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In this paper, we present the design and implementation of the wireless camera component, communications, and control components for a gun-launched, transformable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The transformable UAV is designed to be able to detect standard targets. In addition, the transformable UAV can be converted from a gun-launched projectile transformed to a UAV, and bevisually guided to a target. The implementation and design of the system presented in this paper addresses four tasks. The first task is the investigation of wireless components, including transmitter, receiver, and antenna. The second task is system implementation, i.e., the design and integration of the wireless components with the UAV Control. The third task is the implementation of the wireless camera component through installation of the video camera on the UAV for display on a PC. The last task is the demonstration of the wireless link and camera components of the transformable UAV system.
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J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
DOI 10.1007/s10846-011-9614-0
Design and Implementation of Wireless Camera,
Communication, and Control Modules
for a Transformable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Tarek Sobh ·Khaled Elleithy ·Jeongkyu Lee ·
Ali El-Rashedy ·Jovin Joy ·Leon Manole
Received: 30 May 2011 / Accepted: 6 June 2011 / Published online: 24 August 2011
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Abstract In this paper, we present the design and
implementation of the wireless camera compo-
nent, communications, and control components
for a gun-launched, transformable Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The transformable UAV
is designed to be able to detect standard tar-
gets. In addition, the transformable UAV can be
converted from a gun-launched projectile trans-
formed to a UAV, and bevisually guided to a
target. The implementation and design of the sys-
tem presented in this paper addresses four tasks.
The first task is the investigation of wireless com-
ponents, including transmitter, receiver, and an-
tenna. The second task is system implementation,
i.e., the design and integration of the wireless com-
ponents with the UAV Control. The third task is
the implementation of the wireless camera com-
ponent through installation of the video camera
on the UAV for display on a PC. The last task is
the demonstration of the wireless link and camera
components of the transformable UAV system.
T. Sobh (
B
) · K. Elleithy · J. Lee ·
A. El-Rashedy · J. Joy
Department of Computer Science and Engineering,
University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT 06604, USA
e-mail: sobh@bridgeport.edu
L. Manole
ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806, USA
Keywords Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ·
Gun-launched projectile ·Stepper motor ·
Sensor board and base station gateway
1 Introduction
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems have
been used for a variety of applications. For exam-
ple, they can be used for surveillance purposes to
search targets or to assist in rescue missions. They
can be referred to as autonomous flight systems
as well [14]. The most popular UAV applica-
tions are for military use, such as object recog-
nition, dangerous area observation, maritime sur-
veillance, and mine removal [5, 6]. Many of these
applications are equipped with a vision system
that is composed of a micro camera and trans-
mitter. The captured image signals are relayed
and processed at the ground control system, with
control signals sent to the UAV.
In this paper, we present the complete details
of the design and implementation of the wire-
less camera, communications and control compo-
nents for a gun-launched, transformable UAV.
The transformable UAV is designed to be able
to detect standard targets. In addition, the trans-
formable UAV can be converted from a gun-
launched projectile and be visually guided to a
target.
402 J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
The first part of the project is the design and
implementation of the wireless camera compo-
nent for the transformable UAV. A transformable
UAV and typical UAV are similar from the fol-
lowing standpoints: (1) both are airborne objects,
(2) both use a wireless link to transfer captured
video in real-time, and (3) both have military
application. However, there are some advantages
to the wireless camera components of a trans-
formable UAV over a typical UAV:
The transformable UAV’s flying speed is
much faster than a typical UAV, i.e., over
150 mph, and,
The camera can be placed inside the trans-
formable UAV, whereas the UAV always
mounts the camera outside.
For these reasons, we chose to implement and test
a wireless camera component in a transformable
UAV.
In the second part, we present the design and
implementation of the wireless link and control
components for the gun-launched transformable
UAV. The transformable UAV is designed to be
able to detect standard targets. In addition, the
transformable UAV can be converted from a gun-
launched projectile and be visually guided to a
target. The goal of the second part of the project is
to be able to control the motion of that projectile
via wireless link. There are two components to
this part: (1) an electronic circuit to control the
two wings of the projectile, and (2) the software
to incorporate sending and receiving the control
signal from a base station to the projectile.
2 System Overview
Figure 1 illustrates an overview of the entire sys-
tem, which is expected to be implemented over
a period of 1.5–2 years. The system implemented
in this project consists of two main parts: (1) a
wireless camera component, and (2) wireless con-
trol components. As shown in Fig. 1,thetrans-
formable UAV sends a video signal after being
launched by a gun. A ground control system can
process the video signal, and send control signal
back to the UAV via wireless link.
In order to meet the requirements of the state-
ment of work (SOW) of the project, we identified
the following objectives for the wireless camera
component:
1. Investigate available options for the micro
wireless camera, wireless control devices, and
miniature power supply to be installed in the
transformable UAV.
2. Integrate micro wireless camera and control
devices with the transformable UAV and
stream captured video to the base station on
the ground.
3. Display the captured video in real-time on the
base station’s monitor on the ground and send
a control signal to the motors.
Fig. 1 Overview of
wireless transformable
UAV system
J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414 403
4. Demonstrate that the transformable UAV can
be controlled from the base station. The UAV
may be on a guided wire while the system is
being tested.
3 Wireless Camera Component
in Transformable UAV
The primary objective of this section is to demon-
strate the viability of mounting a wireless camera
component inside a transformable UAV and the
base station’s ability to receive and display cap-
tured video. To meet this objective, we developed
a wireless camera component for a transformable
UAV. Figure 2 illustrates an overview of the pro-
posed wireless camera component for the trans-
formable UAV. The system consists of two central
components: (1) the wireless camera mounted in
the transformable UAV, and (2) the base station
that receives and displays the video signal.
We installed an ultra compact, wireless camera
with a 9 V battery. We used a “dummy” projec-
tile, a cylinder-shaped mailing tube, as the trans-
formable UAV for demonstration purposes. The
prototype transformable UAV has been under
development at the University of Hartford, so we
will use the dummy projectile until the prototype
is completed. The camera was mounted inside the
cylinder, with a small hole created for the camera
lens. A base station was configured with a very
sensitive receiver (aided by an antenna) to receive
and display the video captured by the camera.
Since the output signal of this receiver was analog,
a video converter was used to produce a DV signal
for the base station. The DV signal is displayed
on specialized software located in the base station.
The software should be able to process video data
to generate the control signal for relay to small
motors. The videos captured in the base station
are stored for future development and study.
3.1 Specifications of Wireless Camera
Equipment
Table 1 shows a list of equipment that are used in
our preliminary test.
The CMDX-8S is an ultra compact, wireless,
color complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor
(CMOS) camera with 2.4 GHz operating fre-
quency. We selected this camera for its small size,
i.e., 0.7 × 0.8 × 0.7 ft, and extreme low operating
power requirement, i.e., 4.7 9 V. This makes
it useful in UAV systems. The image quality of
330 horizontal lines of resolution can transmit
up to 3,000 ft (0.6 mile) in open air with proper
equipment [7].
The VRX-24L is the most sensitive audio/video
receiver, including eight channels in a 2.40
2.5 GHz frequency range. The power supply for
the receiver is 9–12 V, with 300 mA. It has
an SMA-type antenna connector [7].
The ADVC-300 is used for converting ana-
log video signals to digital signals. The video
converter supports high-quality image enhancing
technology, including digital noise reduction and
Fig. 2 Overview of
wireless camera
component in a
transformable UAV
404 J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
Table 1 List of wireless
camera component
equipment in the hybrid
projectile
Name/part number Description Quantity Price
CMDX-8S Wireless micro-camera system 2 $720
VRX-24L Video receiver 1 $272
ADVC-300 DV converter 1 $500
>Analog to digital
Precision workstation Desktop 1 $1800
T5400 >Data storage (images and videos)
Thinkpad X300 Notebook computer 1 $2600
>Base station
image stabilization. In addition, since the con-
verter supports a wide range of DV and analog
video equipments, it is easy to configure the wire-
less video component in a transformable UAV
system [7].
A Thinkpad X300 and a Precision workstation
T5400 are configured as the base station and as
file server, respectively. Special software is devel-
oped and installed on the base station to process
and display the video. The generated video data
are stored at the workstation for management
purposes.
3.2 Integration of Wireless Camera
with Dummy Projectile
The equipment purchased for the wireless camera
component is integrated with the transformable
UAV based on the proposed system. Figure 2
illustrates the integrated wireless camera com-
ponent system. Since the transformable UAV is
still under development, we decided to mimic
the transformable UAV (i.e., dummy projectile)
using a cylinder-shaped, paper mailing tube, as
shown in Fig. 2. The dummy projectile is 10 ft
long with diameter of 2 ft, which is slightly larger
than an actual transformable UAV. We make a
small hole in the dummy projectile so that the
wireless camera can gain an outside view while it is
mounted inside the dummy projectile. In addition,
the dummy projectile has a 9 V battery inside and
a customized regulator to maintain battery power.
As shown in Fig. 2, the base station consists of
a laptop, a video receiver and a video converter.
Since the video converter (ADVC-300) supports
various types of connection, we selected the IEEE
1394 to connect it to the laptop. However, it could
be replaced by another interface, e.g., USB 2.0
video capture device (S-Video and RCA), to con-
nect using a USB port.
3.3 Control Interface for the Base Station
We developed control interface software for
the base station as a part of the wireless
camera component for the transformable UAV
project. The software was developed based on the
following components:
Operating System: Ubuntu Linux 8.10 (kernel
2.6.27-13), Tiny OS (controlling motor)
Development tool kit: kino and gtk+2.5
(GUI)
Other important libraries: OpenCV 1.0 (Im-
age processing), Libdv (Video processing)
A screenshot of the control interface software is
provided in Fig. 3.
The software consists of the following function-
alities:
1. Display module: the captured video can be
displayed to provide real time visual informa-
tion to a user.
2. Analysis module: the captured video is
processed to analyze the visual contents. In
this project, we implemented a very simple
video processing algorithm that determined
the most changed area from the image frame,
using a pixel-by-pixel comparison.
3. Control signal module: Based on the results
of the analysis module, we generated four
different control signals: (1) left turn on left
wheel, (2) right turn on left wheel, (3) left
turn on right wheel, and (4) right turn on right
wheel.
J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414 405
Fig. 3 Screenshot of control interface software
4 Design Overview of Control Component
In this section of the paper, we describe the design
of a circuit to control the motion of the projectile
using two stepper motors for two wings. Each
motor has two possible motions, right and left,
which means up and down for the ailerons part
of the wing, as shown in Fig. 4 [8]. The ailerons’
positions determine the direction of rotation for
any plane (Fig. 4). So, using two stepper motors,
we can control the motion of the plane. The step-
per motor that we used is very small in dimension;
the Diameter–Body is 15.01 mm, so it needs a
high torque to move it. Figure 5 shows the stepper
motor. To solve this problem, we used a special
kind of compatible, integrated circuit (IC), called
Fig. 4 Different ailerons
positions and airplane
motion [8]
406 J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
Fig. 5 The stepper motor used in the design [9]
H-Bridge IC “L293D”, for each motor. The inter-
nal connection for H-Bridge is shown in Fig. 6 [9].
We selected a stepper motor because it is an
electromechanical device that converts electrical
pulses into discrete mechanical movements. The
shaft or spindle of a stepper motor rotates in
discrete step increments when electrical command
pulses are applied to it in the proper sequence.
The motor’s rotation has several direct relation-
ships to these applied input pulses. The sequence
of the applied pulses is directly related to the
direction of the motor shaft’s rotation. The speed
of the motor shaft’s rotation is directly related to
the frequency of the input pulses and the length of
rotation is directly related to the number of input
pulses applied.
5 Design Optimization
To minimize the number of control lines for each
motor to two rather than four, we used an open col-
lector inverter “SN7404”, as shown in Fig. 7 [10].
The internal connection of the open collector in-
verter SN7404 is illustrated in Fig. 8 [11].
To control the stepper motor, we apply a volt-
age to each of the input lines in a certain sequence.
The sequence is shown in Table 2 [12]:
By applying the previous sequence in a periodic
manner, a stepper motor will rotate clockwise with
one step, which is 18
in the stepper motor that we
used. The rate of the rotation for the stepper mo-
tor depends on the rate of the input sequence. The
Fig. 6 Internal
connection of L293D IC
using four inputs
J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414 407
Fig. 7 Two control lines for each motor [10]
stepper motor can rotate in the opposite direction,
counterclockwise, by reversing the sequence of
the input signals to the input lines, as shown in
Table 3.
The main problem in this circuit is the need
for an additional open collector inverter since
the open collector outputs require pullup resis-
tors to perform correctly. These outputs can be
connected to other open-collector outputs to im-
plement “active-low wired-OR” or “active-high
wired-AND” functions. In our design, then, we
used an additional inverter to work as a pull-up
resistor for the first inverter.
6 Circuit Design
Using Eagle 5 printed circuit board design soft-
ware, we designed the circuit, as shown in Figs. 9
and 10. The input pins to the first motor should
be pin numbers 3 and 4, with pins 5 and 6 for the
second motor (Fig. 9). However, instead of pin 3,
we used pin number 23 because we found that
there is a conflict between the wireless link and
pin number 3. Consequently, pin number 3 is not
recommended for this design.
The schematic diagram was designed and, with
the help of Eagle software, used for the board
diagram, as illustrated in the previous figures. In
this particular circuit, we must use a connector
to join the derived motor circuit to the wireless
sensor. This connector should be a 51 pin female
connector, in order to be compatible with the
male connector in the wireless sensor [13]. The
connectors are shown in Fig. 11.
We contracted with the Imagineering, Inc
Company [14] to manufacture the designed
board according to our specifications. Design
specifications include the following requirements:
first, the circuit must be very small in dimension
408 J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
Fig. 8 Internal
connection of the SN7404
inverter [11]
(2 × 1.2 ft) to be compatible with the receiving
wireless IRIS device. Second, the 51 pin connec-
tor should be on the other side of the board, so
the connected ICs, designed circuit ICs and IRIS
ICs, are not positioned face to face. The designed
circuit is shown in Figs. 12 and 13.
A special kind of soldering machine was used
to solder the manufactured board. SmartHeat®,
shown in Fig. 14 [17], applies heat directly from
the heater to the joint. Metcal tip cartridges detect
the thermal load and instantly adjust the power
in order to deliver an accurate amount of heat
precisely where it is needed. If the tip cools while
transferring heat to a joint, SmartHeat® immedi-
ately responds by safely increasing the power to
maintain a constant tip temperature. As a result,
Table 2 Input sequence of stepper motor in clockwise
direction
Line 1 Line 2
01
11
10
00
operators are relieved of the responsibility to reg-
ulate the temperature, thus eliminating the risk of
thermal damage to the component or to the PCB.
SmartHeat® soldering systems are comprised of
three basic elements: a high frequency power sup-
ply, a tip cartridge and a hand-piece. The cartridge
contains the solder tip, a heater and the wire coil.
7 Wireless Link System
The second component of the project was com-
prised of the task to send a wireless signal from the
base station to the projectile in order to control it.
A wireless sensor device developed by Crossbow
Technology Company was used [16]. The wireless
Table 3 Input sequence of stepper motor in counterclock-
wise direction
Line 1 Line 2
00
10
11
01
J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414 409
Fig. 9 Schematic diagram
for the designed circuit
sensor network consists of three main parts, as
described in this section.
7.1 Wireless Module
The wireless module is called IRIS (Fig. 15). IRIS
is a 2.4 GHz Mote module that is used to en-
able low-power, wireless sensor networks. The
IRIS Mote features several new capabilities that
enhance the overall functionality of Crossbow’s
wireless sensor.
The IRIS wireless sensor device has many pre-
ferred features:
Outdoor line-of-sight tests have yielded
ranges as far as 500 m between nodes without
amplification.
An IEEE 802.15.4 compliant RF transceiver
2.4 to 2.48 GHz, a globally compatible ISM
band.
A direct sequence spread spectrum radio,
which is resistant to RF interference and pro-
vides inherent data security.
A 250 kbps data rate.
A wireless sensor network platform supported
by MoteWorks™ for reliable, ad-hoc mesh
networking.
IRIS is based on the open-source, TinyOS oper-
ating system, and provides reliable, ad-hoc mesh
networking, over-the-air programming capabili-
ties, cross-development tools, server middleware
for enterprise network integration, and client user
interface for analysis and configuration.
7.2 Sensor Board
The sensor boards, as shown in Fig. 16 [17],
combined with a wireless module, provide an
out-of-the-box wireless sensor network for rapid
410 J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
Fig. 10 Board diagram
for the designed circuit
prototyping, application development and de-
ployment. Sensing capabilities include: ambient
light, barometric pressure, GPS, magnetic field,
sound, photo-sensitive light, photo resistor, hu-
midity and temperature.
7.3 Base Station Gateway
A base station allows the aggregation of sensor
network data onto a PC or other computer plat-
form. Any IRIS Mote can function as a base
station when it is connected to a standard PC
Fig. 11 51 pin female and male connectors
interface or gateway board (Fig. 17). The gateway
provides a serial/USB interface for both program-
ming and data communications.
Fig. 12 The designed circuit prior to IC connection
J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414 411
Fig. 13 The designed circuit after connecting the prop-
er ICs
The NesC and Tinyos software were used to
program the IRIS device, one as a sender and one
as a receiver, using programming language, NesC
[18]. NesC is used as a programming language and
TinyOS as an environment under Linux.
The following steps were used to program the
IRIS device as a transmitter and receiver:
1. A software program for transmitter and re-
ceiver using TinyOS was created.
2. We connected the gateway to our computer
via USB.
Fig. 14 SmartHeat® soldering machine [15]
Fig. 15 Wireless sensor device, IRIS
3. IRIS connected to the gateway; IRIS then
functioned as a receiver.
4. Uploaded the developed software program
for the receiver to the IRIS device.
5. Disconnected the IRIS and connected it to the
designed circuit.
6. Connected the second IRIS device to the gate-
way; the second IRIS then functioned as a
transmitter.
7. Ran the transmitter software program on the
computer.
8. The transmitter sent a control signal to the
receiver via a wireless link.
Fig. 16 Sensor board
412 J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
Fig. 17 Gateway board
Fig. 18 Wireless link system
Figure 18 illustrates the complete system used in
our project.
8 Integration of All Components
To assess our proposed design for the hybrid
projectile, we performed two demonstrations:
(1) testing the wireless camera component, and
(2) testing the integrated component with a
dummy projectile. In this section, we present the
two demonstrations and their results.
8.1 Wireless Camera Component
The purpose of this demonstration was to verify
the specifications of the wireless camera compo-
nent in an outdoor environment. According to the
technology specification of the wireless camera
(CMDX-8S) and video receiver (VRX-24L), the
system should be able to transmit up to 3,000 ft
(0.6 mile) in open air with the proper equipment.
In order to test this specification, we tested the
integrated system outdoors as follows:
Location: Seaside Park, Bridgeport, Connecti-
cut
Car 1 (Blue): Base station, consisting of a
laptop, a video receiver, and a video converter
Car 2 (Red): Dummy projectile fitted with a
wireless camera and a 9 V battery
Seaside Park, Bridgeport, Connecticut was se-
lected for the test location since it provided an
open area, as viewed in Fig. 19.WeusedCar1
(Blue) to visualize the base station, while Car
2 (Red) was the dummy projectile. In order to
simulate a dummy projectile, Car 2 (Red) was
moving at a speed of 40 miles/h from the base
station. While Car 2 (Red) was moving, we cap-
tured an image every 0.1 mile, after the first
0.2 mile.
The captured images are displayed in Fig. 19.
As shown in the figure, the captured image
after 0.4 mile is not very clear. We realized
that the integrated wireless camera component
is only able to transmit a clear image at less
than 0.4 mile. Although we tested the system in
an open area, we concluded that the reachable
distance was shorter than the specification be-
cause, (1) the transmitter for the wireless cam-
era was hidden inside the dummy projectile, and
(2) the antenna for the video receiver was an
average-powered one. If we used a more powerful
antenna, such as an MT-24L, the distance cov-
ered could possibly be longer. We determined
that the distance limitation of the wireless cam-
era should be able to be resolved by integrating
the camera and its transmitter with a wireless
transceiver.
8.2 Integration of All Components
To assess our proposed wireless link and wireless
camera components of the transformable UAV
system, we performed a demonstration by in-
tegrating all implementations: (1) wireless link,
J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414 413
Fig. 19 Demonstration
set up at Seaside Park,
Bridgeport, CT and
images captured every
0.1 mile
(2) UAV control, and (3) wireless camera. We set
up the demonstration as follows:
Location: Wireless Mobile Laboratory, Uni-
versity of Bridgeport, Connecticut
Base Station: control software, displaying and
processing software
Wireless Component: transmitter, receiver,
and control motors
Dummy Projectile: wireless camera and
battery
Figure 20a shows the overall arrangement for the
demonstration, which included a base station,
dummy projectile with wireless camera, video
receiver/converter, wireless link transmitter/
receiver and motors.
Using the implemented system, we tested the
wireless link and wireless camera components of
the transformable UAV system, based on the fol-
lowing scenario:
1. A dummy projectile, hanging on a string, cap-
tured a video using a wireless camera mounted
inside the tube (see Fig. 20b).
2. A video signal was sent, using a transmitter
integrated with a camera.
3. In the base station, a video receiver received
the wireless video signal, and then sent the
signal to a PC via a video converter.
4. In the base station (PC), the software for
the video component displayed the captured
video, and processed it to generate a control
signal.
5. The generated control signal was transmit-
ted from the transmitter to receiver using the
wireless link component.
6. The transmitted control signal operated the
small motors.
Fig. 20 Setting up the integrated demonstration
414 J Intell Robot Syst (2012) 66:401–414
9 Concluding Remarks
For the first phase of the Gun-Launched Trans-
formable UAV project, the development team at
University of Bridgeport accomplished the follow-
ing goals:
1. Investigation of the wireless components,
transmitter, receiver and antenna.
2. Design and implementation of the UAV wire-
less and control units.
3. Design and integration of the wireless camera
components with UAV Control.
4. Installation of the video camera on the UAV
and display on the PC.
5. Demonstration of the hybrid projectile’s wire-
less camera components.
In addition, a prototype was built and successfully
tested. The prototype demonstrated the following
functions:
1. A wireless camera sends a signal to the base
station.
2. The base station sends a wireless signal to the
control circuitry of the motors installed in the
projectile.
3. The control circuitry advances the stepper
motors forward or backward to control the
wings of the projectile.
Acknowledgements This research has been supported by
a grant from the Armament Research, Development &
Engineering Center (ARDEC) through the Imperial Ma-
chine and Tool Company. ARDEC is an internationally
acknowledged hub for the advancement of armaments
technology and engineering innovation.
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18. http://www.tinyos.net
... And ATMmega128 is the main control chip to realize efficient and flexible motion control. Equipped with wireless WiFi control module and camera module [6][7][8], use NRF2401 to realize underwater video and image transmission [9]; Source code using real-time embedded system uC/OS-II management improve the efficiency of the real-time operational and code of the robotic fish [10]. Modules can be added and removed according to user requirements. ...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The paper presents a framework for cooperative fire detection by means of a fleet of heterogeneous UAVs. Computer vision techniques are used to detect and localize fires from infrared and visual images and other data provided by the cameras and other sensors on-board the UAVs. The paper deals with the techniques used to decrease the uncertainty in fire detection and increase the accuracy in fire localisation by means of the cooperation of the information provided by several UAVs. The presented methods have been developed in the COMETS multi-UAV project.
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are required to respond to a maritime emergency beacon, localise it, and then circle around it in an optimal configuration. Each UAV is able to measure bearing to the beacon but not its range. Novel guidance and control strategies based on cost function gradient search techniques are developed to achieve a continuous reduction in the estimate of the beacon location. Simulation studies reveal the localisation and circling behaviour achieved with the various cost functions, and a new minimum estimation error configuration is discovered. A direct cost function based on an 'area-of-uncertainty' metric achieved the best localisation considering flight and localisation time.
Article
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) offers the potential to view future battlespaces at low cost while increasing crew survivability. The purpose of the two simulation experiments was to examine crew performance in controlling the UAV and exploiting close and short-range targets for 12-hour shifts in both day and night conditions during 72-hour operational tempos. In the first experiment, four two-person crews each conducted three 8 to 10 hour missions. The data indicated no performance decrements over either mission length or mission day but did suggest possible problems with nocturnal operations. The second experiment investigated a single operator workstation configuration. The 16 operators evinced training problems but showed no significant effects for rotation schedule and day and night conditions. Analysis of simulated crashes indicated flight control problems related to training, split attention, and display size constraints.
Conference Paper
This paper presents a vision-based method to estimate the * real motion of a single camera from views of a planar patch. Projective techniques allow to estimate camera motion from pixel space apparent motion without explicit 3-D reconstruction. In addition, the paper will present the HELINSPEC project, the framework where the proposed method has been tested, and will detail some applications in external building inspection that make use of the proposed techniques.
Article
A critical limitation for the current use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is represented by the lack of aerial refueling capabilities. This paper describes the results of an effort on the modeling of the UAV aerial refueling problem and on the design of the docking control scheme. The control of the docking maneuver is based on a fuzzy sensor fusion strategy featuring GPS and Machine Vision (MV) data. The design for a smooth docking maneuver under the presence of wake effects is performed; desirable performances were achieved with LQR-based control laws for the docking of the UAV to the probe–drogue refueling system. Simulations of the proposed docking scheme are presented and discussed.
Research, development and civil application of an autonomous, unmanned helicopter
  • A Sato
A visual odometer without 3D reconstruction for aerial vehicles. Application to building inspection
  • F Caballero
Caballero, F., et al.: A visual odometer without 3D reconstruction for aerial vehicles. Application to building inspection. IEEE ICRA (2005)
Research, development and civil application of an autonomous, unmanned helicopter
  • A Sato
  • Yamaha
  • Co
  • Ltd
Sato, A.: Research, development and civil application of an autonomous, unmanned helicopter. Aeronautic Operations, YAMAHA MOTOR CO., LTD., Shizuoka, Japan (2000)