UAV Testbed Training Platform development using Panda3d

Abstract

2015),"Tracking and following pedestrian trajectories, an approach for autonomous surveillance of critical infrastructures", If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The paper aims to report the development of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Testbed Training Platform (TTP). The development is to enable users to safely fly and control the UAV in real time within a limited (yet unconstrained) virtually created environment. Thus, the paper introduces a hardware-virtual environment coupling concept, the Panda3D gaming engine utilization to develop the graphical user interface (GUI) and the 3D-flying environment, as well as the interfacing electronics that enables tracking, monitoring and mapping of real-time movement onto the virtual domain and vice verse. Design/methodology/approach -The platform comprises a spring-shuttle assembly fixed to a heavy aluminium base. The spring supports a rotating platform (RP), which is intended to support UAVs. The RP yaw, pitch and roll are measured by an inertial measurement unit, its climb/descend is measured by a low cost infrared proximity sensor and its rotation is measured by a rotary optical encoder. The hardware is coupled to a virtual environment (VE), which was developed using the Panda3D gaming engine. The VE includes a GUI to generate, edit, load and save real-life environments. Hardware manoeuvres are reflected into the VE. Findings -The prototype was proven effective in dynamically mapping and tracking the rotating platform movements in the virtual environment. This should not be confused with the hardware in loop approach, which requires the inclusion of a mathematical model of the hardware in a loop. The finding will provide future means of testing navigation and tracking algorithms. Research limitations/implications -The work is still new, and there is great room for improvement in many aspects. Here, this paper reports the concept and its technical implementation only. Practical implications -In the literature, various testbeds were reported, and it is felt that there is still room to come up with a better design that enables UAV flying in safer and unlimited environments. This has many practical implications, particularly in testing control and navigation al...

The Development of a test bed to support the Design of Diagnostics and Prognostics Applications of a complex system

“…The graphical representation below shows the clogged filter degradation scenario. Case two: the multiple condition test for faulty gear pump represented by the DPV2 was emulated by opening the valve from 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, 30%, while the DPV1 was at 100%, DPV3 at 100%, DPV4 at 0%, and DPV5 at 100%, then pressure (1,2,3,4,5) were investigated as shown in the graphical representation of figure 7 below. …”

“…The characteristic of the graphical representation of figure 4 and 5 shows the component or subsystem healthy condition. However, a repeatability test was also carried out to verify the healthy condition phenomenon by calculating the mean (1) Where is the sum of occurrence in each healthy test carried out and i ranges from , ,….. And n is the number of measurement in the set. Also, according to the Guide to Expression of Uncertainty in measurement (GUM), the estimated standard deviation for the ten (10) tests conducted for each component or subsystem under test was calculated using the expression:…”

“…This definition can be well implemented by developing software (LabVIEW code) that can be used to acquire data or information from the hardware component via the NI DAQ module. [1] Asserts that test bed is developed to allowed user to safely control the UAV effectively. The development of test bed is used as a platform to investigate the component fault such as clogged filter, faulty gear pump, stuck valve, leaking pipe, and clogged nozzle [2].…”

Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Visual Interface for Simulation and Control Development

“…Quadrotors are a special type of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), increasingly employed last years for mapping, surveillance, searching and tracking operations, in rescue missions, agriculture, traffic management, landscape film making, and others [1][2][3].…”

“…However, it can be optimized employing low cost virtual development tools. In autonomous control the path planning, path tracking and joint operation with other UAVs, can be supported by optimization techniques with support of software tools [1,2,12]. Published works relate the use of software such as Visual Basic, MatLab, Panda3D, Gazebo, or more open applications developed in languages as Python and C+ + [2].…”