(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006-08)
Johnson, Eric N.; Turbe, Michael A.; Wu, Allen D.; Kannan, Suresh K.; Neidhoefer, James C.
Fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with the ability to hover have significant
potential for applications in urban or other constrained environments where the
combination of fast speed, endurance, and stable hovering flight can provide strategic
advantages. This paper discusses the use of dynamic inversion with neural network
adaptation to provide an adaptive controller capable of transitioning a fixed-wing UAV to
and from hovering flight in a nearly stationary position. This approach allows utilization of
the entire low speed flight envelope even beyond stall conditions. The method is applied to
the GTEdge, an 8.75 foot wing span fixed-wing aerobatic UAV which has been fully
instrumented for autonomous flight. Results from actual flight test experiments of the
system where the airplane transitions from high speed steady flight into a stationary hover
and then back are presented.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004-09)
Christophersen, Henrik B.; Pickell, Wayne J.; Koller, Adrian A.; Kannan, Suresh K.; Johnson, Eric N.
Future small UAVs will require enhanced capabilities like seeing and avoiding obstacles,
tolerating unpredicted flight conditions, interfacing with payload sensors, tracking moving
targets, and cooperating with other manned and unmanned systems. Cross-platform
commonality to simplify system integration and training of personnel is also desired. A
small guidance, navigation, and control system has been developed and tested. It employs
Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) technology to
satisfy the requirements for more advanced vehicle behavior in a small package. Having
these two processors in the system enables custom vehicle interfacing and fast sequential
processing of high-level control algorithms. This paper focuses first on the design aspects of
the hardware and the low-level software. Discussion of flight test experience with the system
controlling both an unmanned helicopter and an 11-inch ducted fan follow.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2003-07)
Proctor, Alison A.; Kannan, Suresh K.; Raabe, Chris; Christophersen, Henrik B.; Johnson, Eric N.
The Georgia Tech aerial robotics team has developed a system to compete in the International Aerial Robotics Competition, organized by the Association for Unmanned
Vehicle Systems, International. The team is a multi-disciplinary group of students who
have developed a multi-year strategy to complete all levels and the overall mission. The
approach taken to achieve the objectives of the required missions has evolved to incorporate new ideas and lessons learned. This document summarizes the approach taken,
the current status of the project, and the design of the components and subsystems.