Eugene Bourakov

New Generation of Rapid Flight Test Prototyping System for small Unmanned Air Vehicles

This paper describes the development and application of a rapid prototyping system for flight testing of novel autonomous flight algorithms for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) at the Naval Postgraduate School. The system provides a small team with the ability to rapidly prototype new theoretical concepts and flight-test their performance in realistic mission scenarios. The original development was done using MATRIXX Xmath/SystemBuild environment almost a decade ago. Currently, the system has been converted to the Mathworks MATLAB/Simulink development environment. This paper describes the hardware and software tools developed for the system and briefly discusses the variety of projects including vision-based target tracking, 3D path following, SUAV control over the network and high-resolution imagery on the fly.

Exploiting a GSM Network for Precise Payload Delivery

This paper introduces the novel concept of using a GSM network for command of and communications with multiple aerial delivery systems. The research prototype of such a system, Snowflake-N, allows communicating with other network clients via a commercial Blackberry Curve 8310 handheld over a Bluetooth connection. A new architecture allows reassigning targets and sending other relevant commands (via web interface, by voice, data, or text messages) to an onboard autopilot, which is within a network reach, from any place in the world. Similarly, a current position of the descending system and target assignment can be viewed from any computer connected to the Internet worldwide using a standard Google Earth viewer. The networking capability also allows uplinking the latest weather data measured by a portable target weather station, being a part of a network as well, and therefore drastically improving an accuracy of a payload delivery. The paper extends the previous work by the authors and introduces the current state of the Snowflake-N development. It presents a C 2 concept for the aerial delivery systems, talks about communication protocols, presents the hardware set-up, components and results of recent drops. The paper ends with conclusions and recommendations for further development.

Mobile system for precise aero delivery with global reach network capability

This paper discusses the current status of the development of the mobile aerial delivery system to be further employed in a variety of different applications. High accuracy of the developed system enables its use in precision troop resupply, precise sensors placement, urban warfare reconnaissance and other similar operations. This paper overviews the overall system architecture and components of the developed aero delivery system itself and then proceeds with describing the current status of integrating it with an advanced deployment platform, unmanned aerial system, to achieve mobility and autonomy of operations. The paper also discusses some other systems in development pursuing similar goals and reviews some novel applications that become possible with the developed aerial delivery system.1

Exploring Network-Centric Information Architectures for Unmanned Systems Control and Data Dissemination

Abstract : The exploration and development of an information architecture for networked unmanned systems is described. The unmanned systems discussed utilize standard components for guidance and navigation, coupled with additional computing devices for interfacing with a network. These platforms in turn communicate with a broader network of devices, applications, and users via a variety of wireless network links. Networking a platform that is traditionally operated via serial control links and analog sensor downlinks provides two distinct advantages: (i) high-level control, or tasking, of the platform is easily extended from the single operator to any authorized user on the network; and (ii) sensor data and status information may be disseminated rapidly across the network to all interested recipients. The architecture developed through this exploration is applied in a prototype UAV which is utilized as both a high-resolution imaging platform and a wireless network relay. Testing and evaluation of the architecture occurs on an ongoing, quarterly basis through a cooperative field experiment program run by U.S. Special Operations Command and the Naval Postgraduate School.

Autonomous Aerial Payload Delivery System “Blizzard”

Abstract : This paper presents a self-contained aerial payload/sensor delivery system Blizzard and discusses its potential applications.

Development, System Integration and Flight Testing of a High-Resolution Imaging System for Small UAS

The development and flight testing of a high-resolution imaging system for small unmanned aircraft systems is described. The system utilizes an off-the-shelf camera coupled to an onboard computer and a wireless network to provide very high quality imagery from a very low cost platform with a simple web-based tasking and data retrieval interface. The project incorporates three primary developments: (i) control over a tactical wireless ad-hoc network, (ii) an advanced path-following flight control algorithm that couples the flight and camera control, and (iii) a remote control capability for the sensor. The camera is a dual use sensor, providing full frame/rate video as well as 12MP digital still images, and a gimbal provides a limited pointing capability. The path-following flight control system allows an untrained operator to scribble a path on a digital map, which becomes the ground-track for the sensor. The aircraft autonomously determines the optimal flight trajectory to keep the sensor footprint on this track. A robust wireless mesh network integrates the aircraft with the tactical network, offering control of autopilot and sensor functions from any other node on the network. The complete system is evaluated in the joint Cooperative Field Experiments conducted quarterly by U.S. Special Operations Command and the Naval Postgraduate School, where operators put the system to use in realistic scenarios.