M.Ing. / Linear control system theory is well developed and has lead to a number of control system types with well-defined design methods that can be applied to any linear system. Unfortunately, no system in nature is truly linear. As a result, such non-linear systems must be represented by a linear model that is accurate over some region of the operating states of the system. The success of linear control theory in commercial applications is testament to the fact that some types of systems can be adequately represented by a linear model. However, systems with time-varying dynamics or non-linearities such as input or operating state saturation cannot always be adequately controlled by linear control systems. For that reason, non-linear control techniques must be investigated. This project aims to investigate Non-linear Model Predictive Control theory and practical implementation in the context of developing an autopilot for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle based on a miniature helicopter. A non-linear model of the dynamics of an X-Cell Spectra G radio-controlled helicopter was developed based on the existing literature. A number of experiments were performed to determine the parameters of this model. Significant future work exists in designing additional ground experiments since certain parameters are difficult to measure safely in the laboratory. Additional work to improve the accuracy of the model at high airspeeds, as well as incorporating a more accurate yaw dynamics model, is also required. Following this, a Non-linear Model Predictive Control autopilot was simulated using MATLAB®. The simulation tested the effects of control system parameters such as control horizon and sampling period, as well as the sensor noise susceptibility and its ability to handle wind as a random disturbance. The results determined adequate control system parameters for level flight as well as landing the helicopter under ideal conditions. Simulations in which sensor noise and wind were added showed that the control system is significantly affected by sensor noise and that it cannot hover in the presence of wind. A real-time implementation was not achieved during this work; however, several directions for future research have been discussed.

The highly optimized performance of nature’s creations and biological assemblies has inspired the development of their engineered counter parts that can potentially outperform conventional systems. In particular, bat wings are populated with air flow hair receptors which feedback the information about airflow over their surfaces for enhanced stability and maneuverability during their flight. The hairs in the bat wing membrane play a role in the maneuverability tasks, especially during low-speed flight. The developments of artificial hair sensors (AHS) are inspired by biological hair cells in aerodynamic feedback control designs. Current mathematical models for hair receptors are limited by strict simplifying assumptions of creeping flow hair Reynolds number on AHS fluid-structure interaction (FSI), which may be violated for hair structures integrated on small-scaled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This study motivates by an outstanding need to understand the dynamic response of hair receptors in flow regimes relevant to bat-scaled UAVs. The dynamic response of the hair receptor within the creeping flow environment is investigated at distinct freestream velocities to extend the applicability of AHS to a wider range of low Reynolds number platforms. Therefore, a threedimensional FSI model coupled with a finite element model using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is developed for a hair-structure and multiple hair-structures in the airflow. The Navier-Stokes equations including continuity equation are solved numerically for the CFD model. The grid independence of the FSI solution is studied from the simulations of the hairstructure mesh and flow mesh around the hair sensor. To describe the dynamic response of the hair receptors, the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the hair receptors, computed from the finite element model, are compared with the excitation frequencies in vacuum. This model is described with both the boundary layer effects and effects of inertial forces due to fluid-structure xiv interaction of the hair receptors. For supporting the FSI model, the dynamic response of the hair receptor is also validated considering the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory including the steady and unsteady airflow.

L'objectif de ce travail de thèse est de concevoir des algorithmes de commande et de navigation pour le suivi des cibles dynamiques au sol en utilisant des véhicules aériens. Les quaternions, qui fournissent une alternative aux représentations classiques de la dynamique des véhicules aériens, ont été choisis comme une base pour développer des contrôleurs robustes et des algorithmes de navigation agile, en raison de leurs avantages tels que l'absence de singularités et discontinuités, et leur simplicité mathématique lors de la manipulation des rotations. Les approches de commande explorées à l'aide de quaternions dans cette thèse commencent par le retour d'état, la passivité, et des contrôleurs basés sur l'énergie, jusqu'à des modes glissants, et des approches de saturation en trois dimensions. Ensuite, des stratégies de navigation autonomes et semi-autonomes pour quadrirotors ont été explorées. Un algorithme a été développé pour le pilotage d'un quadrirotor en utilisant des gestes d'un utilisateur portant un bracelet. Afin de faciliter le fonctionnement des multi rotors dans des scénarios défavorables, une stratégie de déploiement agressive a été proposée ou un quadrirotor est lancé à la main avec ses moteurs éteints. Finalement, des techniques de navigation autonomes pour le suivi des cibles dynamiques ont été conçues. Un algorithme de génération de trajectoire basée sur des équations différentielles a été introduit pour le suivi d'un véhicule terrestre tout en décrivant des cercles. Enfin un algorithme de planification de chemin distribué a été développé pour une flottille de drones, afin de suivre de façon autonome des cibles au sol, en résolvant un problème d'optimisation en ligne. / The objective of this thesis work is to design control and navigation algorithms for tracking of dynamic ground targets using aerial vehicles. Quaternions, which provide an alternative to the classical representations of aerial vehicle dynamics, have been chosen as a basement to develop robust controllers and agile navigation algorithm, due to their advantages such as the absence of singularities and discontinuities and their mathematical simplicity when handling rotations. The quaternion-based control approaches explored in this thesis range from state feedback, passivity, and energy-based controllers, up to sliding modes, and three-dimensional saturation approaches. Then, autonomous and semi-autonomous navigation strategies for quadrotors were explored. An algorithm has been developed for controlling a quadrotor using gestures from a user wearing an armband. To facilitate the operation of multirotors in adverse scenarios, an aggressive deployment strategy has been proposed where a quadrotor is launched by hand With its motors turned off. Finally, autonomous navigation techniques for tracking dynamic targets have been designed. A trajectory generation algorithm based on differential equations has been introduced to track a land vehicle while describing circles. Finally a distributed path planning algorithm has been developed for a fleet of drones to autonomously track ground targets by solving an online optimization problem.

Recentemente, um crescente número de institutos de pesquisa pelo mundo tem focado seus estudos em veículos aéreos não tripulados (VANT ou, em inglês, UAV - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), que se revelam muito úteis tanto em aplicações militares quanto civis, pois suas principais vantagens são: a alta confiabilidade, baixo risco à vida, reduzido custo de implantação e manutenção. A pesquisa apresentada neste trabalho integra-se ao projeto BR-UAV em desenvolvimento na empresa Xmobots Sistemas Robóticos LTDA e no Laboratório de Veículos Não Tripulados (LVNT) da Escola Politécnica da USP. O projeto BR-UAV visa a contribuir para a inserção desta tecnologia no país e, para tanto, desenvolve atualmente a plataforma, aviônica e sistema de controle autônomo voltados ao objetivo de monitoramento no espectro visível e infravermelho. O principal requisito do projeto BR-UAV é o desenvolvimento de um sistema aéreo não tripulado capaz de voar dentro do espaço aéreo controlado. Esta pesquisa foca no desenvolvimento do software embarcado, assim este software deve ser desenvolvido de acordo com uma metodologia direcionada a homologação. Por isso, este trabalho propõe uma metodologia que foi baseada em cinco elementos: processo de desenvolvimento, normas, ferramentas de sistema operacional, ferramentas de aplicação e ferramentas matemáticas. Após o estabelecimento dos objetivos, de uma análise do estado da arte em sistemas aviônicos, e da metodologia de certificação, o processo de desenvolvimento foi inicializado. Na fase de engenharia de sistemas, os requisitos de sistema foram capturados. Então a arquitetura de sistema (hardware e software) foi modelada e analisada. A partir desta modelagem de sistema, os requisitos funcionais e temporais de software puderam ser capturados na etapa de análise da fase de engenharia de software. Na etapa de Implementação, o interior dos agentes foi codificado.Além disso, foi implementado o filtro de Kalman estendido para integrar informações de GPS, unidade de medição inercial e bússola. Na etapa de Testes, foram realizados testes de integração funcional e de desempenho computacional. Os resultados demonstraram que o sistema atendeu a todos os requisitos consumindo 38.3% de processamento. Finalmente, os próximos passos desta pesquisa são discutidos. / Recently, an increasing number of research institutes around the world has been focusing their efforts in the study of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which have proved to be very useful both in military and civil applications because of their major advantages: high reliability, reduced risk to life, reduced maintenance and implantation costs. The research presented in this work is part of the BR-UAV project, which is in development at XMobots Sistemas Robóticos LTDA and at the Laboratório de Veículos Não Tripulados of USP (Brazil). This project aims to contribute for the insertion of this technology in Brazil. Particularly, at the present stage, the project includes the development of the platform, avionics and autonomous control system for environment monitoring via visible and infrared spectrums. The main requirement of BR-UAV Project is the development of an unmanned aerial system that could flight in controlled airspace. This research is focused on the development of embedded software, and therefore this software should be developed according to a certification methodology. For this purpose, this work proposes a methodology that was based into five guidelines: development process, norms, operating system tools, application tools and mathematical tools. The development process was started after the statement of objectives and the analysis of the state of art on UAV avionics. In the systems engineering phase, system requirements were captured and then the system architecture (hardware and software) was modeled and analyzed. From the system modeling, the functional and temporal software requirements could be captured in the analysis stage of the software engineering phase. In the Implementation stage, the agents were coded as well as the Extended Kalman Filter for integrating information from GPS, inertial measurement unit and Compass sensors. In the Tests stage, integration tests were performed.The results showed that the system could fulfill requirements using 38.3% of processing consumption. Finally, the next steps of this research are discussed.

Correntes de retorno são fluxos estreitos e intensos posicionados normal ou obliquamente a linha de costa e são a chave para compreender os processos de troca de água entre a zona de surfe e a plataforma interna. O objetivo do presente estudo é avaliar a influência da morfologia e das forçantes externas nos processos de formação e manutenção das correntes de retorno na praia de Maresias (SP). Para tanto, foram integrados diversos métodos como imagens aéreas obtidas através de VANT, levantamentos topográficos e modelagem numérica. Os resultados indicam que a variação longitudinal da morfologia desempenha um papel fundamental na formação e manutenção das correntes de retorno, assim como os parâmetros de ondas incidentes. A porção leste e central da área de estudo se manteve estável quando comparada a porção oeste, em virtude de correntes de retorno controladas pela morfologia, que também intensificaram os processos de erosão e deposição na porção emersa do perfil praial. Já a porção oeste se mostrou mais suscetível a variações do parâmetros de ondas incidentes. Outro fator relevante observado foi o risco para banhistas; as correntes a leste da área de estudo representaram maior risco visto que o regime de saída foi predominante durante todo o experimento e os fluxos permaneceram estáveis por até 1 km. Os resultados mostram ainda que em se tratando dos padrões de correntes de retorno na praia de Maresias (SP), feições morfológicas geradas durante eventos extremos podem sobrepujar o efeito da variação dos parâmetros de ondas incidentes. / Rip currents are narrow and strong flows positioned normal or oblique to the coastline that represent the key to understand the processes of water exchange between the surf zone and the inner shelf. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the morphology and the external forces in the processes of rip currents formation and maintenance at Maresias beach (SP). Therefore, we combine various methods, sucha as AUV aerial images, topographic surveys and numerical modeling. The results show that the longitudinal variation of the morphology plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of rip currents, as well as the incoming wave parameters. The central and eastern part of the study area were more stable than the west part, due to the rip currents controlled by the bathymetry, which also intensify the processes of erosion and deposition in the beach profile. The western part was more susceptible to variations of the incoming wave parameters. Another relevant factor is related to beach safety; the currents in the central and east part are more dangerous, since they show an exit flow during all the experiment and the flow remained stable up to 1 km. The results also show that in the case of rip currents at Maresias beach (SP), morphological features generated during extreme events can overcome the effect of the incoming waves.

Crop improvement is necessary for food security as the global population is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050. Limitations in water resources and more frequent droughts and floods will make it increasingly difficult to manage agricultural resources and increase yields. Therefore, we must improve our ability to monitor agronomic research plots and use the information they provide to predict impacts of moisture stress on crop growth and yield. Towards this end, agronomists have used reductions in leaf expansion rates as a visible ‘plant-based’ indicator of moisture stress. Also, modeling researchers have developed crop models such as AquaCrop to enable quantification of the severity of moisture stress and its impacts on crop growth and yield. Finally, breeders are using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in field-based High-Throughput Phenotyping (HTP) to quickly screen large numbers of small agronomic research plots for traits indicative of drought and flood tolerance. Here we investigate whether soybean canopy cover and color time series from high-resolution UAS ortho-images can be collected with enough spatial and temporal resolution to accurately quantify and differentiate agronomic research plots, pinpoint the timing of the onset of moisture stress, and constrain crop models such as AquaCrop to more accurately simulate the timing and severity of moisture stress as well as its impacts on crop growth and yield. We find that canopy cover time series derived from multilayer UAS image ortho-mosaics can reliably differentiate agronomic research plots and pinpoint the timing of reductions in soybean canopy expansion rates to within a couple of days. This information can be used to constrain the timing of the onset of moisture stress in AquaCrop resulting in a more realistic simulation of moisture stress and a lower likelihood of underestimating moisture stress and overestimating yield. These capabilities will help agronomists, crop modelers, and breeders more quickly develop varieties tolerant to moisture stress and achieve food security.

Cette thèse, effectuée en partenariat entre la société Survey Copter, le laboratoire Hubert Curien et la Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), répond à des besoins tant militaires que civils dans le cadre de l’utilisation de drones à basse altitude. Dans un premier temps nous avons focalisé nos recherches sur la détection d’objets mobiles pour les mini-drones de surveillance destinés aux applications militaires, tels que ceux opérés par Survey Copter. Nous présentons d’abord la méthode que nous avons développé qui consiste en une comparaison entre un flot optique et le flot estimé, l’objectif étant de détecter les objets ayant un mouvement différent de celui correspondant à la scène dans sa globalité, et de maximiser la robustesse de cette détection vis-à-vis des problèmes induits par la parallaxe. Puis, nous décrivons le projet général dans lequel s’inscrit cette détection, en détaillant les choix technologiques et compromis qui ont été effectués, l’objectif étant de développer une carte électronique qui puisse être embarquée sur un drone et permettant d’apporter des fonctionnalités d’assistance aux opérateurs. Une seconde partie, réalisée en collaboration avec le Dr. Mubarak Shah, directeur du laboratoire CRCV en Floride, vise à apporter une solution au problème de sécurité qu’engendre le nombre grandissant de micro-drones de loisir évoluant dans l’espace aérien civil. La solution que nous proposons comporte deux étapes, premièrement elle utilise les informations cadastrales pour pré-calculer avant le décollage un plan de vol qui permet d’éviter les zones dangereuses comme les routes. La seconde étape intervient pendant le vol et permet d’adapter localement le plan de vol de façon à éviter le survol des objets mobiles tels que les voitures et piétons. Les résultats encourageants que nous avons obtenus grâce à notre méthode de détection d’objets mobiles ont conduit à une publication dans la conférence ISPA 2015, et notre contribution pour l’utilisation sécurisée de drones dans l’espace aérien civil va faire l’objet d’une soumission à la conférence ICRA 2017 / This thesis, in partnership between Survey Copter (a French company), theHubert Curien laboratory, and the DGA (a compnent of the FrenchMinistry of Defense), aims at providing solutions for low-altitude UAVs for both military and civil applications. We first focus on moving objects detection for military surveillance using mini-UAVs, such as Survey Copter’s products. Our method consists in comparing a dense optical flow with an estimated flow in order to isolate objects that are independently moving compared to the global scene. This method was developed to be robust to parallax which is an inherent problem of such platforms, parallax. In this thesis we also detail an on-going project that consists in the development of an embedded processing board able to provide all necessary functionalities to assist UAV operators in their mission. Given the recent popularity of consumer drones, we worked, with Dr. Mubarak Shah, Director of the CRCV laboratory in Florida, towards providing a solution to the security threat those vehicles represent for public safety. Our method consists in two steps. The first one is performed prior to takeoff by computing the safest path for the mission in order to avoid dangerous areas such as roads. The second is based on an in-flight adaptation process of the initial flight plan to avoid flying above some particular objects such as cars or pedestrians. The promising results obtained thaks to our moving objects detection method have led to a publication in ISPA 2015, and our contribution towards safe navigation of UAVs will be submitted in September to ICRA 2017

L'objectif de cette thèse est de définir puis d'étudier les performances de méthodes de guidage coopératif de véhicules aériens autonomes. L'intérêt du guidage coopératif est de confier une mission complexe à une flotte, plutôt qu'à un véhicule unique, afin de distribuer la charge de travail et d'améliorer les performances et la fiabilité. Les lois de guidage étudiées sont distribuées sur l'ensemble des véhicules afin d'une part, de répartir la charge de calcul et d'autre part, d'augmenter la fiabilité en éliminant la possibilité de perte de l'organe central de calcul de la commande.La première partie de la thèse porte sur les possibilités offertes par la règle des plus proches voisins. La loi de guidage développée consiste à ce que la commande de chaque véhicule soit élaborée en combinant les états des véhicules voisins. Afin de transmettre des consignes au groupe de véhicules, des objets dénommés agents virtuels sont introduits. Ceux-ci permettent de représenter des obstacles, d'indiquer une direction ou une cible au groupe de véhicules en utilisant des mécanismes déjà présent dans la loi de guidage.La seconde partie de la thèse porte sur les possibilités offertes par la commande prédictive. Ce type de commande consiste à employer un modèle du comportement du système afin de prédire les effets de la commande, et ainsi de déterminer celle qui minimise un critère de coût en respectant les contraintes du système. La loi de guidage développée emploi un critère de coût tenant compte et arbitrant entre les différents aspects de la mission (sécurité, progression de la mission, modération de la commande), et une procédure de recherche de la commande utilisant jeu prédéfinis de commandes candidates afin d'explorer l'espace de commande de manière efficace. Cette procédure, distincte des algorithmes d'optimisation habituels, génère une charge de calcul faible et constante, ne nécessite pas d'étape d'initialisation et est très peu sensible aux minima locaux. / The thesis objective is to define and study the performances of cooperative guidance methods of autonomous aerial vehicles. The interest of cooperative guidance is to entrust a complex mission to a fleet, instead of an isolated vehicle, to distribute the workload and improve performances and reliability. Studied guidance laws are distributed among all vehicles, on one hand to distribute the computation load, and on the other hand to remove the possibility to lose the centralized organ of command computation.The first part deals with the possibilities offered by the nearest neighbour rule. The developed guidance law consists in elaborating the command of each vehicle by combining the states of neighbour vehicles. To transmit instructions to the fleet of vehicles, objects denominated virtual agents are introduced. These allow figuring obstacles, indicating direction or target using existing mechanisms of the guidance law.The second part deals with the possibilities offered by model predictive control. This type of command consists in employing a behavioural model of the system to predict the control effects, and thus finding the one that minimises a cost criterion while respecting system's constraints. The developed guidance law uses a cost criterion that take into account and arbitrate between the several aspects of the mission (safety, mission evolution, control moderation), and a control search procedure based on a predefined set of candidate controls to explore the control space efficiently. This procedure, different from usual optimisation algorithms, generate a low and constant computation load, needs no initialisation step and is little sensitive to local minima.

O presente documento tem por objetivo apresentar a dissertação desenvolvida no Programa de Mestrado em Ciência da Computação e Matemática Computacional do ICMC/USP. A presente pesquisa busca avançar o estado da arte considerando um conceito chamado arquitetura base que integra Veículos Aéreos Não Tripulados (VANTs) com uma plataforma web, no contexto de arquitetura de software, determina uma arquitetura inicial que se adapta as exigências de cada área. Os estudos também avançam na apresentação de uma plataforma web integrando vários VANTs e agregando diferentes módulos com variações que satisfaça a necessidade para diferentes áreas de aplicações. Com frequência os VANTs são utilizados por inúmeras áreas, como agricultura, segurança, monitoramento ambiental, coleta de dados, cidades inteligentes, entre outras, seja para visualizar imagens, vídeos ou informações de voos e é de extrema importância que essas informações estejam além de acessível bem organizadas. Muitos trabalhos são encontrados na literatura sobre VANT, mas poucos tratam o problema de acesso a informações de voos. Neste trabalho é abordado uma arquitetura de software base para a comunicação e recuperação de informações de VANTs. Para isso, a arquitetura base propõem coletar e processar diferentes informações, ou seja como cada VANT tem suas semelhanças e compartilham estruturas comuns, neste cenário, explorando estas similaridades, é proposto esta arquitetura base. Para validar esta hipótese foi realizado um estudo de caso em duas fazendas com cultivos de mangas, com a finalidade de integrar o VANT, a estação base, a estação local e a estação web, podendo recuperar informações. A principal contribuição do trabalho é o auxílio no desenvolvimento da pesquisa na área de VANTs, além de ter também um ambiente que possa ser utilizado em larga escala por diversos pilotos de VANTs para armazenamento de dados dos voos, parte destes dados ficariam em domínio público e outra parte ficaria disponível apenas ao proprietário do VANT. / This paper aims to present the dissertation developed in the Masters Program in Computer Science and Computational Mathematics of the ICMC / USP. The present research seeks to advance state of the art considering a concept called base architecture that integrates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) with a platform in the context of software architecture determines an initial architecture that adapts the requirements of each area. The studies also advance in the presentation of a web platform integrating several UAVs and adding different modules with variations that satisfy the need for different areas of applications. Often the UAVs are used by numerous areas such as agriculture, security, environmental monitoring, data collection, smart cities, among others, whether to view images, videos or flight information and it is of the utmost importance that this information is beyond reach well organized. Many papers are found in the UAV literature, but few address the problem of access to flight information. In this work, a base software architecture for the communication and flight information of UAVs is addressed. For this, the base architecture proposes to collect and process different information, that is how each UAV has its similarities and share common structures, in this scenario, exploring these similarities, this base architecture is proposed. To validate this hypothesis, a case study was carried out on two farms with mango crops, in order to integrate the UAV, the base station, the local station and the web station, and can retrieve flight information. The main contribution of the work is the aid in the development of research in the area of UAVs, in addition to having an environment that can be used in large scale by several pilots of UAVs to store flight data, part of this data would be in the public domain and another part would be available only to the UAV owner.

This research investigated the Mission Specialist role in micro unmanned aerial systems (mUAS) and was informed by human-robot interaction (HRI) and technology findings, resulting in the design of an interface that increased the individual performance of 26 untrained CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) responders during two field studies, and yielded formative observations for HRI in mUAS. Findings from the HRI literature suggested a Mission Specialist requires a role-specific interface that shares visual common ground with the Pilot role and allows active control of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) payload camera. Current interaction technology prohibits this as responders view the same interface as the Pilot and give verbal directions for navigation and payload control. A review of interaction principles resulted in a synthesis of five design guidelines and a system architecture that were used to implement a Mission Specialist interface on an Apple iPad. The Shared Roles Model was used to model the mUAS human-robot team using three formal role descriptions synthesized from the literature (Flight Director, Pilot, and Mission Specialist). The Mission Specialist interface was evaluated through two separate field studies involving 26 CBRN experts who did not have mUAS experience. The studies consisted of 52 mission trials to surveil, evaluate, and capture imagery of a chemical train derailment incident staged at Disaster City. Results from the experimental study showed that when a Mission Specialist was able to actively control the UAV payload camera and verbally coordinate with the Pilot, greater role empowerment (confidence, comfort, and perceived best individual and team performance) was reported by a majority of participants for similar tasks; thus, a role-specific interface is preferred and should be used by untrained responders instead of viewing the same interface as the Pilot in mUAS. Formative observations made during this research suggested: i) establishing common ground in mUAS is both verbal and visual, ii) type of coordination (active or passive) preferred by the Mission Specialist is affected by command-level experience and perceived responsibility for the robot, and iii) a separate Pilot role is necessary regardless of preferred coordination type in mUAS. This research is of importance to HRI and CBRN researchers and practitioners, as well as those in the fields of robotics, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence, because it found that a human Pilot role is necessary for assistance and understanding, and that there are hidden dependencies in the human-robot team that affect Mission Specialist performance.