Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-63).

The aim of this thesis is to improve understanding of the effects of rotor-rotor interference on small scale rotor systems used on Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). Previous research on rotor-rotor interactions has focused primarily on planar co-axial and tandem rotors of large scale rotorcraft. The work presented is distinct from prior research not only in its consideration of non-planar rotor systems, but also because of the lower Reynolds numbers and the use of fixed-pitch variable-speed propulsion systems. A design for a novel adjustable rotor interaction test-rig is presented along with a methodology for acquiring accurate and repeatable steady state performance data for two interacting rotor systems. Two six-axis force balances are used to acquire instantaneous and time averaged force and torque data and PIV is used to derive instantaneous and time-averaged flow field data for single and interacting rotor cases. The resulting performance and flow field data represents a unique dataset that can be used in the analysis of small scale rotor interactions, and in the validation of CFD investigations. Results show that for disc angles of between 180 degrees and 90 degrees interactions between rotors are negligible. As the disc angle is reduced from the orthogonal case to the coaxial case interactions significantly effect thrust, pitching moment, and efficiency. It is recommended that in the design of non-planar multirotor vehicles disc angles greater than 75 degrees are utilised to avoid the strong rotor-rotor interactions seen at lower disc angles. A review of existing and future non-planar multirotor concepts shows that the majority avoid significant rotor interactions by virtue of large disc angles.

This writing discusses the topic of lateness - mortality and how it affects my creative practice regarding the themes of memory and thought, experience and perception, depression and suicide, and their connection to the progression of my artistic work leading to my MFA thesis performance. I refer to my own experiences with clinical depression, anxiety, and suicidal moments to contextualize not only my own work, but also to extend Edward Said’s definition of late style. Establishing an analogy for lateness with hourglass imagery, I begin with the definition of perpetual lateness or late style and cyclical existence within Said’s linear episodes. Within the paper, I explore the impact of repetitious thought on my own issues with verbal and written communication and my creative approaches. Amongst descriptions of artistic influence and process, I express an interest in expressive art therapies, mindfulness, and exploratory meditation through sound. Through redefining late style and timeliness, I associate my processes in sound art with repetition, emanation, separation, isolation and their influential origins. I use the discussion of the progression of my sound art to inform how I arrive at the concepts for my thesis performance of The Human Reliquary, including the construction of experimental wearable instrumentation, costuming, and exploring butoh styles of improvisational movements.

Orientador: Suely Cunha Amaro Mantovani / Resumo: Tem-se como proposta neste trabalho apresentar a montagem de um protótipo de um veículo aéreo não tripulado, visando seu controle de orientação em voo pairado, utilizando um algoritmo inteligente - Lógica nebulosa. Dos vários modelos para a construção destes veículos, optou-se por montar o tipo quadrirrotor (quatro motores) que é um dos modelos mais simples, composto por quatro hélices contrarrotoras que estabilizam o seu movimento. O controle embarcado em uma plataforma Arduino deve permitir a estabilização em torno dos eixos X, Y e Z, com o auxílio de sensores, acelerômetro e giroscópio triaxiais. A avaliação da eficiência do controlador nebuloso se obteve por meio de simulações realizadas no MATLAB/Simulink, cujos resultados indicam o seu correto funcionamento. / Mestre

The thesis proposes a 3D navigation and planning system for an autonomous remotely controlled quadcopter (drone). The solution uses the drone sensor data along with the data processed from the video camera image stream, without having any knowledge of its surroundings beforehand and without using any nav- igation signal (GPS). The video camera data are transformed into a sparse point- cloud representation, from it is created an occupancy map of the surrounding area with adaptive cell size. The planner can construct trajectory plans in the map, respecting the detected obstacles. The planned trajectory is executed by a simple drone controller. The proposed system includes a simulator which enables virtual execution of the whole process. The thesis composes originally independent and incompatible sub- systems into a single compactly working system. The functionality of the system is demonstrated on a few simple scenarios, one of which is the return of the drone to its starting location.

Drone racing has recently became a topic of interest in research especially with the increase of power of mobile processors. There are many approaches of localizing (perception), planning, and strategizing against an adversarial agent online, with varying degrees of computational complexity and success. This thesis presents a game theoretic approach to solve this problem in the context of drone racing. The game theory planner strategizes against an opponent by using the “iterated best response” learning method from game theory, to attempt to reach a Nash equilibrium, where neither players can improve their strategy. Furthermore, to complement the functionality of the game theory planner, a polynomial trajectory generation algorithm is used to generate a reference track. Lastly, a model predictive controller is used to execute the strategic path generated by the game theory planner. The game theory planner performed better than the pure MPC by holding the lead position significantly longer, even though it had lower maximum velocity. On the other hand, the pure MPC held the lead position for a shorter time when the roles were switched. Furthermore, the game theory planner also performed better against the policy improvement racer. However, the policy improvement racer fared better against the game theory planner compared to the pure MPC. Lastly, some intuitive competitive behaviors such as blocking and overtaking came naturally as a result of the algorithm.

Consumer drones have used both standards such as Wi-Fi as well as proprietary communication protocols, such as DJI's OcuSync. While these methods are well suited to certain flying scenarios, they are limited in range to around 4.3 miles. Government and military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) controlled through satellites allow for a global reach in a low-latency environment. To address the range issue of commercial UAVs, this thesis investigates using standardized cellular technologies for command and control of UAV systems. The thesis is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1 is the introduction to the thesis. Chapter 2 describes the equipment used as well as the test setup. This includes the drone used, the cellular module used, the microcontroller used, and a description of the software written to collect the data. Chapter 3 describes the data collection goals, as well as locations in the sky that were flown in order to gather experimental data. Finally, the results are presented in Chapter 4, which draws limited correlation between the collected data and flight readiness Chapter 5 wraps up the thesis with a conclusion and future areas for research are also presented.

Den här rapporten beskriver och behandlar resultatet av ett kandidatarbete som utfördes i kursen TDDD96:Kandidatprojekt i programvaruutveckling som ges vid Linköpings universitet. Namnet på projektet som har utförts är Drone Light Display och det beställdes av RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB. Den division av RISE som har lokaler på Linköpings universitet är inriktade på drönarforskning. Uppdraget blev därför att skapa en algoritm för att detektera och undvika kollision mellan drönare samt implementera ett omkringliggande system för att generera ljusshower med hjälp av drönare som flyger i formation. Projektet utfördes av sju tredjeårsstudenter som studerar till Civilingenjör i data- respektive mjukvaruteknik vid Linköpings universitet. Det resulterade i två användargränssnitt, ett för hantering av ljusshower och ett för statuskontroll av drönare, två servrar och en antikollisionsmodul. Antikollisionsmodulen körs som en separat process på varje drönare och är kompatibel med RISE:s egna styrsystem, Drone Safety Service. De båda servrarna tar emot en rad information från drönarna och sammanställer och skickar sedan ut denna till alla drönare och antikollisionsmodulen. På så sätt får antikollisionsmodulen tillgång till den information som behövs för att kunna ta informerade beslut så att drönarna kan undvika kollisioner. Avslutningsvis innehåller rapporten individuella bidrag från varje projektmedlem inom diverse ämnen som är kopplade till mjukvaruutveckling eller till projektet i allmänhet.

The number of out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCAs) that occur in Sweden every year is really high and there are very few survivors. When a cardiac arrest happens the heart loses its original rhythm and to find it again the heart needs to be shocked within minutes. There is on going research to see what can be done to improve the survival rate. Publicly accessible defibrillators are one thing that is being implemented. Another solution being considered right now is the possibility of delivering a defibrillator by a drone, especially to places that are difficult to be reached by the ambulance. A test flight with this kind of drone will take place in Stockholm, Sweden in June 2015 and the purpose of this thesis was to analyze where the most suitable place would be to start the drone from for a test flight. The area studied was Stockholm County and the data used contained Out of Hospital Cardiac arrest occurrences between the years of 2006 and 2013 including the time it took for the ambulance to arrive at the scene. The analysis was done with Multi Criteria Evaluation. Multi Criteria Evaluation is a power spatial analysis tool that considers multiple criteria in decision-making environments. With Multi Criteria Evaluation suitable places can be found by adding different data and weighing them according to their importance. In this study a raster with interpolated values was produced from ambulance arrival times and this was weighed against a raster created from the density of previous OHCA cases. Results showed that the best place for a drone like this would be the city center since that is where most OHCAs occur but also the northern parts of the archipelago because of the time it takes for the ambulance to get there.

To overcome some limitations of manual insect sampling in soybeans, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sampling platform was developed that could collect insects in a sweep net attached to the bottom of a UAV. Before this UAV sampling platform can be used to make management decisions, correlations with manual sweep net and/or drop cloth sampling methods are needed. This will allow action thresholds for the various pests to be calculated for the UAV sampling platform. To make the correlations, 87 soybean fields were sampled during 2020 and 2021 with each of 4 sampling methods, a UAV travelling 50-m, the same UAV travelling 25-m, 25 manual sweeps with sweep net, and a 1.5-row-m sample on a drop cloth. Data were compiled for 12 insect pests of soybeans in 5 families. Significant positive correlations between all sampling methods showed that all methods were useful for sampling all the insects of interest.