UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
LOW-COST, ROBUST AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM DESIGN
Autonomous Unmanned Flight Vehicle
The objective of this project will be to gain insight into the challenges and satisfaction involved in the design of a complex, aerospace system. Particular emphasis will be placed on the interaction between system performance, reliability and cost. This project will include numerous phases of the design process and will expose you to many of the conflicting requirements encountered in a system design. You will experience the challenges of working as part of a design/build team, and develop an appreciation for conflicting requirements and limited resources.
The primary purpose of this project is to provide insight into the design process and to help you identify those decisions in the design process which most significantly influence the integration of new technology in the design and fabrication of the product. In particular there will be significant emphasis placed upon issues related to "robust, low-cost design." Finally, this project will allow for the opportunity to validate the results of your engineering design efforts through the fabrication and testing of a technology demonstrator.
OPPORTUNITY
Flight vehicles have evolved into complex systems with demanding and conflicting operating requirements. While the earliest aircraft relied solely on the "human" pilot to collect important flight data (attitude, airspeed, altitude, etc.) and then act as controller, future flight vehicle systems will rely solely on inanimate sensors and computer based control. Even in today's aircraft the human "operators" simply monitor the operation for certain phases of the mission and they play a very small role in the actual control of the system. The use of fully autonomous control for unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV's) is under development and these developments will continue as improved, low-cost sensors and computers are developed.
This project will involve the concept definition, engineering design study and prototype validation of an autonomous flight vehicle. This vehicle must be light-weight, robust and very low-cost. It will be used to develop and demonstrate technologies for a variety of future aircraft missions. This aircraft must be designed to use the most inexpensive available technology and be able to taxi, take-off and land in a completely automated fashion.
PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
- Develop a design for an autonomous UAV system and document this design in the form of a detailed design proposal. The greatest measure of merit will be associated with meeting all project scheduling and cost goals and demonstrating a robust design. System modeling, performance analysis and simulation of the system and its operation are critical components of the design proposal. The proposal should not only detail the design of the vehicle but must identify the most critical technical, operation and economic factors associated with the design. The results of this design effort must be presented in a Critical Design Review, to special invited guests, and a Summary Presentation open to the public.
- Fabricate a technolgy demonstrator for the system described by the proposal. The aircraft must be capable of demonstrating the autonomous operation of the vehicle and verifying the durability of the proposed design. The results of this phase of the effort must be included in the Design Proposal and presented at the Summary Presentation.
- The design team must develop a validation test plan and be prepared to demonstrate the operation of their vehicle in a controlled (in-door) environment.
- Establish a procedure for collecting and reporting engineering time and cost accounting records for the entire project.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND SYSTEM PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS:
- The aircraft will be required to perform two special "missions":
- The aircraft must be able to demonstrate an autonomous, straight-line taxi-only mission of a length of 150 ft. It must have the ability to "stop" on its own.
- The aircraft must be able to taxi, take-off, climb to an altitude of at least 6 ft. (and not more than 12 ft.) and then land in a straight line path in a completely autonomous fashion. This mission must be performed in an area 60 ft by 270 ft on a synthetic surface (i.e. Loftus center).
- The aircraft must be powered by an electric motor driven propeller/s. The motor/s must be selected from a special "family" of motors. It must be able to perform 10 successive "missions" on a single battery charge.
- The prototype should be able to remain flightworthy after being "dropped" on its landing gear on a hard surface from a height of 3 ft.
- All equipment (computers and sensors) must be installed in a manner so they will not be damaged in a 60 ft/sec uncontrolled encounter with a hard surface at any attitude.
- Any equipment used for the operation of the aircraft must installed in a fashion that it can be removed, repaired or replaced in 10 minutes.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR
The technology demonstrator should satisfy the following:
- The total cost of the prototype airframe may not exceed $200, excluding motor, batteries, sensors and control system. If a remote control system is included, it too must be selected from a list of available resources and will not enter into the cost of the airframe.
- The autonomous control system/sensors cost cannot exceed $200, excluding any equipment provided by "upper management." The design/build team will be provided access to a number of single board computers, sensors, software and interfaces.
- A backup remote control system can be integrated into the aircraft but cannot interfere with its autonomous operation.
- The aircraft may be 'manually constrained' prior to the initiation of the autonomous mission.