Development of an unmanned aircraft for use as an autonomously controlled platform

Author

Derek Schmitz

Abstract

"This thesis covers the development, implementation, and validation of an unmanned aircraft (UA) for use at the University of Missouri-Rolla. The UA features an autonomous flight control system composed of three autopilots: a proportional roll hold controller, a hybrid velocity hold controller, and an altitude hold controller operated via a Linear Quadratic Regulator or a neural network trained from the optimal control solution. The project was successful in creating a platform capable of autonomous flight.

After a short introduction to the field ofUA, the components of the physical aircraft are covered followed by a discussion of the aircraft flight data sensors and their functionality. Next, the Onboard Data Acquisition (ODAC) System, the computer with input and output capability, is detailed. Preflight testing and validation of the Space Age Control Air Data Boom pitot static system and corresponding pressure transducers along with the air flow vanes are then described. Following the hardware descriptions, the four implemented autopilots and the theory behind them are detailed with flight data results from the autonomous autopilot runs presented last"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Balakrishnan, S. N.

Committee Member(s)

Venayagamoorthy, Ganesh K.
Pernicka, Hank

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Aerospace Engineering

Sponsor(s)

Missouri Space Grant Consortium
National Science Foundation (U.S.)

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

Fall 2006

Pagination

ix, 55 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 52-54)

Rights

© 2006 Derek Turner Schmitz, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Automatic pilot (Airplanes) -- DesignDrone aircraft -- Control systems -- Automatic controlDrone aircraft -- Design and constructionNeural computers

Thesis Number

T 9123

Print OCLC #

131035910

Recommended Citation

Schmitz, Derek, "Development of an unmanned aircraft for use as an autonomously controlled platform" (2006). Masters Theses. 5912.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/masters_theses/5912