Design of an Autopilot for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles PDF
Preview Design of an Autopilot for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
DESIGN OF AN AUTOPILOT FOR SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES by Reed Siefert Christiansen A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Brigham Young University August 2004 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL Of a thesis submitted by Reed Siefert Christiansen This thesis has been read by each member of the following graduate committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory. ___________________________ ________________________________________ Date Randal W. Beard, Chair ___________________________ ________________________________________ Date Timothy W. McLain ___________________________ ________________________________________ Date D. J. Lee BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY As chair of the candidate’s graduate committee, I have read the thesis of Reed Siefert Christiansen in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready for submission to the university library. _______________________________ _____________________________________ Date Randal W. Beard Chair, Graduate Committee Accepted for the Department _____________________________________ Mark L. Manwaring Graduate Coordinator Accepted for the College _____________________________________ Douglas M. Chabries Dean, College of Engineering and Technology ABSTRACT DESIGN OF AN AUTOPILOT FOR SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES Reed Siefert Christiansen Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Master of Science This thesis presents the design of an autopilot capable of flying small unmanned aerial vehicles with wingspans less then 21 inches. The autopilot is extremely small and lightweight allowing it to fit in aircraft of this size. The autopilot features an advanced, highly autonomous flight control system with auto-launch and auto-landing algorithms. These features allow the autopilot to be operated by a wide spectrum of skilled and unskilled users. Innovative control techniques implemented in software, coupled with light weight, robust, and inexpensive hardware components were used in the design of the autopilot. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the contributions made by several people in the design of the autopilot and supporting systems. First, I extend my gratitude to Dr. Randy Beard and Dr. Timothy McLain for providing the vision, guidance and the endless supply of money for parts and airplanes. I would like to thank Walt Johnson for countless hours spent laying out the incredibly small traces that made the autopilot board as small and light as it is. I also want to acknowledge Derek Kingston for his work in tackling the elusive attitude estimation problem. Josh Hintz and Dave Hubbard deserve credit on three accounts: First, for sticking with the project in the “early days” when working on the autopilot was not fun; Second, for spending long hours in the sun testing doomed autopilot algorithms while everyone in the lab thought we were out sunbathing at the park; Third, for developing the venerable Virtual Cockpit ground station. In addition, I would like to thank Kendall Fowkes for the hours spent designing and building airplanes only to have them broken into a million pieces. I would also like to thank Carolyn Cornaby for having the courage to edit and proofread a 240 page thesis. Finally, I would like to thank the following people for their many contributions: Steve Griffiths, Josh Redding, Morgan Quigley, Deryl Snyder, Mark Denny, and Jen Wilds.
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