Medium Altitude Long Research Articles

Design of the Wing of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV

Design of the Wing of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV

ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ КРУПНОРАЗМЕРНЫХ БПЛА ПРИ РЕШЕНИИ ЗАДАЧ КОМПЛЕКСНОГО ОБСЛЕДОВАНИЯ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ

The aim of the study is to estimate the MALE-class (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) UAV(Unmanned Air Vehicles) using possibility to solve the problem of regular aerial survey of hugeareas relative to other means used for this, such as: small-sized UAVs, satellite remote sensingand manned aircrafts. Considered is the issue of practical construction of onboard computer visionsystem based on a UAV “Orion” wit a ta eoff weig t of more t an a ton, w ic pro idesaerial photography in the visible and near infrared range and airborne laser scanning of the underlyingsurface with automatic processing of the received data on board in near real-time modedetecting the changes occurred since the previous survey. It has been determined the key componentsof the computer vision system both the hardware and software platform required highperformancecomputing and big-data storage. It has been presented a promising architecture,given estimates for its search performance, weight and power consumption, determined the typicalflight altitude, which provides the input data spatial resolution, which is necessary for objectorientedchange detection algorithms, based on a convolutional neural networks machine learning.It has been proposed organizational and technical solutions to speed up the data processingcycle, taking into account the requirements of the legislation regarding the declassification ofaerial survey data. The results obtained confirm that after the issuance of the Orion UAV by theFederal Air Transport Agency of the aircraft type certificate, which gives the right to performcommercial flights in the shared airspace of the Russian Federation, it will be possible to implementan aerial survey complex of high productivity and degree of autonomy using cut of the edgeCV & ML technologies. It seems the tactical, technical and economic capabilities of which proposedwill be orders of magnitude superior to the currently existing solutions especially for hardto-reach regions.

Research on integrated logistical support systems of medium altitude long endurance UAS

The Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS in modern warfare is becoming more and more widespread, which makes the UAS more and more frequently used in warfare. The equipment characteristics of UAS are embodied in the following aspects. The composition of UAS is complex, Ground Stations is distributed deployment, Mission payloads can flexibly change, and the whole system need highly cooperative ability between air and ground. That put forward higher requirements for integrated logistical support system of UAS. Aiming at the unique support characteristics of UAS, this paper constructs the integrated support system of UAS based on the integrated support system of traditional aircraft, which is mainly reflected at five aspects: support organization, support resources, support function, support process and support management. This systems can ensure the integration of all support links in the actual process of UAS support, and meet the operational and mission requirements of UAS to the maximum extent.

Novel Approach for Angles Calibration of Air-Data Systems with Inertial Measurements

The flow angles calibration of air-data systems is based on the availability of high-accuracy reference measurements of angle-of-attack and sideslip angles. Typically, these are obtained by auxiliary sensors directly providing the reference angles (e.g., nose-boom vanes) or by analytically reconstructing them using calibrated airspeed measurements and inertial data. This paper proposes a novel approach in which the reference data for the flow angles calibration are obtained by inertial measurements only. The methodology, aiming to lower the development costs of advanced aircrafts, is developed and validated with reference to the triple-probe air-data system of a Piaggio Aerospace Medium Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial System. Specific flight tests are carried out for the calibration process, by defining maneuvers that reduce flight time and facilitate the calibration itself. The technique is made of two steps: first, the aloft wind speed is estimated, and the angle-of-attack and sideslip angles are reconstructed; next, the reference data are used to define the calibration polynomials via least-mean squares approximation. The approach effectiveness is presented and discussed with reference to flight tests with three different configurations of flaps extension, by comparing the calibrated results with the data coming from high-accuracy nose-boom vanes.

Calculation and Analysis on Stealth and Aerodynamics Characteristics of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV

This paper seeks to calculate and analyze the stealth and aerodynamics characteristics of a medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV. Firstly, geometry model of the UAV was established according its technical parameters by three-dimensional modeling software. In terms of electromagnetics analysis, the physical optics (PO) and the method of equivalent currents (MEC) were used as the numerical computation method, and its feasibility was verified by experiment. The main radar scattering source, scattering characteristics, polarization characteristics and RCS level were analyzed by the computation of the main components and the whole UAV under the electromagnetic bound S (3GHz) and bound X (10GHz). In terms of fluid analysis, the finite volume method was used to solve Navier-Stokes equations and the Spalart-Allmaras (S-A) turbulence model was applied to simulate the turbulence. The aerodynamics characteristics of lift, drag and pitch in the cruise state were calculated. The final result shows: the aerodynamic layout of high aspect ratio and approximate straight wing has good aerodynamic performance of high lift-drag ratio. The high aerodynamic efficiency of UAV makes for investigation or carrying out other tactical assignment with long endurance; however, the aerodynamic layout has the disadvantage in the stealth performance. Big leading edge radius of the low-speed aero foil and low sweptback angle of wing (and empennage) has mirror reflection, which make up of the important scattering source in the front direction of UAV. Large radius of curvature surface and small angle plane of fuselage has high scattering level in the side direction of UAV. These results may help the stealth design and research of UAV.

UAS Integration into the NAS: An Examination of Baseline Compliance in the Current Airspace System

As a result of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are expected to be integrated into the National Airspace System (NAS) by 2015. Several human factors challenges need to be addressed before UAS can safely and routinely fly in the NAS with manned aircraft. Perhaps the most significant challenge is for the UAS to be non-disruptive to the air traffic management system. Another human factors challenge is how to provide UAS pilots with intuitive traffic information in order to support situation awareness (SA) of their airspace environment as well as a see-and-avoid capability comparable to manned aircraft so that a UAS pilot could safely maneuver the aircraft to maintain separation and collision avoidance if necessary. A simulation experiment was conducted to examine baseline compliance of UAS operations in the current airspace system. Researchers also examined the effects of introducing a Cockpit Situation Display (CSD) into a UAS Ground Control Station (GCS) on UAS pilot performance, workload and situation awareness while flying in a positively controlled sector. Pilots were tasked with conducting a highway patrol police mission with a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS in L.A. Center airspace with two mission objectives: 1) to reroute the UAS when issued new instructions from their commander, and 2) to communicate with Air Traffic Control (ATC) to negotiate flight plan changes and respond to vectoring and altitude change instructions. Objective aircraft separation data, workload ratings, SA data, and subjective ratings regarding UAS operations in the NAS were collected. Results indicate that UAS pilots were able to comply appropriately with ATC instructions. In addition, the introduction of the CSD improved pilot SA and reduced workload associated with UAS and ATC interactions.