The aim of this project was to design and build a test-rig that is capable of analyzing small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAV) co-axial rotor systems. The intention of the test-rig development was to highlight important aeromechanical components and variables that dictate the co-axial units flight performance, with the intention of optimizing the propulsion systems for use on HALO a co-axial SUA...

Pose estimation is one of the most fundamental tasks in unmanned vehicles because many high level tasks depend directly on the vehicle localization. In this paper, an embedded pose estimation module based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is implemented in an autonomous vehicle with Network Controlled System (NCS) architecture. The implemented EKF fuses inexpensive sensor’s data in order to p...

This paper review methods and technologies that have been applied in aerial robotics. The paper presents several unmanned aerial vehicle platforms. Then summarizes different control techniques including both control architectures and control methods. Furthermore, computer vision techniques for aerial robotics are briefly considered. Finally, the paper presents systems and projects involving mul...

This paper covers a number of approaches that leverage Artificial Intelligence algorithms and techniques to aid Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) autonomy. An analysis of current approaches to autonomous control is provided followed by an exploration of how these techniques can be extended and enriched with AI techniques including Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Ensembling and Reinforceme...

This paper presents the development and implementation of techniques used to manage autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) performing 24/7 persistent surveillance operations. Using an indoor flight testbed, flight test results are provided to demonstrate the complex issues encountered by operators and mission managers when executing an extended persistent surveillance operation in realtime....

Team Oshkosh, composed of Oshkosh Corporation, Teledyne Scientific and Imaging Company, VisLab of the University of Parma, Ibeo Automotive Sensor GmbH, and Auburn University, participated in the DARPA Urban Challenge and was one of the 11 teams selected to compete in the final event. Through development, testing, and participation in the official events, we experimented and demonstrated autonom...

This paper describes a decision-theoretic approach to cooperative sensor planning between multiple autonomous vehicles executing a military mission. For this autonomous vehicle application, intelligent cooperative reasoning must be used to select optimal vehicle viewing locations and select optimal camera pan and tilt angles throughout the mission. Decisions are made in such a way as to maximiz...

We review the enabling theory for the decentralized and cooperative control of formations of unmanned, autonomous vehicles. The decentralized and cooperative formation control approach combines recent results from dynamical system theory, control theory, and algebraic graph theory. The stability of vehicle formations is discussed, and the applicability of the technology concept to a variety of ...

Command and Control (C2) has always been the practice of directing teams of autonomous units. These units have included individual soldiers, aircraft directed by a pilot, and ships maneuvered and fought by the combined intelligence of an entire crew. It is into this already populated universe that we are now working to add autonomous unmanned systems (AUS). In this paper, we explore the C2 of t...