Unmanned aircrafts represent one of the fastest growing technologies of the last years. Although historically not completely unknown, only recently have they acquired the long-deserved attention. However, it focuses almost exclusively on their use in combat operations, whereas their capabilities in civilian sphere remain relatively unexplored. Analysis of these abilities is the main focus of this thesis, which describes and analyses current applicable legislation, points out different issues of both its interpretation and application and tries to offer solutions. This thesis is divided into 4 chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter deals with the introduction to this topic, including history of unmanned aircrafts and clarification of the term unmanned aircraft itself. Then it moves on to describe the possible classification of unmanned aircrafts and the terminology used, which remains unsettled even to this day. The main aim of this is to try to help the reader to find his way in this complicated area. The second chapter includes the analysis of the applicable legislation in the Czech republic, starting with the general approach and then continuing with special emphasis on particular issues, such as operating limitations of unmanned aircrafts in certain areas or liability of aircraft operators...

The aerospace industry endeavours to improve modern aircraft capabilities in efficiency, endurance, and comfort. One means of achieving these goals is through new enhancements in aerodynamics. Increased wing aspect ratio is an example of further improving efficiency. However, this comes with new challenges including possibly adverse aero-elastic and aero-servo-elastic (ASE) phenomena. New computational methods and tools are emerging and there is a need for experimental data for validation. University of Victoria’s Centre for Aerospace Research (UVic CfAR) set out to design a 20kg ASE demonstrator using a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). This aircraft was designed with the intent of exploring coupling between aero-elastic modes including coupling between the short period aerodynamic mode and the first out-of-plane elastic mode of the wing. This thesis discuses the implementation of instrumentation designed and integrated into the ASE RPA demonstrator to monitor the deformation of the elastic wing in-flight. A strain based measurement technique was selected for integration into the ASE aircraft. This choice was made for several reasons including its reliability regardless of outdoor lighting, relatively lightweight processing requirements for real time applications, and suitable sampling bandwidth. To compute the wing deformation from strain, a method, sometimes referred to as strain pattern analysis (SPA), utilizing linear combinations of reference modal shapes fit against the measured strain, was used. Although this method is not new, to the author’s knowledge, it is the first practical application to a reduced scale RPA demonstrator. The deformation measurement system was validated against a series of distributed static load tests on the ground. Distributed load cases along the wing demonstrated good out-of-plane measurement performance. A case where only load is applied near the root of the wing resulted in the largest error in part as the mode shapes generated are less suited to approximate the resulting shape. In general errors in out-of-plane displacement at the end of the flexible wing portion can be expected to be less than 5%. The displacement at the tip of the wing can be as great as 11% for the left wing whereas the right wing is 4.7%. This suggest an asymmetry between the left and right wings requiring specifically tuned FE models for each to achieve best results. Twist angles presented in tests were relatively small for accurate comparison against the reference measurement, which was relatively noisy. Generally, the deformation measurement by SPA technique followed the same twist behaviours as the reference. A twist case, unlikely to be seen in flight, provided some insight into twist measurement robustness. The work presented is merely a small step forward with many opportunities for further research. There is room for improvement of the FE model used to generate the mode shapes in the strain pattern analysis. Initial efforts focused on the flexible spar portion of the wing. With more work improvements could be achieved for the estimation of the rigid wing. Additionally, there was some asymmetry between each wing semi-span, and with some focus on the left wing its results could be improved to at least match that of the right wing. A real-time implementation was not completed and would be particularly interesting for use as feedback for flight control. Study of load alleviation techniques may benefit. Another topic of study is the combination of this method with other measurements, such as accelerometers, to provide improved performance state estimation through sensor fusion. / Graduate

This research was initiated to investigate the application of mobile robotics to hazardous waste site characterization, with the specific emphasis of employing the laser-based positioning measurement system developed by Spatial Positioning Systems, inc. (SPSi) for tracking a mobile robot and geographically tagging collected environmental data. The two specific objectives of this work were to design and construct a remotely piloted robotic system which could enter a simulated hazardous waste site and perform some aspect of initial characterization sampling, and to perform a feasibility study on the use of the SPSi system for outdoor mobile robot tracking. A Honda all-terrain vehicle was converted to a robotic test platform incorporating the SPSi system for positioning and a magnetometer for environmental sensing. The digitally-sampled magnetometer output was geographically tagged with sensor position, and transmitted to a remote computer for display and storage. Although the mechanics of integrating the SPSi system and an environmental sensor on a mobile robot were demonstrated, survey attempts with the mobile robot were unsuccessful because the SPSi system was unable to track the robot's movements outdoors on the simulated hazardous waste site. Tracking capability up to a limiting velocity of approximately 0.35 mls (0.8 mph) was demonstrated with the SPSi system. This restrictive limiting velocity as well as various errors later discovered in SPSi's tracking algorithm prevented a successful implementation of the positioning system on the robot. / Master of Science

Differences in the aerodynamic performance data obtained at different test facilities were observed for the Wortmann FX-63-l37 airfoil. Earlier investigations found that the size of the hysteresis loop was affected by the tunnel environment and that single strut mounting of a three dimensional wing model interfered negligibly with the wing. Theoretical and experimental evaluations of a half wing model mounted with an end plate gap were done. Vortex panel method was used in the theoretical evaluation. The results from this indicated an effect of reduced aspect ratio with increase in end plate gap size. Tests were conducted in the VPI Stability Tunnel at low Reynolds numbers for different gap sizes including sealed gap. Results from the experiments showed that even very small gaps produce substantial changes in zero lift angle of attack (αu) and the change in αu, was reduced as Reynolds number increased. Sealed gap test results did not show such a behavior. Flow visualization of the flow through the gap showed a significant flow through the gap even at very low Reynolds number and small gap size. / Master of Science

No description available.

This thesis explores the feasibility of using morphing rudders in autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to improve their performance in complex current environments. The modeling vehicle in this work corresponds to the Florida Atlantic University's Ocean EXplorer (OEX) AUV. The AUV nonlinear dynamic model is limited to the horizontal plane and includes the effect of ocean current. The main contribution of this thesis is the use of active rudders to successfully achieve path keeping and station keeping of an AUV under the influence of unsteady current force. A constant ocean current superimposed with a sinusoidal component is considered. The vehicle's response is analyzed for a range of current frequencies. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

One of the basic problems which have to be solved by Unmanned Automated Vehicles (UAV) involves the computation of a motion plan that would enable the system to reach a target given a set of initial conditions in presence of uncertainties on the vehicle dynamics and in the environment. Recent research efforts in this area have relied on deterministic models. To address the problem of inevitable uncertainties, a low-level control layer is typically used to ensure proper robust trajectory tracking. Such decision-tracking algorithms correct model disturbances a posteriori, while the whole movement planning is done in a purely deterministic fashion. We argue that the decision making process that takes place during movement planning, as performed by experienced human pilots, is not a purely deterministic operation, but is heavily influenced by the presence of uncertainties and reflects a risk-management policy. This research aims at addressing these uncertainties and developing an optimal control strategy that would account for the presence of system uncertainties. The underlying description of UAV trajectories will be based on a modeling language, the Maneuver Automaton, that takes into full account the vehicle dynamics, and hence guarantees flyable and trackable paths and results in a discretized solution space. Two optimal control problems, a nominal problem omitting uncertainties and a robust problem addressing the presence of uncertainties, will be defined and compared throughout this work. The incorporation of uncertainties, will ensure that the generated motion planning policies will maximize the probability to meet mission goals, weighing risks against performance.

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-178). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Submitted by Nádia Paes (nadia66paes@gmail.com) on 2016-09-30T14:19:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2015_Anna Carolina Natale Rodrigues.pdf: 1941878 bytes, checksum: 83d67286141efc175526c206f4b5d8a9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jordan (jordanbiblio@gmail.com) on 2016-09-30T16:16:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2015_Anna Carolina Natale Rodrigues.pdf: 1941878 bytes, checksum: 83d67286141efc175526c206f4b5d8a9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-30T16:16:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2015_Anna Carolina Natale Rodrigues.pdf: 1941878 bytes, checksum: 83d67286141efc175526c206f4b5d8a9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-06 / CAPES / Aeronaves Remotamente Pilotadas, mais conhecidas como Drones nos textos da imprensa, são aeronaves que funcionam como dispositivos de vigilância e defesa, utilizados pelos Estados Unidos desde a Guerra do Vietnã. Por muito tempo esta tecnologia esteve nas mãos dos israelenses, mas, nos últimos anos, os Estados Unidos tornaram-se o maior produtor desse tipo de aeronave. A utilização desta tecnologia começou a se tornar conhecida no último governo Bush após os ataques de 11 de setembro com a chamada ‘Guerra ao Terror’. Mais recentemente, o governo Obama intensificou o seu uso, com o aumento de investimentos militares, fabricação e circulação desses dispositivos. Por mais que o uso civil desta tecnologia esteja aumentando, o foco da pesquisa ainda em andamento é a utilização dela no contexto militar, principalmente estadunidense. Há quase dois mil conflitos armados ao redor do mundo desde o novo milênio e o número cresce a cada dia. A violência legítima, a criminalidade e o terrorismo tornam-se indistinguíveis um do outro. Em decorrência disso, os termos de validação tendem a entrar em colapso. Os chamados drones podem ser operados a milhares de quilômetros de distância e costumam ser utilizados sem a autorização do espaço aéreo dos governos invadidos. Vive-se em um momento de conflitos difusos de pequenos inimigos em todo lugar e a utilização das Aeronaves Remotamente Pilotadas confirma a ideia da presença de um inimigo constante, e quando a guerra está na base da política, o inimigo tem a função constitutiva de legitimar a vigilância e os ataques. Se o inimigo não é mais concreto, compreensível e localizável sua aura é hostil, facilitando a legitimação daquilo que é na realidade insustentável. / Remotely Piloted Aircrafts also known through the press as Drones, are surveillance and defense devices used by The United States of America since the Vietnam war. For a long time, this technology was in the hands of the Israeli armed forces, but in the last few years, The United States became the largest producer of this aircraft. The use of Drones became known in the last Bush administration, after the attacks of September 11, with the so-called "War on Terror". Moreover, more recently in the Obama administration with the increasing manufacture of such devices. Even though the use of this technology among civilians are increasing, the focus of this ongoing research is its use in military context, mostly American. According to Hardt and Negri (2012), nowadays there are almost two thousand armed conflicts around the world since the new millennium. These numbers keep growing, therefore, the legitimate violence, crime and terrorism became indistinguishable from one another, the terms of validation tend to collapse. The remotely piloted aircrafts can be operated thousands of miles away and often without the airspace permission of the invaded governments. We are in a time of small and intern conflicts with small enemies everywhere. Moreover, using this aircraft confirms the idea of this constant enemy, and when war is at the base of politics, the enemy has the primary function to legitimate surveillance and attacks. If the enemy is no longer concrete, understandable and traceable, then its aura is hostile, facilitating the legitimacy of that is in reality unsustainable.

Dissertation (MTech (Mechanical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / This paper presents the development of a data collection system for a small unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight. The following three facets comprise of a UAV system: (1) a UAV aircraft; (2) onboard avionics; and (3) a ground control station subsystem (Taha et al., 2010:1). In this project, the UAV aircraft is based on the low-cost autonomous quad-rotator system named “Arducopter Quad”, where the onboard avionic system utilizes both an ArduPilot Mega (APM) on-board controller and IMU sensor shield, while the “Mission Planner” software operates as GCS software to gather essential flight data (Xiang & Tian, 2011:176). The approach provides the UAV system structure and both hardware and software with a small UAV data collection system, which is examined throughout the study. And introduce the concept of Arducopter dynamics for better understanding with its flight control. The study also considers the communication process between the UAV and the ground control station. The radio wave is an important aspect in the UAV data collection system (Austin, 2010:143). The literature review introduced the basis of the radio wave in respect of its travelling speed, and its characteristics of propagation, including how different frequencies will affect radio wave propagation. The aim of this project was to develop a platform for a small UAV real-time data collection system. The pendulum system was involved to simulate the “Roll” movement of the small UAV, while real-time IMU sensor data was successfully collected at ground control station (GCS), both serial communication and wireless communication, which was applied in the data collection process. The microwave generator interference test proves that the 2.4 GHz XBee module is capable of establishing reliable indoor communication between the APM controller and the GCS. The work of this project is towards development of additional health monitoring technology to prevent the safety issue of the small UAV. The data collection system can be used as basis for the future research of real-time health monitoring for various small UAVs.