Drones or UAVs are quickly becoming a bigger part of today's society. Delivery servicesand transportation are elds were big development is being done. For the UAVs to beable to perform its given tasks safely more and more sensors are implemented.This report covers the development and implementation of a sensor system to helpan UAV to keep a xed altitude and provide proximity measurements of the environ-ment to avoid obstacles. The system is build around the ATmega328P microprocessorand uses I2C to communicate with the sensors. Measurements are ltered and pub-lished into ROS where the autopilot can reach the measurements and make decisionsbased on the readings. Additionally, simple algorithms to avoid obstacles have beenimplemented and simulated in the simulation software Gazebo. The altitude controlsystem which has been the main focus of the project has been implemented with goodresults in both simulation and real ight tests. The system will be used in a competi-tion held in Arizona, USA where the project team together with two other project willcompete in the prestigious CPS-challenge.

Submitted by Diogo Barreiros (diogo.barreiros@ufba.br) on 2017-02-17T16:23:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 sistema_controle_ronivaldo_sampaio.pdf: 2329482 bytes, checksum: c5c8d047ffbbd7989e8d9a0e4a875469 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vanessa Reis (vanessa.jamile@ufba.br) on 2017-02-21T11:40:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 sistema_controle_ronivaldo_sampaio.pdf: 2329482 bytes, checksum: c5c8d047ffbbd7989e8d9a0e4a875469 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-21T11:40:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 sistema_controle_ronivaldo_sampaio.pdf: 2329482 bytes, checksum: c5c8d047ffbbd7989e8d9a0e4a875469 (MD5) / O conceito de aeronave não tripulada tem acompanhado quase toda a história da aviação. Os primeiros projetos na área militar consistiam em bombas ou alvos não tripulados. Hoje estas aeronaves já contam com vários sistemas inteligentes, principalmente na área de reconhecimento e navegação. Nos últimos anos, os UAVs têm desempenhado um papel importante em muitas outras aplicações não militares. Com a miniaturização dos componentes eletrônicos e o incremento do poder de processamento dos computadores, tornou-se possível o desenvolvimento e utilização de UAVs de baixo custo em diversas áreas, onde anteriormente apenas aeronaves tripuladas eram empregadas. Este trabalho visa o desenvolvimento de um sistema de controle para um UAV de baixo custo. O módulo principal do sistema desenvolvido é, basicamente, um sistema de controle que atua diretamente nas superfícies de controle da aeronave. Espera-se com este trabalho consolidar subsídios suficientes para o desenvolvimento físico de um UAV de pequeno porte e baixo custo, servindo como plataforma de estudo da área aeronáutica dentro da Universidade Federal da Bahia. Inicialmente, foi objeto de estudo um modelo matemático da dinâmica de vôo de uma aeronave para o projeto do sistema de controle. Este modelo encontra-se implementado em Matlab/Simulink, através da ferramenta FDC. Também, foram estudadas as perturbações possíveis que podem afetar a dinâmica da aeronave, como vento e turbulência. Posteriormente, foi desenvolvido o projeto para a estrutura do sistema de controle. Com esta estrutura, desenvolvem-se controladores locais lineares para posteriormente serem colocados numa arquitetura de Seleção de Ganhos Ponderados, utilizando Lógica Fuzzy. Todos os controladores desenvolvidos são testados em simulações do comportamento da aeronave face ao controle no Matlab.

Wireless communication today is a modern way to transport data from one location to another. One of the drawbacks of this feature is that a signal jammer can disrupt communications between the receiver and transmitter since the radio waves travel in the open air. This drawback can be exploited in both military and civilian applications. This thesis will aim on how to locate this kind of transmitting signal jammer over an open field using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that searches the designated area with the assumption of line of sight between the UAV and the transmitting jammer. Two different methods will be investigated with different techniques, antennas and flight patterns. / Trådlös kommunikation idag är den moderna tidens sätt att transportera data från en plats till en annan. En nackdel med det är att en störsändare kan förhindra kommunikation mellan den sändande och mottagande antennen. Denna nackdel kan utnyttjas både inom militära och civila tillämpningar. Detta examensarbete undersöker två metoder för att lokalisera en störsändare över ett öppet fält med hjälp av en drönare, då fri sikt råder mellan drönare och störsändare. Dessa två olika metoder är baserade på olika tekniker, antenner och flygmönster.

Denna rapport beskriver arbetet med en utökning av ett dialogsystem till en UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, obemannad flygande farkost). Arbetet är utfört i WITAS-projektet (Wallenberg laboratory for research on Information Technology and Autonomous Systems), ett projekt som har som mål att utveckla en helikopter som ska kunna verka autonomt i t.ex. en trafikmiljö. Syftet med dialogsystemet är att en operatör med talspråk ska kunna ge kommandon till och få information från helikoptern. Detta examensarbete har som mål att utöka dialogen till att bli multimodal, dvs. att även innefatta pekningar och rörelser med musen. Operatören ska alltså kunna peka ut platser och objekt i en karta för att komplettera ett talat kommando eller få data utritat i kartan som svar på en förfrågan.

In the work of the Control Engineering research group of the Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Signals and systems at Luleå University of Technology a need had arisen for a path planning algorithm. The ongoing research with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) had so far been done with any complicated paths being created manually with waypoints set by the uses. To remove this labourious part of the experimental process a path should be generated automatically by simply providing a program with the position of the UAV, the goal to which the user wants it to move, as well as information about the UAV's surroundings in the form of a 3D map.In addition to simply finding an available path through a  3D environment the path should also be adapted to the risks that the physical environment poses to a flying robot. This was achieved by adapting a previously developed algorithm, which did the simple path planning task well, by adding a penalty weight to areas near obstacles, pushing the generated path away from them.The planner was developed working with the OctoMap map system which represents the physical world by segmenting it into cubes of either open or occupied space. The open segments of these maps could then be used as vertices of a graph that the planning algorithm could traverse.The algorithm itself was written in C++ as a node of the Robot Operating System(ROS) software framework to allow it to smoothly interact with previously developed software used by the Control Engineering Robotics Group.The program was tested by simulations where the path planner ROS node was sent maps as well as UAV position and intended goal. These simulations provided valid paths, with the performance of the algorithm as well as the quality of the paths being evaluated for varying configurations of the planners parameters.The planner works well in simulation and is deemed ready for use in practical experiments.

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a critical nearshore marine habitat for juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) as they depart from their natal streams. Given the poor marine survival of Coho (O. kisutch) and Chinook (O. tshawytscha) salmon juveniles in recent decades, it is hypothesized that deteriorating eelgrass habitats could contribute to their low survival. The primary goal of this research was to investigate the possible long-term spatial-temporal trends in eelgrass habitat in the Salish Sea and was addressed by two main objectives: (1) Define a methodology for mapping eelgrass habitats using UAV imagery to create a baseline for long-term mapping; and (2) Assess changes in eelgrass area coverage and fragmentation over the period of 1932-2016 using historic aerial photographs and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery, and assess the relationship between eelgrass and residential housing density and shoreline activities. Three study sites in the Southern Gulf Islands of the Salish Sea were chosen for analysis. The overall accuracies of eelgrass delineation from UAV imagery were 95.3%, 88.9%, and 90.1% for Village Bay, Horton Bay, and Lyall Harbour, respectively. The UAV method was found to be highly effective for this size of study site, however results were impacted by the environmental conditions at the time of acquisition, namely: sun angle, tidal height, cloud cover, water clarity, and wind speed. The results from the first objective were incorporated into a long-term dataset of historic aerial photography and used to evaluate changes in eelgrass area and fragmentation. All three eelgrass meadows showed a deteriorating trend in eelgrass condition. On average, eelgrass area coverage decreases by 41% while meadow complexity as indicated by the shape index increases by 76%. Shoreline activities (boats, docks, log booms, and shoreline armouring) and residential housing density increased markedly at all sites over the study period. By using a linear correlation model, it was revealed that eelgrass areal coverage and fragmentation (Shape Index) were, in general, very strongly correlated to these landscape-level coastal environmental indicators. While this correlation model is not meant to show a direct causative impact on eelgrass at these sites, these results suggest an overall deterioration of coastal environmental health in the Salish Sea due to a dramatic increase in the use of the coastal zone, as well as likely declines in water quality due to urbanization. / Graduate

El objetivo general del presente trabajo es el diseño y construcción de un vehículo aéreo no tripulado (UAV, por sus siglas en inglés) que sea capaz de mantener su horizontalidad en forma autónoma, es decir sin necesidad de la intervención de un piloto humano; utilizando para ello sistemas de control embebido que incorporen como referencia la presión atmosférica y el diferencial de temperatura entre la atmósfera y la superficie de la tierra. Para dichos efectos, se diseñará y construirá un aeroplano estable, fácil de volar y con capacidad de transportar la electrónica y sensores necesarios; y se implementará un sistema de sensores e instrumentación apropiados para el vehículo y sistema de control electrónico. Actualmente, el costo de operación de un UAV comercial es muy elevado y requiere de personal altamente capacitado para una adecuada manipulación y mantenimiento. La compleja electrónica y programación limitan sus usos de manera importante, incluso para misiones sencillas. Este proyecto busca desarrollar una plataforma funcional, confiable, sencilla de operar y que permita la incorporación de nuevos sensores o dispositivos para realizar trabajos futuros. La naturaleza del proyecto despierta la curiosidad de los estudiantes y brinda la oportunidad de promover la carrera y motivar áreas no explotadas en la Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas de la Universidad de Chile. El proyecto se divide en tres grandes etapas: diseño y construcción del aeroplano, el diseño y construcción de la electrónica de automatización y finalmente, la integración de la electrónica y el aeroplano. Para ello se realizó un estudio de los sensores que actualmente son utilizados para alimentar al controlador con las distintas variables que permiten manipular al UAV. También se estudiaron las plataformas aéreas existentes y sus configuraciones aerodinámicas dependiendo del uso al que están destinadas. De esta forma fue posible identificar los sensores y la plataforma aérea necesaria para cumplir los objetivos planteados. Los objetivos planteados para el prototipo del aeroplano derivaron en un “ala alta” de envergadura cercana a los 3[m] en configuración pusher. La planta propulsora elegida es un motor a explosión de 30[cc]. Los materiales utilizados en la construcción son básicamente fibra de vidrio, poliestireno expandido y madera de balsa. Los sensores incorporados en la electrónica de automatización son: termocuplas infrarrojas para el control de la estabilización horizontal; GPS para la localización en el espacio; sensor de presión absoluta para determinar la altura de vuelo; y un sensor de presión diferencial para la velocidad de vuelo. El microcontrolador utilizado es un PIC24FJ128GA006 de gama media/alta. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que un estudiante puede diseñar y construir un UAV en la Facultad. El aeroplano mostró ser una plataforma estable, robusta y fácil de controlar. La electrónica probó que no es necesario contar con presupuesto ilimitado para obtener datos que permitan implementar un controlador para un UAV. Se destaca que el trabajo de Memoria involucró todos los aspectos básicos de un proyecto de ingeniería, desde la conceptualización hasta la implementación del UAV. Dentro de la electrónica existen ciertos elementos que deben ser mejorados con el fin de obtener un vuelo 100% autónomo. Para trabajos futuros se deja entonces a disposición del estudiantado una plataforma de desarrollo de sistemas de control y posicionamiento.

I detta examensarbetesprojekt genomfördes en flygkartering över deponiområdet Stomsjö i Värnamo kommun, mha. en drönare, eller den i detta sammanhang mer använda benämningen UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). Värnamo kommuns tekniska avdelning var i behov av beräkning av massor vid deponin, ett område på ca 15 hektar samt modellering av densamma. Den låga kostnaden för inköp av UAV och programvara motiverade kommunen att driva egen verksamhet jämfört med att köpa tjänsterna från konsulter. Projektets syfte är att utveckla en effektiv arbetsmetod för kartering i 2D och 3D med UAV samt att dokumentera arbetsgång och hur den geografiska informationen ska kvalitetssäkras och testas. Flygningen är den första och denna rapport ska utgöra ett underlag för kommande flygningar inom kommunen. Insamling av geografisk information utfördes med quadrokoptern DJI Phantom 4 från fyra olika flyghöjder 50, 75, 100 och 120 meter. Fyra 3D-modeller, ortofoton och digitala höjdmodeller (DEM) har tagits fram i programvaran Agisoft. Sammanlagt mättes 6 markstöd in över området samt en kontrollruta (5x5 punkter) på en hårdgjord asfaltsyta. Utifrån kontrollrutan gjordes en jämförelse mellan inmätta GPS-punkters höjdvärden mot rastervärden från respektive höjdmodell. Vid samtliga flygningar erhålls en upplösning (GSD) på mindre än 3 cm/pix i ortofoto. Upplösningen för samtliga höjdmodeller var mindre än 6 cm/pix. Lantmäteriet har under år 2015 genomfört flygfotografering på 2 500 m höjd över området. En jämförelse mellan Lantmäteriets höjddata mot höjddata genererad från UAV-flygfotograferingen gjordes genom en slumpmässig spridning av punkter på hårdgjorda ytor. Resultaten visar att 100 meters flygningen bäst överensstämmer mot Lantmäteriets data. Volym- och areaberäkning gjordes för den södra deponin. Det avgränsade områdets areal är ca 34 300 m2 och volymen 290 000 m3. / In this project the area Stomsjö in Värnamo municipality was mapped using a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Since 1972 Stomsjö landfill is a part of the municipality. The municipality´s technical department needed a calculation and modelling of mass in a landfill, comprising an area of 15hectares. The purpose of the project is to develop an effective mapping method in 2D and 3D with UAV data, and to document the process to ensure geographical information quality. The flight performed in the study constitutes a basis for further upcoming flights within the municipality. The acquisition of geographical data was made at four different altitudes 50, 75, 100 and 120 meters using a DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter. Four 3D models, orthophotos and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) were created with the software Agisoft PhotoScan. A total of 6 Ground Control Points (GCP) and a control surface on asphalt (5x5 points) were used for evaluation of the models accuracy. A comparison between measured GPS points and raster values from each flight were made on a control surface. The resolution for each generated orthophoto was less than 3 cm/pix. The resolution of the DEMs was less than 6 cm/pix. Lantmäteriet (The Swedish Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authority) conducted aerial photograph acquisition at 2 500 m altitude over the area in 2015. A comparison between altitude data from Lantmäteriet and altitude data from UAV was made through random points generation. The acquisition at 100 meters altitude showed the lowest deviation forms the data derived by Lantmäteriet. Volume and area measurements were performed at the southern part of the landfill. The selected area is about 34 300 m2 in size and the volume amounts to 290 000 m3.

Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Dale E. Schinstock / The goal of this research is to develop methods and tools for generating flight plans for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A method of generating flight plans is needed to describe data collection missions, such as taking aerial photographs. The flight plans are two-dimensional and exist in a plane a fixed distance above the Earth. Since the flight areas are typically small, the Earth's curvature is not accounted for in flight plan generation. Designed to completely cover a specified field area, the plans consist of a series of line and arc segments and are described in a format that is recognized by the Piccolo autopilot used by the Kansas State University Autonomous Vehicle Systems (AVS) Lab. Grids are designed to cover the field area, and turn maneuvers are designed to ensure efficient flight plans. The flight plan generation process is broken into several parts. Once a field area is defined, path lines covering this area are calculated. Optimal turn maneuvers are calculated to smoothly connect the path lines in a continuous flight plan. Two methods of determining path line order are discussed. One method flies the lines in the order that they are arranged spatially; the other method decides line order by calculating the shortest turn maneuver to another path line. After the flight plan is generated, a text file is created in a format that is readable for the autopilot. In order to easily generate flight plans, a graphical user interface (GUI) has been created. This GUI allows a user to easily generate a flight plan without modifying any code. The flight plan generation software is used to build example flight plans for this thesis. These flight plans were flown with an UAV and test results are presented.

Increasing demands in areas such as security, surveillance, search and rescue, and communication, has promoted the research and development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as such technologies can replace manned flights in dangerous or unfavorable conditions. Lighter-than-air UAVs such as blimps can carry higher payloads and can stay longer in the air compared to typical heavier-than-air UAVs such as aeroplanes or quadrotors. One purpose of this thesis is to develop a sensor suite basis for estimating the position and orientation of a blimp UAV in development with respect to a reference point for safer landing procedures using minimal on-board sensors. While the existing low-cost sensor package, including inertial measurement unit (IMU) and Global Navigation System (GPS) module, could be sufficient to estimate the pose of the blimp to a certain extent, the GPS module is not as precise in the short term, especially for altitude. The proposed system combines GPS and inertial data with information from a grounded infrared (IR) camera. Image frames are processed to identify three IR LEDs located on the UAV and each LED coordinate is estimated using a Perspective-n-Point (PnP) algorithm. Then the results from the PnP algorithm are fused with the GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope measurements using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to get a more accurate estimate of the position and the orientation. Tests were conducted on a simulated blimp using the experimental avionics.