The detailed system design ofa· smallexperimental autonomous helicopter is described. The system requires no ground-to-helicopter communications and hence all automation hardware is on-board the helicopter. All elements ofthe system are described including the control computer, the flight computer (the helicopter-to-control-computer interface), the sensors and the software. A number of critical...

This paper discusses an Unmanned Aviation Vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing system for unpaved road condition assessment. The reported work has been part of the project “Monitoring of Unpaved Road Condition using Remote Sensing and Other Technology”, sponsored by the US Department of Transportation. The system is based on a low cost model helicopter equipped with a GPS/IMU and a geomagnetic se...

For many motives in the filmand picture producing industry helicopters are used to capture spectacular image sequences. Using helicopters implicates a high organization effort and high cost for manpower and material. Further on, helicopters are not easily available at remote places. Motivated by these problems the goal of this Diploma Thesis is to develop a model helicopter based system for aut...

In this paper, an efficient Model Predictive Control (eMPC) algorithm deploying fewer prediction points and less computational requirement is presented in order to control a small or miniature unmanned quadrotor helicopter. A model reduction technique associated with the dynamics of an unmanned quadrotor helicopter is also put forward so as to minimize the burden of calculations in application ...

This paper will outline the technical challenges of dynamic interface modelling & simulation, with a specific example of the Joint Shipboard Helicopter Integration Process (JSHIP). This program, one of the most ambitious helicopter simulation programs undertaken to date, has helped both to understand the potential of rotorcraft simulation today, and to realize the limitations of technology. The...

This paper presents the design and implementation of an algorithm for landing a helicopter autonomously on a moving target. The target is neutral; it is neither adversarial nor cooperative. A downward-looking camera is used to acquire and track the target. A template matching algorithm is used for acquiring the target in the images. This is integrated with a trajectory controller for landing th...

We describe further progress towards the development of a MAV (micro aerial vehicle) designed as an enabling tool to investigate aerial flocking. Our research focuses on the use of low cost off the shelf vehicles and sensors to enable fast prototyping and to reduce development costs. Details on the design of the embedded electronics and the modification of the chosen toy helicopter are presente...

The price barrier for the implementation of UAVs commercially is substantial, limiting growth in this area. This paper presents results from a project aimed at developing light-weight and low-cost systems for the on-board control of a small scale commercially available helicopter, targeted at the low-end of the market. This would allow UAVs to be used by relatively untrained operators. The cont...

We present an overview of the autonomous helicopter project at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute. The goal of this project is to autonomously fly helicopters using computer vision closely integrated with other on-board sensors. We discuss a concrete example mission designed to demonstrate the viability of vision-based helicopter flight and specify the components necessary to accomplish this ...