FORMATION FLYING

1
FORMATION FLYING

• SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
• AUTONOMOUS UAV PROJECT

2
FORMATION FLYING TEAM

• Students
• Chris Borowski, Computer Engineering
• Ognjen Petrovic, Computer Engineering
• Ryan Becker, Computer Engineering
• Mentors
• Dr. Chris Kitts, Mechanical Engineering
• Dr. Neil Quinn, Computer Engineering

3
Project Summary

• Use on-board autopilot for formation flying
• Win AUVSI competition
• Demonstrate engineering skills
• Investigate future opportunities

4
The Problem Statement

• Modeling formation flight control system
• Designing real-time software
• Remote airplane teleoperation
• Human in the loop
• Autonomous flight

5
Motivation

• Applications
• Terrain Surveillance
• Earth mapping
• Space missions
• Aerodynamics
• Benefits
• Reduce existing infrastructure cost
• Scalability
• Flexibility

6
Project Features

• Formation flying algorithm
• Autonomous navigation
• Video Reconnaissance
• Low Cost

7
Design Overview
Lead
Chase
DATA TRAFFIC
Ground Control Station
8
Beauties
9
Lead Plane Payload

• GPS
• Ricochet Modem
• Basic Stamp 2 Microcontroller

10
Lead Plane Flow Diagram
GPS
T O GROUND
Basic Stamp 2
Ricochet Modem 900Mhz
Add-on Sensor
900Mhz Radio Link
Serial Connection
11
Lead Plane Software

• Basic Stamp 2
• Sensor data filtering
• Sensor data retransmitting
• Serial Port Interface
• PBASIC programming language

12
Chase Plane Payload

• GPS
• Ricochet Modem
• MicroPilot Autopilot
• Altimeter
• Video Camera

13
Chase Plane Video Link
T O GROUND
CCD Camera
Video Transmitter 2.4GHz
2.4Ghz Radio Link
Physical Cable
14
Chase Plane Control
T O GROUND
Sensors
Autopilot
Ricochet Modem 900Mhz
Transmitter 72Mhz
PLANE SERVOS
72Mhz Radio Link
900Mhz Radio Link
Serial Connection
15
MicroPilot Autopilot

• MicroPilot RTOS
• Set of flight commands
• In-flight mission programming

16
Ground Control Station Software
OUR PROJECT
SECOND PLANE SUPPORT
FORMATION ALGORITHM
MICROPILOT HORIZON GCS
WINDOWS
BASE
17
Ground Control Station Software

• Characteristics
• Java/C
• Modular
• Tasks
• Analyzing the data from both planes
• Running formation flying algorithm
• Sending updates to the autopilot
• Warning the operator about failures
• Logging sensor data and issued commands

18
Formation Flying Algorithm

• Follow the leader pattern
• Utilize autopilot capabilities
• Experiment with open-source projects

19
Formation Flying Algorithm
20
AUVSI Competition

• Piloting skills
• Autonomous flight
• Waypoint Navigation
• Target Reconnaissance
• Safety
• Efficiency
• Time
• Fuel

21
Project risks check list

• Piloting
• Equipment
• Software
• Safety
• Funding

22
Put Video clip on this slide
23
THE END!

• Visit us at Robotics Systems Lab Website
  http//rsl.engr.scu.edu
• QUESTIONS?