Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Course guarantor:

Lecturer:

Tutor:

Supervisor:

Department of Computer Science

Synopsis:

The course is dedicated to students interested in unmanned

aerial systems (UASs). It includes lectures aimed at

airplane construction, engines, sensors, electronic systems

servos, control electronics, control algorithms and one

course presents law issues related to UASs from the flight

approval and control perspectives. The course is extended

with an educational excursion to relevant laboratories.

Seminar projects are related to Procerus UAV in the field

of sensor data processing including participation on the

experimental flight.

Requirements:

Student should have a basic information from physics.

Syllabus of lectures:

1. Introduction, demonstration of advanced control

algorithms, multi-agent planning, sensor systems. Brief

history of unmanned systems.

2. Materials and construction of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Laminates, composites. Construction of the body and wings.

Issues related to stiffness and elasticity.

3. Engines for UAVs. Piston engine, engines with piston

rotary design. Small combustion turbine. Small jet engine.

Examples of selection of suitable engines for specific UAV

projects.

4. MEMS and SMART inertial sensors for UAVs - data

acquisition, MEMS, smart sensors, data processing and data

fusion. GPS, INS and aerometric systems from the user point

of view. Redundancy and security of the system.

5. Basic control loops for individual modes of airplane's

auto-pilot. The control of take-off, adjustment of dynamics

following a trajectory, holding patterns over a ground

target, tracking of moving object on the ground.

6. Approach and landing.

7. Advanced algorithms for control systems design - optimal

and robust control systems.

8. Telemetry for unmanned aerial systems - communication

modems, protocols, security and antennas.

9. Flight trajectory planning - optimal trajectory, no-

flight zones, planning criterion - fuel/power consumption,

mission accomplishment.

10. Autonomous collision avoidance for UAVs - cooperative

and non-cooperative methods, AgentFly system.

11. Multi-UAV control algorithms - flight formation,

cooperative monitoring.

12. Add-on devices - stabilized platforms, optical systems,

localizers, rangefinders, image processing.

13. Legal issues related to operation of UAVs in Czech

Republic and Europe.

Syllabus of tutorials:

1. Examples of different types of unmanned aerial systems.

2. Discussion on the selection of a suitable engine for unmanned aerial system.

3. Excursion (three different excursions within three seminars) - material testing, wind tunnel, UAVs projects in Czech Republic - Sojka, Mamok, Vilik and others.

4. Excursion.

5. Excursion.

6. Identification of the model (aerodynamic coefficients) from the flight data.

7. Design of a basic control loop of autopilot.

8. Simulator - Integrated Modular Avionics testbed.

9. Introduction and selection of semester tasks.

10. Working in teams on the assigned tasks.

11. Working in teams on the assigned tasks.

12. Working in teams on the assigned tasks.

13. Working in teams on the assigned tasks.

14. Final presentation of semester tasks' results,

discussions, ratings and credit.

Study Objective:

The course is dedicated to the students who have an

interest in unmanned aerial systems (UASs). They got wide

overview from the following areas: airplane construction,

engines, sensors, electronic systems, servos, control

electronics, control algorithms and payload devices related

to UASs.

Study materials:

[1] Dalamagkidis K., Valavanis K. P., Piegl L. A.: On

Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems Into the National

Airspace System, Springer, 2009

[2] Musial M.: System Architecture of Small Autonomous UAVs

(Paperback), VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller e.K. 2008

[3] Hasik J.: Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and

Alliances in the Twenty-First-Century Defense Industry, The

university of Chicago Press, 2008

[4] Newcome L. R.: Unmanned aviation: a brief history of

unmanned aerial vehicles, AIAA, 2004

[5] Nolan M. S.: Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control,

Thompson Brooks/Cole, 2004

[6] Cutler J.: Understanding Aircraft Structures

Note:

Further information:

No time-table has been prepared for this course

The course is a part of the following study plans: