Masaru Naruoka

System Identification of Small UAVs with MEMS-based Avionics

A new MEMS-based small, light, and cost-effective avionics is proposed in order to improve the current situation of system identification of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which mostly depends on difficult wind tunnel tests. The avionics is capable of gathering navigation, wind, and control input data accurately. Flight tests with a small UAV are conducted, and its longitudinal stability derivatives are obtained accurately using flight data obtained by the avionics and system identification techniques.

Application of Wavelet Transform to System Identification of Small UAVs Flight Characteristic

In this paper, a new system identification technique of flight characteristic of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is proposed. The proposed method is characterized by the use of time-frequency information provided by wavelet transform. The use of wavelet transform enhances robustness against undesirable condition on small UAVs flight, such as wind gust. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated using flight log obtained by special avionics in real flight of a small UAV. The target small UAV used for the validation and avionics are also introduced for completeness.

Flight Testing of a Wing-in-Propeller-Slipstream Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

A prototype tail-sitter mini unmanned aerial vehicle (SkyEyeV) was developed and tested in a wind tunnel and by remotely controlled flight. A tail-sitter is an aircraft that takes off and lands on its tail section with its fuselage pointing upward. The prototype is powered by twin electric motors, and has a 1.05 m wingspan and a takeoff weight of 2.4 kg. A key feature of the prototype is leading edge slats, which are designed to avoid stall during high angle of attack transitional flight. Through wind tunnel testing, the slats were confirmed to increase the stall angle of attack not only in a non-powered condition (without propeller) but also in a powered condition (wing in propeller slipstream). The remotely piloted flight tests verified the vehicles designed flight capability, transition and hovering, and several useful insights were obtained.

Research Activity on Unmanned Air Vehicles at the University of Tokyo

This paper will summarize recent research activities on small unmanned aerial vehicles at the University of Tokyo. The topics discussed are: fields of research, unmanned aerial vehicles currently used and under development, and avionics and ground control station software.