Simulation of an Automated Flight Test Safety System for Autonomous System Identification of Small UAVs

Peter R. Thomas, A.K. Cooke

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Testing of small unmanned aerial vehicles early in the design stages is desirable as development times become shorter and traditional modelling and testing techniques do not scale well. Flight testing unmanned vehicles poses several unique difficulties; one of these is the effect of low scale aerodynamics, particularly on unconventional configurations which can cause the unexpected loss of prototype designs undergoing typical system identification trials. The requirements of this system are to anticipate and recover from unstable behaviour which potentially expose prototype vehicles to risk of damage. The monitoring system works alongside the autonomous flight test capability to provide a rapid prototyping tool for low cost flight testing. Work is presented on a safety monitoring system which forms part of an autonomous flight testing capability being developed at Cranfield University. Low cost, commercial-off-the-shelf components and open source software, are used to develop a rapid prototyping flight test facility to support present and future research project. An overview of the facility is given, followed by the work on development, simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop testing of the autonomous system identification system.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of UAVs 2009, 24th International Conference on Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems
Subtitle of host publication30 March -1 April 2009, Bristol, UK.
Place of PublicationBristol
PublisherUniversity of Bristol
Pages35.1-35.6
ISBN (Print)978-1-61738-788-3
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Event24th International Conference on Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems 2009 - Bristol, United Kingdom
Duration: 30 Mar 20091 Apr 2009

Conference

Conference24th International Conference on Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems 2009
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityBristol
Period30/03/091/04/09

Keywords

  • Flight testing, UAV

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