1. Unmanned Systems Aerospace Engineering
© 2011 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

2. Unmanned Systems What limitations affect human-operated systems?
How many hours can you stay awake?
How long can you go without drinking or eating?
How far can you see?
How long can you stay sitting in a tight space?
How well can you see at night?
How long can you survive in the vacuum of space?
How long can you survive in microgravity?
What limitations affect human-operated systems?
What is the value of human life?

3. Unmanned Systems A system without a human on-board
Presentation Name
Course Name
Unit # – Lesson #.# – Lesson Name
Unmanned Systems
A system without a human on-board
Human factor is reduced
System operations are controlled by a remote human or processor capable of interpreting inputs and establishing proper outputs
Unmanned systems include remotely operated, teleoperated systems which require direct human operation. The human factor, except for completely autonomous systems, is not eliminated. In general, unmanned systems are those that do not include an on-board human element and that can be either remotely operated or that can operate partially or completely without human intervention.

4. Unmanned System Environments
Presentation Name
Course Name
Unit # – Lesson #.# – Lesson Name
Unmanned System Environments
Air Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV)
Ground Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV)
Maritime Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS)

5. Unmanned System Design Components
Presentation Name
Course Name
Unit # – Lesson #.# – Lesson Name
Unmanned System Design Components
Operational Environment and Task Sensing Communication Information Processing Energy Source Energy Transfer
Operational Environment and Task: Environment is defined as land, water, or air. The task (what the system will accomplish) is defined.
Sensing: Decisions must be made regarding which aspects of the environment are important for decision making or data collection. An appropriate sensor must be implemented in the remote system design for each aspect.
Communication: Information can be passed to and from the remote system actively throughout the mission or can be stored for processing prior to launch and after recovery of the system.
Information Processing: Data can be left as numerical values, processed into charts or graphs, or analyzed for statistical patterns such as mean, mode, median, standard deviation, etc.
Energy Source: Energy must be stored on board the system (i.e., battery); produced by the system (i.e., fuel cell or burned fossil fuel); or gathered by the system (i.e., solar or laser light conversion from external source).
Energy Transfer: Energy transferred from the source to create mobility of system or actuation of components of the system (i.e., manipulators).

6. Unmanned Systems: New Age or Old?
Presentation Name
Course Name
Unit # – Lesson #.# – Lesson Name
Unmanned Systems: New Age or Old?
1888 Louis Brennan demonstrated a wire-guided torpedo
1898 Tesla introduced Telautomaton, a four foot long boat that could start, stop, and turn using radio frequencies
Why was the first unmanned system a maritime system?
A maritime application for unmanned systems was the first development because naval warfare was a significant focus for military strategists at this time.
naval warfare was a significant focus for military strategists at the time.

7. Teleautomaton Success
Presentation Name
Course Name
Unit # – Lesson #.# – Lesson Name
Teleautomaton Success
What concepts did Tesla need to understand in order to create his unmanned maritime system?
Operational Environment and Task
Buoyancy, materials, and structures
Laws of motion – Start, stop, turn on command

8. Teleautomaton Success
Energy Source
Electricity – Battery
Energy Transfer
Electrical Mechanical – Electric motor, energy transfer to propeller, and laws of motion

9. Teleautomation Success
Communication
Radio frequency transmission and receiving
Information Processing
Switches triggered by direct communication

10. Unmanned Aircraft System Design
When was the first unmanned aircraft system designed?
1915
What system design components limited the success of early unmanned aircraft designs?
ALL – Due to a lack of technology

11. Unmanned Aircraft System Design
What operational environment and task limitations existed?
Flight concepts
Automatic stabilization
Autonomous navigation
How are these limitations overcome today?

12. Unmanned Aircraft System Design
Presentation Name
Course Name
Unit # – Lesson #.# – Lesson Name
Unmanned Aircraft System Design
What energy source limitations existed?
Electrical batteries
Petroleum fuel
What energy transfer limitations existed?
Pneumatic parts from organs operated mechanical parts
High-weight, low-power engines
Energy source for Langley’s Aerodrome No. 5 was a steam engine. The new petroleum engines were far too heavy and inefficient to create the required thrust to sustain flight.
Energy Transfer: No theory of propeller design existed at the time of Langley, so the efficiency of transfer from shaft horsepower to thrust was very low.
How are these limitations overcome today?

13. Unmanned Aircraft System Design
What communication limitations existed?
Radio frequency transmission and receiving
What information processing limitations existed?
Processing had to be performed by the operator
How are these limitations overcome today?

14. Today’s Unmanned Systems
Technological advancements push unmanned system developments
Versatile, Adaptable, Persistent Civil and Commercial Reconnaissance Combat Logistics Research and Development Target and Decoy Exploration

15. References
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (2009). A famous "FIRST" launched by NASA to study Earth's energy. Retrieved from