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of tasks are common. The use of these UAVs also help mitigate the risks inherent in experiments that cannot be done in, or need to be verified from simulation, and would otherwise need to be done in full scale. In the development of the our UAV, the concept was to create a platform, in the 1.5 to 2.0-meter wingspan size range, that could be used for several tasks. It was specifically equipped so that no modifications need to be made when switching between different tasks. The UAV is primarily intended to be used for human-machine interface based teleoperation, experimental verification of new autonomous control algorithms, and for system identification of aircraft performance parameters; although with slight or no modification it can be adapted to other tasks. In this case, system identification can also include using the platform to understand the full envelope of aerodynamic performance at low Reynolds numbers. Our UAV was the result of several previous platform revisions, each of which yielded results, and therefore new requirements for the next UAV platform. Another aspect of the concept was to use as many COTS components as possible, especially the airframe, which allows for ease of replacement, and decreased development time. To date our UAV platform has completed more than a dozen flights that have yielded multiple sets of data for different tasks, some of which were collected simultaneously. The paper is organized as follows, first is a study of UAV platforms that have been developed in the past decade, distinguished by size and configuration groups and intended tasks. This is be followed by a discussion of past research and platforms, and the consequent requirements for each successive platform. The development of our UAV, including all the modifications done to the COTS airframe, will be discussed next. A discussion of risk mitigation involved in flight-testing of UAVs, as was done with our UAV, will follow. Finally, future capabilities of the UAV will be presented. A. Literature Review of Recent UAV Testbeds Over the past decade usage of UAVs has increased, particularly for research purposes, both by academic, as well as government and private institutions. These research oriented UAVs are used for a variety of tasks from control related experiments, to flight dynamics and other types of data collection. The development of most research orientated UAV testbeds is the result of a need for a platform tailored to a particular task. However, since they are designed for one particular task, it is often difficult and economically unfeasible to modify them for other tasks. To investigate that research oriented UAVs are often suited for a single task, 31 platforms are surveyed and compiled into Table 1. These UAVs are differentiated into 5 categories, which have defined dimension and features. In an attempt to remain relevant to our UAV, only fixed-wing aircraft with constant geometry are examined; no rotor-craft or variable geometry aircraft such as ornithopters or variable-sweep wing aircraft are included. E...
of tasks are common. The use of these UAVs also help mitigate the risks inherent in experiments that cannot be done in, or need to be verified from simulation, and would otherwise need to be done in full scale. In the development of the our UAV, the concept was to create a platform, in the 1.5 to 2.0-meter wingspan size range, that could be used for several tasks. It was specifically equipped so that no modifications need to be made when switching between different tasks. The UAV is primarily intended to be used for human-machine interface based teleoperation, experimental verification of new autonomous control algorithms, and for system identification of aircraft performance parameters; although with slight or no modification it can be adapted to other tasks. In this case, system identification can also include using the platform to understand the full envelope of aerodynamic performance at low Reynolds numbers. Our UAV was the result of several previous platform revisions, each of which yielded results, and therefore new requirements for the next UAV platform. Another aspect of the concept was to use as many COTS components as possible, especially the airframe, which allows for ease of replacement, and decreased development time. To date our UAV platform has completed more than a dozen flights that have yielded multiple sets of data for different tasks, some of which were collected simultaneously. The paper is organized as follows, first is a study of UAV platforms that have been developed in the past decade, distinguished by size and configuration groups and intended tasks. This is be followed by a discussion of past research and platforms, and the consequent requirements for each successive platform. The development of our UAV, including all the modifications done to the COTS airframe, will be discussed next. A discussion of risk mitigation involved in flight-testing of UAVs, as was done with our UAV, will follow. Finally, future capabilities of the UAV will be presented. A. Literature Review of Recent UAV Testbeds Over the past decade usage of UAVs has increased, particularly for research purposes, both by academic, as well as government and private institutions. These research oriented UAVs are used for a variety of tasks from control related experiments, to flight dynamics and other types of data collection. The development of most research orientated UAV testbeds is the result of a need for a platform tailored to a particular task. However, since they are designed for one particular task, it is often difficult and economically unfeasible to modify them for other tasks. To investigate that research oriented UAVs are often suited for a single task, 31 platforms are surveyed and compiled into Table 1. These UAVs are differentiated into 5 categories, which have defined dimension and features. In an attempt to remain relevant to our UAV, only fixed-wing aircraft with constant geometry are examined; no rotor-craft or variable geometry aircraft such as ornithopters or variable-sweep wing aircraft are included. E...
This paper describes the development of a large 35%-scale unmanned aerobatic platform named the UIUC Aero Testbed, which is primarily intended to perform aerodynamics research in the full flight regime. The giant-scale aircraft with a 105-in (2.7-m) wingspan and weight of 37 lb (17 kg) was constructed from a commercially available radio control model aircraft with extensive modifications and upgrades including a 12-kW electric motor system that provides a thrust-to-weight ratio in excess of 2-to-1. It is equipped with an avionics suite that contains a high-frequency, high-resolution six degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) inertial measurement unit (IMU) that allows the system to collect aircraft state data. This information set can be used to generate high-fidelity aerodynamic data that can be used to validate high angle-of-attack flight-dynamic models. Collaboration in this project also led the Aero Testbed to have the capability to fly fully-and semi-autonomously in order to conduct autonomous flight research. A literature review of aerobatic unmanned aircraft used for research is first presented. Then the background and motivations for developing this platform are discussed. This is followed by a description of the planning and development that was involved. Finally, initial test flight results are presented, which include flight path trajectory plots of several aerobatic maneuvers. Nomenclature AV I= avionics integration ARF = almost ready to fly COT S = commercial off the shelf CG = center of gravity DOF = degree of freedom EEG = electroencephalogram IMU = inertial measurement unit RC = radio control
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