AUTONOMOUS CONTROL THEORY

UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS (ACTUAS)

Fixed-Wing Drone & Quadcopter

INTRODUCTION

● ACTUAS’s goal is to design and assemble autonomous unmanned aerial

vehicles (UAVs) for specialized tasks involving surveying applications.

● The knowledge and experience gained would be shared to schools and

universities in the Pacific Islands.

MISSION STATEMENT

“To design and implement a fixed wing drone

and a quadcopter to survey the large Kauai

coffee plantation field .”

BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

● Determine the maximum number of trees that can be planted in Kauai Coffee

Co. (KCC)’s 3100 acre field.

● Verify if KCC has a total of 4 million trees planted.

● Compare growth rates of trees in the same area and other areas to determine if

the trees are growing healthy.

● Determine areas where trees are not growing at all despite being planted.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Source: http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/kauai

● Must be able to fly at least 30 minutes

continuously at an altitude that gives the most

efficient viewing without compromising the

quality of the pictures taken.

● Must follow the intended trajectory i.e. follow

a set of waypoints autonomously.

● Must have a max speed of less than 100 mph

(FAA reg).

● Must fly lower than 400 ft (FAA reg).

● Total weight cannot exceed 55 lbs (FAA reg).

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Source: https://www.impresspages.lt/view/15760/cheapest-fpv-o

sd-with-gps-distance.html

● On screen display (OSD) and first person view

(FPV) must display altitude, velocity and

battery voltage at all times.

● Must be able to capture “birds eye view”

perspective images.

● Must be capable of hand launched, and land in

designated landing area.

● Must be able to capture and process infrared

images of the target.

● Transmitter (FrSky Taranis)

● Flight Controller (PixHawk II 2.1)

PARTS LIST: Fixed-Wing Drone

● Battery (4S 10000mAh LiPo Battery)

● GPS (Here GNSS)

● Propellers, Motors, and Servos

● Airframe (My Twin Dream)

PARTS LIST: Quadcopter

● Battery (4S 6600mAh Lipo Battery)

● Remote Controller (Taranis QX7)

● Propellers, Motors, and Servos

● Flight Controller (PixHawk 2.1 Autopilot w/ GPS)

● Frame (Tarot IRON MAN 650)

FLIGHT DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS

● Obtain flight trajectory and required thrust to fly at a certain speed based on

aircraft parameters.

● Task: replicate results from JOA and JIRS papers by solving Flight Dynamic

ODEs numerically, then use aircraft parameters for the drone.○ Reason: apply complex conditions that include ones that would be impossible to solve

analytically.

FLIGHT SIMULATION RESULTSStable flight sim. params: CD=0.2, CL=1.0, As=0.088 m2

FLIGHT SIMULATION RESULTS

From JOA Paper From JIRS Paper

A = 0.1, a = 9.75

MISSION PLANNER➔ Will be using Pixhawk along with Mission

Planner to plan and execute the flight path.

➔ KCC Property divided into 20 sections

➔ Flight time for each section should be about 30-45 mins.

➔ Flight path plan for section #2 with mobile Home point and way points

➔ Expected to use a Red Edge camera

➔ Altitude - approx 120 m (based on camera specs)

➔ Flying speed - 15 m/s (based on camera specs)

➔ Expected to take total of approx 12,000 pictures https://www.micasense.com/rededge-m/

PID FEEDBACK CONTROL

NewBee Drone (TinyWhoop) Flight Test 270 Chase Quad

PID RangeP: 40-180I: 37-50D: 30-35

PID’s ManufacturerP: 50 50 180I: 40 40 45D: 14 18

PID’s TunedP: 80 100 180I: 37 37 45D: 35 35

Roll, Pitch, Yaw

PID’s ManufacturerP: 40 58 70I: 40 50 45D: 30 35

PID’s TunedP: 40 58 80I: 40 50 45D: 30 35

CONCLUSION

● Design and Assemble a Fixed Wing and Quadcopter with the purpose of land

surveillance for KCC.

● Must meet FAA regulations with a flight time of a minimum 30-45 minutes,

following waypoints, and capturing images.

● Move away from PID controls to a more robust control.

● Possibility of extension to outer islands including Guam, Marshall Islands, etc.

SPECIAL THANKS TO. . .

● Ms. Misti Moore - Manager, NASA MUREP MOO

● Dr. Corey Ippolito - Head of Exploration Aerial Vehicle Systems (EAV) Lab.

● Dr. Terence Pagaduan - NASA Ames Research Center Project Coord.

● Mr. Rod Chappell - NASA Langley - MUREP

● Dr. Linda Hayden - NASA MUREP MOO, Principal Investigator

● Mr. Iam Bouret - Advisor, ACTUAS

● Dr. Dilmurat Azimov - Advisor and Professor, Department of Mech. Eng.

● Mr. Evan Kawamura - Mentor, ACTUAS

● Ms. Melissa Onishi - Program Coordinator, HESTEMP