Low Cost Rapidly Reconfigurable UAV Autopilot for Research and Development of Guidance, Navigation and Control Algorithms

Lizarraga, Mariano; Elkaim, Gabriel Hugh; Horn, Greg; Curry, Renwick E.; Dobrokhodov, Vladimir; Kaminer, Isaac

doi:10.1115/detc2009-86547

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The generated code, that is called a firmware, is uploaded to the chip memory once and then enables the code execution at every time when the system is turned on. The SOC design approach that starts with pure Simulink [4] modeling, code generation and implementation on one of the most widely used microcontrollers (dsPIC) was recently applied for the design of SLUG autopilot [5], [6]. The benefits of the approach and the high performance of the entire system have been demonstrated in a number of successful flight experiments, see [7].…”

Section: Uav Software Prototyping Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Flight Control Prototyping - Steps toward cooperative mission-oriented capabilities

Dobrokhodov

Jones

Kaminer

2013

2013 American Control Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-The paper describes the latest advancements in the development of the Rapid Flight Control Prototyping system that were motivated primarily by the need to enable cooperative missions of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles and to enhance the capabilities of human operators to design and oversee the collaborative behaviors of multiple heterogeneous UAVs. The evolution of the system is driven by the mission level objectives and supported on one hand by the progress in miniature sensors, computational power, communication and portable energy technologies and on the other hand by the advanced capabilities of embedded control and communication-oriented software. As a result the developed system enables rapid design, onboard integration and in-flight verification of multiple UAV collaborative concepts that seemed impossible just a couple of years ago. Advantages of the designed system are illustrated by a couple of scenarios that were recently developed and verified in flight by multiple cooperating UAVs. The paper concentrates on presenting the motivation and the conceptual design ideas which drive the evolution of the flight prototyping platform.

show abstract

Section: Uav Software Prototyping Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Flight Control Prototyping - Steps toward cooperative mission-oriented capabilities

Dobrokhodov

Jones

Kaminer

2013

2013 American Control Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…3b. Details of the design, development, and deployment of the SLUGS can be found in [Lizarraga, 2009], [Lizarraga et al, 2011a], [Lizarraga et al, 2011b], [Lizarraga et al, 2009a], and [Lizarraga et al, 2009b].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Principles of Guidance, Navigation, and Control of UAVs

Elkaim

Lie

Egziabher

2014

Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two complete system architectures for a guidance, navigation and control solution of small UAVs is presented. These systems (developed at the University of California Santa Cruz and the University of Minnesota) are easily reconfigurable and are intended to support testbeds used in navigation, guidance and control research. The systems described both integrate a low cost inertial measurement unit, a GPS receiver, a triad of magnetometers to generate a navigation solution (position, velocity and attitude estimation) which, in turn, is used in the guidance and control algorithms. The navigation solution described is a 15 state Extended Kalman Filter which integrates the inertial sensor and GPS measurement to generate a high-bandwidth estimate of a UAV's state. Guidance algorithms for generating a flight trajectory based on waypoint definitions are also described. A PID controller which uses the navigation filter estimate and guidance algorithm to track a flight trajectory is detailed. The architecture: the hardware, software and algorithms is included for completeness. Hardware in the loop simulation and flight test results documenting the performance of these two systems is given. IntroductionIn current usage, the term Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles or UAVs refers to aircraft which fly without a human operator onboard. They span a wide range in size and complexity. The largest UAVs such as Predator or Globalhawk can weigh several thousand pounds and have wing spans on the order of 10 to 100 feet. At the other end of the size spectrum are UAVs whose maximum dimensions and mass are on the order of centimeters and grams, respectively. In general, these vehicles are being used or envisioned for use in operations where they serve primarily as a platform for a sensor payload. The sensor payload can be as simple as an Electro-Optical camera or as complex as synthetic aperture radar used for remote sensing.

show abstract

“…These factors have allowed many universities to establish well-equipped UAV laboratories e.g., [6] [7] to conduct research in diverse topics in image processing and controls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SLUGS UAV: A flexible and versatile hardware/software platform for guidance navigation and control research

Lizarraga

Elkaim

Curry

2013

2013 American Control Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-This paper presents the Santa Cruz Low-Cost UAV GNC Subsystem (SLUGS) developed at the University of California Santa Cruz. It is a versatile and flexible autopilot capable of controlling a small unmanned system. It is tightly integrated with MATLAB/Simulink, and allows for a simple and easy transition from pure simulation to HIL simulation to flight code. The hardware's main processing units are two lowcost dsPIC33F DSCs, one handling sensor input and the other managing the navigation and control loops. The sensor DSC implements a complementary attitude and position filter. An interprocessor communication protocol delivers fused attitude and position estimates to the control DSC. The control DSC implements low-level platform stabilization using PID loops, and higher level waypoint following based on a line-of-sight guidance law. Data is logged and available for replay post flight on both the ground station software, and also within MATLAB/Simulink. The hardware was installed on a low-cost single engine electric RC aircraft, and has been demonstrated to be capable of sustained autonomous flight. Several estimation topologies have been tested and developed using the system. The SLUGS is general, and can be adapted to multiple autonomous platforms such as helicopters, quadrotors, twin engine aircraft, ground, and marine surface vehicles.

show abstract

Low Cost Rapidly Reconfigurable UAV Autopilot for Research and Development of Guidance, Navigation and Control Algorithms

Cited by 9 publications

References 20 publications

Rapid Flight Control Prototyping - Steps toward cooperative mission-oriented capabilities

Rapid Flight Control Prototyping - Steps toward cooperative mission-oriented capabilities

Principles of Guidance, Navigation, and Control of UAVs

SLUGS UAV: A flexible and versatile hardware/software platform for guidance navigation and control research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About