The research shows a novel approach for the Magnetic Anomaly Differentiation and Localization Algorithm, which simultaneously localizes multiple magnetic anomalies with weak total field signatures (tens of nT). In particular, it focuses on the case where there are two homogeneous targets with known magnetic moments. This was done by analyzing the magnetic signals and adapting Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and Simulated Annealing (SA) to solve the problem statement. The results show the groundwork for using a combination of fastICA and SA to give localization errors of 3 meters or less per target in simulation and achieved a 58% success rate. Experimental results experienced additional errors due to the effects of magnetic background, unknown magnetic moments, and navigation error. While one target was localized within 3 meters, only the latest experimental run showed the second target approaching the localization specification. This highlighted the need for higher signal-to-noise ratio and equipment with better navigational accuracy. The data analysis was used to provide recommendations on the needed equipment to minimize observed errors and improve algorithm success. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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The Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) is an emerging SAE standard for messaging between and within unmanned systems, enhancing interoperability, code reusability, and modularity. To date, most JAUS implementations have been produced by developers in the JAUS Working Group, who have an intimate understanding of the intent of the specification. As a result, the standards documents produced by the Working Group sometimes omit key implementation assumptions the developers had in mind. The work described in this thesis is intended to provide objective feedback from the viewpoint of a developer who began implementing JAUS independent of the standards committee and is now embedded in the Experimentation Task Group. This paper presents the lessons learned through this journey, from development of the first-ever JAUS software development toolkit for the LabVIEW programming language, through participation in Experimentation Task Group interoperability exercises 2.75 and 3.0, and to the establishment of the first internet-based testing environment for JAUS. The results of this experience are presented as a collection of recommendations to the standards committee, organized in a series of diverse implementation case studies. / Master of Science

Differential corrections provide a method to improve the real-time accuracy and precision of GPS, but there are several sources of differential corrections and each have an associated accuracy and precision. In dynamic applications, the speed and heading of the rover may also have an effect on the accuracy and precision reported by the GPS receiver. These factors may have more of an effect on one differential correction method than another. An experiment was designed to test the differential correction methods under dynamic conditions. No corrections, OmniStar HP corrections, and RT2 corrections from a local base station were tested at several speeds and headings. The experiment was designed to determine what relationship, if any, exists between these factors and positional accuracy and precision of the differential correction sources. The results of the experiment will help designers choose the most effective solution for their positioning needs. The experiment showed that local RT2 corrections offered the most precision under dynamic conditions. The precision of OmniStar HP was close to that of RT2 corrections. The system with no corrections was the least precise of the three tested. The speed and direction of the vehicle were not observed to have a significant affect on the precision of the systems tested. The type of differential corrections used was not seen to have any influence on relative accuracy. The speed and direction of the vehicle did have an influence on the relative accuracy of the systems. / Master of Science

We present a new trajectory generation algorithm for autonomous guidance and control of unmanned vehicles from a given starting point to a given target location. We build and update incomplete a priori maps of the operating environment in real time using onboard sensors and compute level sets on the map reflecting the minimal cost of traversal from the current vehicle location to the goal. We convert the trajectory generation problem into a finite-time-horizon optimal control problem using the computed level sets as terminal costs in a receding horizon framework and transform it into a simpler nonlinear programming problem by discretization of the candidate control and state histories. We ensure feasibility of the generated trajectories by constraining the solution of the optimization problem using a simplified vehicle model. We provide strong performance guarantees by checking for stability of the algorithm through the test of matching conditions at the end of each iteration. The algorithm thus explicitly incorporates the vehicle dynamics and constraints and generates trajectories realizable by the vehicle in the field. Successful preliminary field demonstrations and complete simulation results for a marine unmanned surface vehicle demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach for fast operations in poorly characterized riverine environments. / Master of Science

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Unmanned vehicles (UVs) are expected to be an integral part of the U.S. Navy's expeditionary and carrier strike groups and are quickly being integrated into maritime operations. Command and control issues must be resolved, however, in order to utilize unmanned systems as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets. The purpose of this research was to assess the current doctrine of mission tasking with respect to tactical unmanned vehicles (UVs) and determine a method for effectively tasking these systems. The problem was analyzed by applying the factors of METT-T: mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops and support available, and time available to UV-enabled maritime missions. The analysis identified specific implications for unmanned vehicles and emphasized important considerations for tasking and allocating UVs. METT-T analyses generally result in courses of action, however, tasking is a command and control issue, and therefore, four organizational structures emerge for tasking UVs A significant finding of this study is that the current doctrinal framework of the composite warfare commander's concept can support tasking unmanned vehicles, but requires revision to effectively address UV allocation issues. / Ensign, United States Navy

Os veículos submarinos não tripulados tem uma importância crescente devido à sua flexibilidade e baixo custo. Devido à sua complexidade intrínseca, eles requerem diversas competências diferentes para serem desenvolvidos e permitem realizar pesquisas em vários campos do conhecimento. No contexto de uma universidade, que possui pessoal heterogêneo e de alta rotatividade, faz-se mister adotar uma organização que permita que os esforços de cada aluno possam ser reusados pelos outros, de modo as atividades de pesquisa possam avançar com pouca perda de tempo e retrabalho. Tal necessidade pode ser respondida pela aplicação de conceitos da engenharia de sistemas, tais como modularidade, separação formal entre soluções tecnológicas e necessidades, classificação funcional, critérios para escolha do método de desenvolvimento, uso de referencial normativo técnico, plano tecnológico, integração, verificação e validação e gerenciamento de configurações. Este trabalho se limita a desenvolver uma arquitetura de controle, observando os conceitos de engenharia de sistemas, aplicada a um AUV. É feita uma comparação com outras arquiteturas similares do estado da arte e mostram-se resultados de testes em piscina para esta arquitetura. É mostrado também que foi possível estabelecer a continuidade do desenvolvimento por outros alunos, validando a utilidade da metodologia. Conclui-se que, para aumentar a eficiência da pesquisa universitária, é necessário observar aspectos gerenciais e institucionais além dos aspectos técnicos ao conceber soluções técnicas. / The unmanned underwater vehicles have a growing position due to their flexibility and low cost. Due to their inherent complexity, they require many different skills to be developed and they allow conducting research in various fields of knowledge. In the context of a university, which has heterogeneous staff and high turnover, there is the need of adopting an organization that allows the efforts of each student be reused by others, so research activities can proceed with little loss of time and rework. This need can be answered by the application of system engineering concepts such as modularity, formal separation between technology solutions and needs, functional classification, criteria for the choice of development method, use of technical reference standard, technological plan, integration, verification and validation and configuration management. This work is limited to development of a control architecture, observing the concepts of systems engineering, applied to an AUV. A comparison is made with other similar architectures in the state of the art and shows up test results in the pool for this architecture. It is also shown that it was possible to keep the development by other students, validating the utility of the methodology. It is concluded that in order to increase the efficiency of university research, it must be observed managerial and institutional aspects beyond the technical aspects when designing technical solutions.

This dissertation focuses on how to design and employ networked unmanned vehicles for remote sensing and distributed control purposes in the current information-rich world. The target scenarios are environmental or agricultural applications such as river/reservoir surveillance, wind profiling measurement, and monitoring/control of chemical leaks, etc. AggieAir, a small and low-cost unmanned aircraft system, is designed based on the remote sensing requirements from environmental monitoring missions. The state estimation problem and the advanced lateral flight controller design problem are further attacked focusing on the small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform. Then the UAV-based remote sensing problem is focused with further flight test results. Given the measurements from unmanned vehicles, the actuation algorithms are needed for missions like the diffusion control. A consensus-based central Voronoi tessellation (CVT) algorithm is proposed for better control of the diffusion process. Finally, the dissertation conclusion and some new research suggestions are presented.

Starting a few decades ago, the unmanned wheeled vehicle research has drawn lately more attention, especially for off-road environment. As the demand to use electric vehicles increased, the need to conceptualize the use of electrically driven vehicles in autonomous operations became a target. That is because in addition to the fact that they are more environmentally friendly, they are also easier to control. This also gives another reason to enhance further the energy economy of those unmanned electric vehicles. Off-road vehicles research was always challenging, but in the present work the nature of the off-road land is utilized to benefit from in order to enhance the energy consumption of those vehicles. An algorithm for energy consumption optimization for electrically driven unmanned wheeled vehicles is presented. The algorithm idea is based on the fact that in off-road conditions, when the vehicle passes a ditch or a hole, the kinetic energy gained while moving downhill could be utilized to reduce the energy consumption for moving uphill if the dimensions of the ditch/hole were known a distance ahead. Two manipulated variables are evaluated: the wheels DC motors supply voltage and the DC armature current. The developed algorithm is analysed and compared to the PID speed iii controller and to the open-loop control of DC motors. The developed predictive controller achieved encouraging results compared to the PID speed control and also compared to the open-loop control. Also, the use of the DC armature current as a manipulated variable showed more noticeable improvement over using the DC input voltage. Experimental work was carried out to validate the predictive control algorithm. A mobile robot with two DC motor driven wheels was deployed to overcome a ditch-like hindrance. The experimental results verified the simulation results. A parametric study for the predictive control is conducted. The effect of changing the downhill angle and the uphill angle as well as the size of the prediction horizon on the consumed electric energy by the DC motors is addressed. The simulation results showed that, when using the proposed approach, the larger the prediction horizon, the lower the energy consumption is.

This work presents the application of a cognitive engineering design method to the design of operational procedures and ground control station interfaces for uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs). Designing for UAV systems presents novel challenges, both in terms of selecting and presenting adequate information for effective teleoperation, and in creating operational procedures and ground control station interfaces that are robust to a range of UAV platforms and missions. Creating a coherent set of operating procedures, automatic functions and operator interfaces requires a systematic design approach that considers the system and the mission at different levels of abstraction and integrates the different element of the system. Several models are developed through the application of this cognitive engineering method. An analysis of the work of operating a UAV creates an abstraction decomposition space (ADS) model. The ADS helps identify the control tasks needed to operate the system. A strategies analysis then identifies methods for implementing these control tasks. The distribution of activities and roles between the human and automated components in the system is then considered in a social organization and cooperation analysis. These insights are applied to the design of coherent sets of operational procedures, ground control station interfaces and automatic functions for a specific UAV in support of a continuous target surveillance (CTS) mission. The importance of the coherence provided by the selected design method in the design of UAV operational procedures and ground control station interfaces is analyzed through a human in the loop simulation experiment for this mission. The results of the simulation experiment indicate that UAV controllers using coherently designed elements achieve significantly higher mission performance and experience lower workloads than those that when using incoherently matched elements.