as a benchmark control setup for testing different controller approaches, especially for beginners on automatic control to improve their control knowledge skills. In this paper, we innovate it by governing the angular position of the beam with a twin-rotor system. Our experiment consists of a beam that rotates through a pivot, in which two propellers are attached to the ends of this beam. Hence, we have a recent one-degree aerial device, and instead of using a ball, we employ a mass moving on the beam, presenting friction on position to its movements on the beam. Then, the control objective is to regulate the mass position at some predefined zone on the beam, ensuring stability and robustness in front of external perturbations and unmodeled uncertainties. To do so, we define a classical PI controller. To assess closed-loop robustness, a mass was introduced to one propeller to induce perturbation, thereby simulating modeling variations or disturbances. The experimental results prove the goodness of our experimental platform for drone applications.

Авиационное средство пожаротушения АСП-500. Разработка, проблемы, перспективы

The problem of boosting the efficiency of extinguishing forest and man-made fires with the use of aviation technology can be solved by implementing into practice of new technical solutions based on explosive dispersion method. Fireextinguishing compound explosive dispersion generates an aerosol cloud which suppresses conflagration zones over vast areas. With the aim of expanding capabilities and enhancing fire-fighting efficiency, a 500kg aerial fire-fighting device ASP-500 was developed by JSC “RPA “Bazalt” as part of initiative development project “Aerosol”. The product is intended for extinguishing and localizing forest fires, as well as for suppressing fire zones during man-made accidents and disasters. ASP-500 is capable of being used from fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It is expedient to use ASP-500 in conjunction with traditional fire-fighting water release systems, thus ensuring improved performance and economic efficiency indicators. ASP500 application could be an efficient addition to the existing system of forests protection and conservation valid in the Russian Federation, especially in remote or hard-to-reach areas.

Modeling and Application of an SMA-Actuated Lightweight Human-Inspired Gripper for Aerial Manipulation

The increasing usage of multi-rotor aerial platforms and the reliability of flights enabled researchers to add equipment and devices to them for application. The addition of lightweight manipulators, grippers, and mechanisms to fulfill specific tasks has been reported frequently recently. This work pushes the idea one step ahead and uses an Artificial Human Hand (AHH) in an uncrewed aerial vehicle for aerial manipulation, device delivery, and co-operation with human workers. This application requires an effective end-effector capable of grasping and holding objects of different shapes. The AHH is a lightweight custom-made human-inspired design actuated using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) materials. The SMA actuators offer significantly high forces with respect to their light weights though the control of these new actuators is a challenge that has been successfully demonstrated in this paper. The control of the SMA actuators could be achieved via heat exchange on the actuator, indirectly carried out by changing the current. The benefit of using this new actuator is removing the motors and mechanical mechanisms and simplifying the design. A soft cover is developed for the AHH to add friction and make it closer to a human hand. The modeling of the structured actuators on the system through tendons is presented, and a series of experiments for handling and manipulating different objects have been conducted. The objects were chosen with different weights and shapes to show the effectiveness of the design. An analysis of a generated torque of the manipulator for different cylindrical objects has been carried out. An analysis and comparison for grasping a series of items, pressure and temperature analysis, and the weight-to-volume ratio have been presented.

Using a visual deterrent to reduce seabird interactions with gillnets

Bycatch is one of the main threats to seabird conservation. In Portugal, there are alarming estimates of seabirds bycaught per year in bottom gillnet fisheries, which get entangled during fishing operations, when the gear is close to the surface. In this study, a visual deterrent (scarybird) was tested in a fishing vessel operating bottom gillnets near and within Berlengas Islands SPA (Special Protection Area). Trials were conducted between 2019 and 2020, with 18 control and experimental fishing trips monitored by a trained observer. The scarybird proved to be an effective bird deterrent measure, affecting both the numbers and distribution of seabirds and keeping a large portion of birds away from the vessel during fishing operations, making them potentially less vulnerable to bycatch. The deterrent device was more effective in the closest area to the vessel (0–20 m) where there was a significant reduction in the number of gulls (Larus michahellis/fuscus, −56 %) and northern gannets (Morus bassanus, −72 %) close to the vessel, by comparison to control fishing trips. The use of this aerial deterrent device had no impact on the fishery's target catches and revenue, which contributed to a good acceptance by fishermen. This simple and “easy to implement” deterrent device has potential to be further tested as a bycatch mitigation measure in bottom gillnets but also in other gears, whenever interactions with birds occur mainly close to the surface.

Autonomous Microcontroller-Based Aerial Water Sampling Device

Autonomous Microcontroller-Based Aerial Water Sampling Device

Novel optical technologies for emergency preparedness and response: Mapping contaminations with alpha-emitting radionuclides

Radiological emergencies involving an accidental or deliberate dispersion of alpha-emitting radionuclides in the environment can cause significant damage to humans and societies in general. Currently, there is a metrology gap in managing such emergencies due to the lack of detectors that can measure alpha particles at distances greater than their range in air: most conventional alpha detectors are only effective when placed just a few centimeters above the contaminated area. This paper presents the development and testing of lens based optical detection systems that utilize alpha particle-induced ultraviolet (UV) luminescence of air, known as alpha radioluminescence. Telescopes based on fused silica and Poly(methyl 2-methylpropenoate) (PMMA) Fresnel lenses were investigated for their usability in facilitating emergency management related to alpha-emitting radionuclides. Careful matching of the diameter and focal length of the receiving optics, the response of the photocathode, and the passband of the filter allows detection sensitivities as high as 34s−1MBq−1 at 2m source-to-detector distance and background count rate of about 3s−1 in the UV-C spectral region, and suppression of daylight background count rate down to 16s−1. By flushing the source with nitrogen (N2) containing trace amounts of nitric oxide (NO), a groundbreaking sensitivity of 1.3×105s−1MBq−1 has been achieved, allowing detection limits as low as 100Bq with room lighting on, and 70Bq in a dark environment. In the UV-A spectral region, a detection limit of 4kBq could be achieved in a dark environment. These optical detection systems are aimed to facilitate a rapid, coordinated, and effective response in emergency situations involving the release of alpha-emitting radionuclides by mounting them on a tripod or an unmanned aerial device (UAV).

A GPS Based Unmanned Drone Technology for Detecting and Analyzing Air Pollutants

Air pollution is now becoming a global issue because it directly affects human health, by creating cancer, respiratory and cardiac diseases, and the earth's ecosystem, by causing climate change and depletion of ozone layers. The rapid expansion of civilization and industrialization, leading to hazardous emissions from automobiles, chemical industries, and fossil fuel burning, plays a significant role in air and atmospheric pollution. Unmanned aerial systems and the internet of things-based sensing devices have provided new impetus for automatic air pollution monitoring and analysis. In this paper, an automatic indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring system has been developed using an unmanned aerial vehicle: a drone. The proposed device is constructed from an ultra-strength DJI F450 frame, various gas sensors, a particulate matter detector, and a camera to detect and distinguish air pollution data. The precision and sensitivity of the proposed device have been evaluated by collecting air emissions data from two places in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The drone has been navigated in Uttara and Bashundhara areas to measure the amount of CO, CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> , O <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf> , SO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> , NOx, and dust in indoor and outdoor environments. We obtained higher air pollution concentrations in Uttara than in Bashundhara, as it is an area with more industries and construction sites. The proposed system composed of an uncrewed aerial device and low-cost gas monitoring sensors is expected to create new possibilities in environmental and air pollution monitoring.

Опыт использования беспилотных летательных аппаратов для проведения аэрогаммасъемки территорий

The paper focuses on the experience of using software and hardware for airborne gamma-spectrometric survey of radioactive contaminated areas using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Historical development of the instrumentation park caused by rapid evolution of electronic components and optimization of radiation survey methods is demonstrated. A state-of-the-art commercially available aerial gamma survey device is described that is suitable for use with virtually any aircraft with a payload capacity over 0.9 kg. Further prospects for the development of airborne gamma-spectrometric survey are considered.

A Novel Modular Biomimetic Live Working Robot for Power Distribution Line

Live working on power distribution lines is an effective way to improve the reliability of power supply. The aerial lift device with an insulated boom is often used as a platform to carry out live working, which is difficult to carry out in mountainous areas, paddy fields, and other complex environments. At the same time, power distribution live working requires highly skilled operators, and a lot of personal security measures, which is not conducive to the application in some developing countries. We imagine that the solution of the above problem is to use a robot to climb up the pole and complete the live working instead of the operator. In this article we report a low-cost modular biomimetic robot. The structure of the robot is designed to meet the requirements of live working, and the motion mechanism of the robot climbing poles and performing live work is analyzed. The feasibility of the technology is verified through simulation, experiments, and tests.

Некоторые особенности работы со следами преступлений, совершенных с использованием беспилотных летательных аппаратов на территориях исправительных учреждений

The article is devoted to such an investigative action as an inspection of the scene of the incident as part of the investigation of crimes committed when using unmanned aerial vehicles in the territories of correctional institutions. The necessity of attracting specialists from various fields of science, technology and craft is substantiated in order to identify a larger number of traces and prevent their loss. The list of objects and traces that can potentially be found during the inspection of the scene is presented. An algorithm for conducting an inspection of the scene is given taking into account the specifics of the commission of a crime using an unmanned aerial device. Effective ways of preserving traces for the subsequent appointment of forensic enquiries are proposed

Pandemic Drones

When the novel coronavirus moved around the planet in early 2020, reconfiguring, slowing down, or halting everyday mobilities, another transport mode was mobilized: the pandemic drone. We highlight the increasing prominence of this aerial device by surveying international media coverage of pandemic drone use in the spring of 2020. To address a range of pandemic drone affordances and applications, we organize manifold cases under two broad categories: sensing and moving with the pandemic drone. Here we ask: what roles do, and could, drones play during the pandemic? Following the empirical examples and related mobilities research, we theorize the drone versus virus and the drone as virus. As such, the work identifies avenues for mobilities research into pandemic drones as a growing mobility domain. Moreover, in thinking through the pandemic drone, we demonstrate creative extensions of mobilities thinking that bridge biological and technological, as well as media and mobility frameworks when multiple public health and safety crises unfolded and intersected.

Using Spreadsheet Maps for the Placement of Low Altitude Platform (LAP) Wireless Network Nodes After Disasters

Low altitude platform (LAP) architectures are an emerging platform for providing temporary wireless network connectivity to areas with a damaged fixed wireless network infrastructure. The authors propose a spreadsheet-based approach for practitioners to locate LAP nodes in the field. This approach does not require radio frequency propagation expertise and incorporates standard models to display the coverage areas for the placement of LAP aerial devices. The proposed tool allows the transmission range for a given aerial device to be visually optimized during deployment. The spreadsheet-based tool the authors are proposing is expressly suited for battery-powered LAP architecture devices with payload weight restrictions, such as those utilizing balloons or kites, that can be quickly deployed by emergency responders. An additional contribution of this work is the development of a hybrid propagation model for LAP device transmissions for deployments above 200 meters which is absent in the literature. This model is a linear combination of two existing models for free space radio propagation.

Drone Sembrador

Using technology in agriculture should help increase production and reduce the risks suffered by the farmer when carrying out the different processes such as the planting of many crops that is done manually by dispersing the seed by hand. When carrying out the process of sowing a crop by dispersing its seed by hand, the farmer wastes time, can suffer injuries and even fractures when traveling the field to be sown and also, the farmer being exposed to solar radiation for a long time , you are at risk for skin cancer. Our project seeks to solve the three points mentioned above and contribute through the use of an unmanned aerial device and the mathematical modeling of the trajectories to be followed by the device, to carry out the adequate distribution of the seed on the surface to be sown and thus the farmer increase his production and reduce the factors that generate losses. Tests carried out indicate that our drone is fully functional and meets the objectives set out in the project, helping to provide great help in the development of the farmer's activity in sowing by seed dispersal of any crop.

Sliding-Mode Control for Stabilizing High-Order Stochastic Systems: Application to One-Degree-of-Freedom Aerial Device

This paper is concerned with the problem of designing a control strategy to guarantee stability in probability for high-order stochastic systems. The control hinges on the sliding-mode scheme. We first prove that the control design can stabilize a fast terminal sliding-mode function. We further show that the stable sliding mode is able to assure the stability in probability for the high-order stochastic system. The resulting system may account nonvanishing diffusion terms, which is regarded as a novelty. The derived control strategy has implications for applications—experiments are carried out to control the pitch angle of a one-degree-of-freedom aerial device. The corresponding experimental results demonstrate the benefits and effectiveness of our approach.

Foliar sampling with an unmanned aerial system (UAS) reveals spectral and functional trait differences within tree crowns

Imaging spectroscopy is currently the best approach for continuously mapping forest canopy traits, which is important for ecosystem and biodiversity assessments. Ideally, models are trained with trait data from fully sunlit leaves from the top of the canopy. However, sampling leaves at the top of the canopy is often difficult, and sunlit foliage from the crown periphery is collected instead, assuming minimal within-crown trait variation among sunlit leaves. We tested the degree to which crown position affects foliar traits and spectra using mixed-effects models comparing sun leaves from the crown centre of mature sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) trees collected with DeLeaves, a novel twig-sampling unmanned aerial system device, with sun leaves from the crown periphery collected with a pole pruner. Sun leaves from the crown centre differed from sun leaves from the crown periphery in absorption, reflectance, transmittance, and a series of foliar traits, including leaf thickness, leaf mass, and leaf nitrogen content per unit area, demonstrating differences in resource allocation depending on sun exposure. Our study highlights the importance of accurately matching the location of foliar samples and spectral data and of sampling across gradients of intra-individual variation for the accurate prediction of foliar trait distributions across and within canopies using imaging spectroscopy.

ІНТЕЛЕКТУАЛІЗОВАНА СИСТЕМА КЕРУВАННЯ БЕЗПІЛОТНИМИ ЛІТАЛЬНИМИ АПАРАТАМИ

The paper presents an intellectualized control system for unmanned aerial vehicles. It is based on the use of the fuzzy logic, implementation of which in the Controller of the unmanned aerial device allowed to track and control the trajectory of its movement. The experimental researches prove the efficiency of the device application of fuzzy logic for control of the drone in conditions of external influences implementation. To construct an intellectualized control system of unmanned aerial vehicles, their structure was considered. The base of the system is used for quadunmanned aerial vehicle, which includes four screws, located symmetrically around the central building. The peculiarity of the drone is that its adjacent screws must spin the opposite one from each other. This requirement is explained by the need to prevent system rotation around its own central axis. Depending on the required trajectory, an important aspect was the ability to set different values of the power of the drone engines. Despite the fact that the simplicity of its structure are characterized, they are able to implement a large set of motion models together with a demonstration of high maneuverability. It is reached the presence of six degrees of freedom, which consist of three progressive and three rotating components to set the trajectory of a movement. In order to solve this problem, it was possible to solve the apparatus of fuzzy logic as the basis of the mathematical model of the system. This allowed to ensure a vague logical control of the fog, and, in turn, intellectualize the behavior of drone in the air in the conditions of external influences on the change of a predetermined trajectory of its movement. At the heart of the Intellectualized unmanned Aerial vehicle control system, two fuzzy controllers were involved in the production of control signals for the command of a UAV flight height and an angle of inclination.

A Review of United States Arboricultural Operation Fatal and Nonfatal Incidents (2001–2017): Implications for Safety Training

The objective of this study was to identify and quantify the hazards present during arboricultural operations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Fatality and Catastrophe incident database and other Bureau of Labor Statistic sources were analyzed for arboricultural operation incidents within the 17-year period from 2001 through 2017. There were 865 fatal and 441 nonfatal incidents reviewed from this period. The leading four fatal incidents, from the largest to the smallest number of fatalities, were climber falls, workers struck by a falling tree, workers making indirect contact with an electric current, and workers struck by a falling branch. Climber falls were also the leading incident for severe nonfatal injuries, followed by ground workers struck by a falling branch, workers struck by a chain saw, and falls by aerial device operators. The American National Standards Institute Z133 American National Standard for Arboricultural Operations—Safety Requirements establishes safety requirements and recommendations for arboricultural operations in the United States. It addresses common hazard sources and has guidelines to avoid, eliminate, or reduce them. Safety training programs should emphasize the most common hazard sources for fatal and nonfatal incidents and follow the ANSI Z.

Adaptive Water Sampling Device for Aerial Robots

Water quality monitoring and predicting the changes in water characteristics require the collection of water samples in a timely manner. Water sample collection based on in situ measurable water quality indicators can increase the efficiency and precision of data collection while reducing the cost of laboratory analyses. The objective of this research was to develop an adaptive water sampling device for an aerial robot and demonstrate the accuracy of its functions in laboratory and field conditions. The prototype device consisted of a sensor node with dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity, temperature, turbidity, and depth sensors, a microcontroller, and a sampler with three cartridges. Activation of water capturing cartridges was based on in situ measurements from the sensor node. The activation mechanism of the prototype device was tested with standard solutions in the laboratory and with autonomous water sampling flights over the 11-ha section of a lake. A total of seven sampling locations were selected based on a grid system. Each cartridge collected 130 mL of water samples at a 3.5 m depth. Mean water quality parameters were measured as 8.47 mg/L of dissolved oxygen, pH of 5.34, 7 µS/cm of electrical conductivity, temperature of 18 °C, and 37 Formazin Nephelometric Unit (FNU) of turbidity. The dissolved oxygen was within allowable limits that were pre-set in the self-activation computer program while the pH, electrical conductivity, and temperature were outside of allowable limits that were specified by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Therefore, the activation mechanism of the device was triggered and water samples were collected from all the sampling locations successfully. The adaptive water sampling with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-assisted water sampling device was proved to be a successful method for water quality evaluation.