Design Of Unmanned Aerial System Research Articles

Analysis of collision avoidance in honeybee flight.

Insects are excellent at flying in dense vegetation and navigating through other complex spatial environments. This study investigates the strategies used by honeybees (Apis mellifera) to avoid collisions with an obstacle encountered frontally during flight. Bees were trained to fly through a tunnel that contained a solitary vertically oriented cylindrical obstacle placed along the midline. Flight trajectories of bees were recorded for six conditions in which the diameter of the obstructing cylinder was systematically varied from 25 mm to 160 mm. Analysis of salient events during the bees' flight, such as the deceleration before the obstacle, and the initiation of the deviation in flight path to avoid collisions, revealed a strategy for obstacle avoidance that is based on the relative retinal expansion velocity generated by the obstacle when the bee is on a collision course. We find that a quantitative model, featuring a controller that extracts specific visual cues from the frontal visual field, provides an accurate characterization of the geometry and the dynamics of the manoeuvres adopted by honeybees to avoid collisions. This study paves the way for the design of unmanned aerial systems, by identifying the visual cues that are used by honeybees for performing robust obstacle avoidance flight.

Aerodynamic optimization and analysis of quadrotor blades operating in the Martian atmosphere

The design of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for flight in the Martian atmosphere is a relevant and current topic. The successful flight of the Ingenuity helicopter recently proved its applicability. We present a numerical approach to the aerodynamic optimization of blades for rotors working in flow regimes with Reynolds numbers smaller than 15,000. Due to the atmospheric gas density and viscosity on Mars and the required rotation speed and rotor diameter, rotary-wing works mainly in the so-called ultra-low Reynolds number regime (103<Re<104), where the flow is likely laminar. The tip region is in the lower range of the very-low Reynolds number regime (104<Re<105), where separation-induced laminar-turbulent transition may occur. Such conditions characterize rotor blades of UAS operating in the Martian atmosphere or at very high altitudes (30 km) in the Earth's atmosphere. The blade design procedure consists of a two-step optimization process. The process starts with an initial two-dimensional airfoil design analysis followed by three-dimensional Blade Element Momentum (BEM) simulations to achieve the chord and twist radial distributions necessary to define the blade geometry. Then, a procedure to perform three-dimensional adjoint-based CFD simulations enhances the performance. The aerodynamic characteristics of optimal blades are evaluated with Navier-Stokes (N-S) and Large Eddy Simulations (LES), demonstrating the negligible effect of turbulence in blade performance for these Reynolds numbers when the boundary layer is attached. The implemented BEM method and high-fidelity CFD simulations show a good agreement.

Research on route planning based on performance constraints for UAS in battlefield

The application area and the scope of tasks of unmanned aerial system (UAS) are becoming increasingly wider, while the complexity and danger of the working environment are also increasing. When implemented in modern battlefields or complicated circumstances, various dangers which UAS is confronted with would prevent UAS from continuing its mission smoothly. An increase in failure rate is usually inevitable alongside with the perfection of UAS’s performance. In this paper, a modified modeling method for UAS is proposed to solve route planning problems in battlefields or complicated circumstances, and an improved modeling method of performance constraints is established based on analysis of UAS’s physical constraints. And based on the aforesaid research, new design of UAS’s each flight segment is proposed to meet the requirements for different missions. The simulation results show that such design makes the UAS capable to continue its mission.

Design and Implementation of a Multirotor Unmanned Aircraft System for Target Tracking

This paper presents the design, development and deployment of an unmanned aircraft system and a target tracking technique for the videos transmitted from it. The design of unmanned aerial system (UAV) is robust and provides relying results in terms of endurance and altitude. The dynamics involved in design and the building blocks of the UAV is discussed. The camera mounted in the UAS transmits the video to the ground control station, and the data are used for target tracking. Mean shift-based approach is proposed. In mean shift algorithm, there are many limitations and one of the most important limitations is that the window always has the same size when object is farther away and it is very close to camera. We need to adapt the window size with size and rotation of the target. The problem is solved by continuously adaptive mean shift algorithm. The algorithm is implemented on the live data transmitted. The results are portrayed to justify the efficiency in design and tracking application.

A V-Diagram for the Design of Integrated Health Management for Unmanned Aerial Systems

Designing Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is inherently complex. UAS are a system of systems (SoS) and IVHM is a product- service, thus the designer has to take into account many factors, such as: the design of the other systems of the UAS (e.g. engines, structure, communications), the split of functions between elements of the UAS, the intended operation/mission of the UAS, the cost verses benefit of monitoring a system/component/part, different techniques for monitoring the health of the UAS, optimizing the health of the fleet and not just the individual UAS, amongst others. The design of IVHM cannot sit alongside, or after, the design of UAS, but itself be integrated into the overall design to maximize IVHM’s potential. Many different methods exist to help design complex products and manage the process. One method used is the V- diagram which is based on three concepts: decomposition & definition; integration & testing; and verification & validation. This paper adapts the V-diagram so that it can be used for designing IVHM for UAS. The adapted v-diagram splits into different tracks for the different system elements of the UAS and responses to health states (decomposition and definition). These tracks are then combined into an overall IVHM provision for the UAS (integration and testing), which can be verified and validated. The stages of the adapted V- diagram can easily be aligned with the stages of the V- diagram being used to design the UAS bringing the design of the IVHM in step with the overall design process. The adapted V-diagram also allows the design IVHM for a UAS to be broken down in to smaller tasks which can be assigned to people/teams with the relevant competencies. The adapted V-diagram could also be used to design IVHM for other SoS and other vehicles or products

Development of UAS Design Based on Wideband Antenna Architecture

An Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has been developed which is based on an aerodynamically functionalized planar wideband antenna. The antenna utilizes a planar circular dipole metallization scheme. The aerodynamic structure implements a planform similar to the Nutball flier, a hobbyist flight architecture. The resulting codesign achieved a large impedance bandwidth defined by a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) less than 2 from 100 MHz to over 2 GHz and omnidirectional dipole-like radiation patterns at the lower frequency region and more directional patterns at higher frequencies.

An Alenia Aermacchi study and experience on MBSE application

AbstractThis paper describes how traditional systems engineering activities conducted in Concept and Configuration Development phases of Aeronautical Product Life Cycle have evolved for the design of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance mission, by applying Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) approach. This methodology will make easier the support to other phases of the process, like the Product Development. It has been considered the system modelling language (SysML) as reference model based language.The design process and the findings about the modelling and simulation that has been considered by Alenia Aermacchi are described in the paper.

Human-Automation Challenges for the Control of Unmanned Aerial Systems

The continuing proliferation in the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in both civil and military operations has presented a multitude of human factors challenges from how to bridge the gap between the demand and availability of trained operators, to how to organize and present data in meaningful ways. Underlying many of these challenges is the issue of how automation capabilities can best be utilized to assist human operators manage increasing complexity and workload. The purpose of this discussion panel is to examine current research and perspectives on human automation interaction and how it relates to the future of UAS control. The panel is composed of five well-known researchers, all experts in the area of human-automation interaction. The range of topics that the panelists will discuss includes: how automation taxonomies can be applied to UAS design; opportunities to exploit automation capabilities in multi-vehicle contexts; current examples of automation research results, particularly in the area...