1. Design Presentation Spring 2009 Andrew Erdman Chris Sande Taoran Li

2.  Problem Statement  Goals  Functional Requirements  Model  Plan of Action  Schedule  Risks

3.  International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC)  Level 1 competition  Autonomous flight  Autonomous hover  Navigation up to 3 km  MicroCART is a long-term ongoing project

4.  Long Term  Complete the requirements for IARC Level 1  Produce an autonomous helicopter  Short Term  Development of a Simulink model of the system  Test system hardware and software

5.  The aircraft should be fully autonomous  The aircraft should operate without tethers  The aircraft should be capable of autonomous hover at a GPS point  The aircraft should be able to relay state information to a ground station  The aircraft should be able to receive GPS waypoints from a ground station  The aircraft should be able to be manually controlled by an operator  The helicopter is not designed for flight in rain, snow, or high wind conditions

6.  Mathematical model should be accurate  Model should take into account flapping and thrust  Model should take into account external forces

7.  Virtual Reality Simulation from model  Model should be user friendly

8.  Non-linear state space equation and linearization  Matlab/ Simulink to develop the model of the vehicle.  C code generation based on the model  Validation and implementation using X-plane software

10.  Estimation of the hovering equilibrium points  Finding parameters for stable hovering  Simulation of the helicopter’s behavior  Valuable testing tool

12.  Continue with the development of the Simulink model initiated this semester  Improve existing code  GPS  Control  Test systems  Flight tests  Mechanical

13.  Updates from GPS are available every second. Software needs to be able to interpolate between seconds and guess instantaneous position/speed more accurately.  Add code to know when GPS data is reliable.  Add code to convert location info to X-Y coordinates with a relative starting position.  Get altitude data from GPS.

14.  Need to use control constants from modeling simulation to control the aircraft.  Add code to flight control software to make use of all available sensors (not just IMU).  Use filtered output from sensors.  Test PID values.

15.  Need to locate an experienced RC helicopter pilot for live flight testing.  Test craft’s capability to hover in one position.  Test for ability to fly from waypoint to waypoint, starting with helicopter at altitude.  Test for stability while in flight.  Compare simulated data to actual data.

16.  Test sensor data to look for electrical noise issues.  Test cable routing to make sure no damage can occur.