US Army Onyx Robot Parachute System

http://www.atairaerospace.com/
http://www.communistrobot.com
An Overview of the Onyx autonomously guided parachute system made by Atair Aerospace for the US Army.

UAV Paraglider

Atair Aerospace has an interesting Paraglider UAV and anautonomous steerable parachute that can land within 100m of the desired landing point.



They are apparently implementing adaptive control to compensate for various cargo loads and asymetric loading. Intelligently located in Brooklyn, New York!!

What You Should Really Know about Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Sensor Payloads

Bowie, MD

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

EO/IR Sensors

 

First and foremost, an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is an unblinking eye in the sky 

While the technology in this Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform is evolving rapidly, the mission still remains the same, providing the fullest possible understanding of the adversary to the commanding officer. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has the range and endurance to provide a bird's-eye view of the battlefield and is flexible enough for dynamic mission re-tasking. This allows timely receipt of information about the enemy, when and where it is needed, without having to risk a manned aircraft. 

Large UAVs like the Predator and Global Hawk can access Class A airspace (above 18,000 ft). Their long endurance and virtually unlimited range makes them ideal platforms for surveillance operations. They are routinely controlled halfway around the world by pilot-rated US Air Force officers. Ku-band satellite links are used for these beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) operations. 

Operational altitudes range for the smaller tactical UAVs like the Scan Eagle are typically from 2,000-5,000 feet but flights up to 8,000 feet (6,000 at night) are common. Line-of-sight (LOS) range is about 50-100 miles when the ground is flat, or even less when hilly or mountainous. 

Electro-Optical/ Infrared (EO/IR) cameras are carried on many UAVs and work best at acquiring good imagery when operating at low altitudes. This is due to several factors including: 
• a smaller amount of atmospheric haze, 
• a smaller focal-length and 
• smaller stabilization requirements 

What affect does fog or low cloud ceilings have on the usefulness of these payloads? 
Can IR cameras penetrate a fog bank? 
How does fog change UAS operations? 
Take-offs or Landings? 
What about winds? 
Icing conditions? 
Or heavy rain? 

To help you answer these questions and to help you make sense of the rapidly changing UAS industry, the Applied Technology Institute/ATIcourses.com of Riva, Md., is offering a new one-day course designed for engineers, aviation experts and project managers who wish to enhance their understanding in the growing field of UAS. 

The course provides the "big picture" for those who work outside of the discipline. Each topic addresses real systems (Raven, Shadow, Predator, Global Hawk and others) and real-world problems and issues concerning the use and expansion of their applications. 

UAS Course is on June 9th in Beltsville, MD. 

Sign-up today! 

 

Mark

UAS Instructor

ATI

Bowie, MD

240-882-1234

 

First Url: Sign-up for UAS Course

 

Second Url: Overview of UAS class

Rockwell Shows Off Self-Healing UAV

Graham Warwick graham_warwick@aviationweek.com

Rockwell Collins plans to demonstrate the autonomous recovery and safe landing of an unmanned aircraft after severe damage to the wing and tail under an extension to its damage-tolerant flight control work with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Under the previous phase, the company demonstrated its flight-control software could recover and land an F/A-18 scale model after 60% of its wing was blown off. "We'll expand on that to show more realistic damage," says David Vos, senior director of control technologies. "We'll take out a big fraction of the wing and horizontal and vertical tails." The system will also demonstrate its ability to recover the aircraft if it flips inverted or enters an extreme nose-down attitude after being damaged. "The onboard system will know the right thing to do even if it's upside down," he says. Development of damage-tolerant flight controls is part of a push to make unmanned aircraft more capable and reliable, so that they can safely share airspace with manned aircraft. Vos says some UAS programs now in competition are interested in the capability, which could lead to damage tolerance being deployed operationally as early as 2010-11 as a feature of the company's Athena UAS flight control system. In the previous phase of the Darpa project, Rockwell Collins' automatic supervisory adaptive control software demonstrated its ability to recover aircraft performance in the roll axis after damage. The new phase will extend this to pitch and yaw for all-axis control. Flight tests are planned for year-end. A new software feature called the emergency mission manager will also be demonstrated. This will allow the damaged aircraft to autonomously select and recover to the nearest airstrip for an emergency landing. A Rockwell Collins video shows a scale model F-18 with most of a wing blown off, flying both with its recovery systems turned off and then on. Commentary by Graham Warwick is available here at the Ares defense technology blog. Photo credit: Rockwell Collins

Virtual Design Enables a Revolutionary Flying Technology to Take off

The challenge of designing a next generation compact Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) craft has been addressed with the combination of a novel radial fan technology and the use of unique lifting and control surfaces.

Above: Using an axis symmetric mesh 
provides the best compromise of 
quality, density and size

CFD Techniques 
The design process started with a searching aerodynamic analysis in order to establish the best interaction between the lifting surfaces and to set the parameters of the propulsion system that satisfy the lift requirements. During the concept creation stage, no prototype was built, and the geometry development relied only on the CFD results. To ensure a high turnover of results for each configuration, automation scripts were written to create, mesh and run a matrix of geometries and boundary conditions.

In the next step where the flight mechanics and stability are analyzed, all surfaces relevant to the control of the craft are modeled in detail. However, to reduce the complexity, rotor and stator blades are simulated through a momentum generator, using the user subroutines capability of STAR-CCM+. The radial momentum added to the system converges on the value of the power input needed to hover in each case. An additional swirl can also be added to accurately simulate any residual tangential flow.

The mesh generation and model setup is controlled by a script that implements the CD-adapco automatic meshing feature when running a series of cases at different control surface configurations and flight orientations. The flight control system analysis has proved essential in the optimization of the performance of the attitude control system. For example, the flight performance of the manned platform in particular required detailed analysis of its behavior in ground effect. This flight control system analysis returns accurate aerodynamic forces and pitch, roll and yaw torque inputs to the flight controls system lookup tables, with up to four configurations being run daily on the solving cluster.

Simultaneously, the propulsion system and lifting surfaces are analyzed in greater detail. Sector meshes are set up for the Moving Reference Frame (MFR) method to analyze the propulsion turbo machinery. Special attention is paid to the rotor and stator interactions with the blades optimized to satisfy the dual requirements of efficient lift generation and rotor torque cancellation.

During the same design loop, the yaw control surfaces capabilities can be evaluated in order to complete the range of information needed for the flight controls systems. Mesh size and setup arameters have been optimized to allow at least one configuration to be run overnight. This stage closes the aerodynamic design loop, as shape and dynamic loads are then known for the CAD/FEM team to finalize the model.

Benefits and Achievements 
The STAR-CCM+ simulation process is fully integrated into the virtual design process and interacts strongly with the CAD design and software development for the control system. The design loads predicted by the CFD analysis make the choice of the composite materials in the craft’s structure much easier, leading to significant weight reductions and further improvements in the payload and endurance capabilities of the flight platform.

The flight control system CFD analysis has proven to be a powerful tool. One of its most important outputs is the data that is fed into a flight simulator that delivers realistic attitude resonse and lift characteristics. It has also made it possible to identify, quantify and address an unusual ground effect response and therefore avoided putting the prototype craftor personnel at risk.

Once the CFD calculations of aerodynamic performance and attitude control met the prerequisite targets, a prototype flight platform was constructed.

The successful test flights of this “MuPod” UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) has confirmed the value of CD-adapco products in providing accurate flight characteristics early in the development process. It was very rewarding to witness the technology at work as the prototype took off for the first time and behaved as predicted by the flight simulator.

Evolution 
The virtual design environment approach has provided an early and thorough understanding of the potential and capabilities of this innovative flight technology. The number of hardware variants selected for construction has been reduced significantly by using the right tools and the right techniques and significant savings in time and cost have been realized as a result. We are currently updating the implementation methodology to use STAR-CCM+ with very promising results so far.

visit our website www.cd-adapco.com for more information about our products and services.

Read the complete story ...

UAV Blimps Powered By Hydro-Electric Motors Using Hydro and Fluid Dynamic Theory

I believe it is possible to design a pilot-less hydro-electric blimp which would have a propulsion system which never requires fuel and would be based on a Perpetual Motion Machine which uses fluid dynamics in a hydro-electric. First the shape of this thing would be similar to the new shopping mall shade cover on the Las Vegas Strip. An oblong flying saucer shape would be two of these, which would be stacked like pancakes. They would be apart by 1/3 the length of each symmetrically shaped oblong saucers shaped lighter than air blimps. In the middle would be an hourglass shaped unit. Attaching the two blimps, similar to the struts on a Baby Great Lakes Acrobatic Aircraft.

There could be two or even three of these. Each would have a hydroelectric motor with a direct drive propeller. Water tanks would be on both saucers above the hourglass configuration for thrust. There would be circulating tracks perpendicular to the direction of travel of this craft. When the water is depleted on the above tank where the water flows down the blimps would rotate and put the water back on top. This mechanism would be battery powered hooked to hydraulics.

The battery would be trickles charged by solar panel thin membranes on top of the saucers and also a little power by magnetic charges on the inner mechanism of the spinning propeller. This unit would once launched, could fly forever. And never need recharging. The issues with weight of the water providing the dynamic pressure for the at 8.2 pounds per gallon would not be an issue. Because you do not need that much water because you could increase the spin change interval of the saucers. This unit could be made big or small. Micro-hydro powered units are now being used in the houses, which allow condensed water to flow down hill and provide power for the house.

These small units can provide as little as 1-2 amps of power for mini-UAV flying balloons the size of two smashed shoe boxes for aerial surveillance. The solar micro thin cells would also heat the water a little and there for provide additional heat for the helium in side to keep the atoms moving around and providing more life. Depending on the drop of water height and speed of water, you could have the propellers hooked to a counter rotation system where by you could put two propellers front and back of each hourglass strut. The first idea for a use of this devise is to use it to patrol borders in low winds and in high winds tethered but always under power. Right now over our US Mexican border the lighter than air blimps are only up 60% of the time.

A friend in Yuma, AZ a former Boeing Research Engineer living in a Winter Snow Bird park tells me as soon as the blimps go down the flood of illegals come across. They just wait until they stop flying the surveillance blimps and come over in droves. A surveillance blimp needing no fuel has plenty of possibilities for so many applications.

The Great Global Hawk Shortage

May 4, 2009: The U.S. Air Force and the manufacturer of the RQ-4 Global Hawk (Northrop Grumman) are feuding over design, cost and quality control issues. Development of the RQ-4 began in the 1990s, as a DARPA research project. But by 2006, per-aircraft costs were 25 percent over the original price. By 2007, production had slipped as well. The air force and Northrop Grumman disagree over what has caused the problems. The air force blames it on poor management, Northrop Grumman says it's all about dealing with complex technology. The air force points out that the RQ-4 is not high tech. The sensors often are, but they are added to the aircraft after they come off the production line. Northrop Grumman continues to stonewall the air force, and shows no signs of making any changes. Some air force procurement officials believe Northrop Grumman is diverting resources to serving foreign customers (especially Germany and NATO), while taking advantage of the fact that there is no other supplier the air force can go to for long range UAVs. The General Atomics Predator C (similar to, but smaller than, the RQ-4) may change Northrop Grumman's mind down the road, but is not seen as an immediate threat.

All nine of the RQ-4A ("Block 10") aircraft have been built (seven for the U.S. Air Force and two for the U.S. Navy). The ones in production are the larger RQ-4B (block 20, 30 and 40) models. Five RQ-4s were delivered in 2007, but the air force only had 16 in service, rather than the planned 20, by the end of last year.

The RQ-4 was still in development on September 11, 2001, but was rushed into action. The first production RQ-4A was not delivered until August, 2003. Although the RQ-4 could stay in the air for up to 42 hours, all of them have only amassed about 4,000 flight hours by 2004. But most of those 4,000 hours, which were originally planned to involve testing of a new aircraft, were instead used to perform combat missions. Global Hawk also got to fly under difficult conditions, something an aircraft still being developed, would not do.

Last year, an RQ-4A Global Hawk made the first non-stop crossing of the Pacific, flying 12,000 kilometers, from California to Australia, in 23 hours. The Global Hawk has previously crossed the Pacific in several hops, but it always had the endurance to do it non-stop. In the last seven years, RQ-4s have flown over 25,000 hours, most of that combat missions, and many of them from Persian Gulf bases. The latest models have been able to fly 20 hour missions, land for refueling and maintenance, and be off in four hours for another twenty hours in the sky. The RQ-4 has been very reliable, with aircraft being ready for action 95 percent of the time. The U.S. Air Force has been buying them at the rate of five a year, at a cost of $58 million each. An RQ-4 can survey about 4,000 square kilometers an hour.

The new B version is larger (wingspan is 15 feet larger, at 131 feet, and it's four feet longer at 48 feet) than the A model, and can carry an additional two tons of equipment. To support that, there's a new generator that produces 150 percent more electrical power. The B version is a lot more reliable. Early A models tended to fail and crash at the rate of once every thousand flight hours, mostly because of design flaws. The first three RQ-4Bs entered service in 2006. At 13 tons, the Global Hawk is the size of a commuter airliner (like the Embraer ERJ 145), but costs nearly twice as much. Global Hawk can be equipped with much more powerful, and expensive, sensors, than other UAVs. These more the double the cost of the aircraft. These spy satellite quality sensors (especially AESA radar) are usually worth the expense, because they enable the UAV, flying at over 60,000 feet, to get a sharp picture of all the territory it can see from that altitude.

The air force stationed a squadron of seven Global Hawks on the island of Guam. These UAVs will begin arriving there next year, and undertake recon missions throughout the western Pacific.

American UFO Spotted In Afghanistan

An unidentified, jet propelled UAV has been spotted operating from an American airbase in Afghanistan. It's a flying wing design, similar to the X-45s and X-47s built as development aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and Navy. These UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles) were built to carry weapons, and the one spotted in Afghanistan may have a bomb bay as well. The U.S. Air Forces X-45A combat UAV (UCAV) dropped its first smart bomb in 2004. There are also purely reconnaissance jet powered UAVs built as experimental vehicles.
Last year, the U.S. Navy rolled out its first combat UAV. This was part of a six year long, $636 million contract to build and test two X-47B aircraft. The test program calls for first flight this year and first carrier landing in two years. The 15 ton X-47B has a wingspan of 62 feet (whose outer 15 foot portions fold up to save space on the carrier). It carries a two ton payload and be able to stay in the air for twelve hours.

Six years ago, the X-47A UCAV made its first flight. Development of this aircraft began in 2001. The Air Force was also testing the X-45 UCAV, which also had a naval version (the X-46). The X-45 program began in 1999, and the eight ton (max takeoff weight, with two ton payload) aircraft was ready for operational tests in 2006. The X-46 has a different wing layout, and a range of 1,100 kilometers, carrying a payload of two tons. The X-47A also has a two ton payload and a range of 1,600 kilometers. Unlike the X-45, which was built to be stored for long periods, the X-47A was built for sustained use aboard a carrier. All of these aircraft are very stealthy and can operate completely on their own (including landing and takeoff, under software control). The UCAVs would be used for dangerous missions, like destroying enemy air defenses, and reconnaissance.

The X-45 was meant mainly for those really dangerous bombing missions, early on, when enemy air defenses have to be destroyed. But the Pentagon finally got hip to the fact that the UCAS developers were coming up with an aircraft that could replace all current fighter-bombers. This was partly because of the success of the X-45 in reaching its development goals, and the real-world success of the Predator (in finding, and attacking, targets) and Global Hawk (in finding stuff after flying half way around the world by itself.)

The X-45A passed tests with formation flying. An X-45C could carry eight SDB (250 pound small diameter bombs), or up to two tons of other JDAMs. The X-45A has already shown it can fly in formation. The planned X-45C would weigh in at about 19 tons, have a 2.2 ton payload and be 39 feet long (with a 49 foot wingspan.) The X-45A, built for development only, is 27 feet long, has a wingspan of 34 feet and has a payload of 1.2 tons. The X-45C was designed to hit targets 2,300 kilometers away and be used for bombing and reconnaissance missions. Each X-45C was to cost about $30 million, depending on how extensive, and expensive, its electronic equipment was. Believing they could do better, the U.S. Air Force cancelled its X-45 program three years ago, and is now looking into different UCAV designs.

Meanwhile, many UCAV designers want to equip the UCAVs with sensors (various types of video cams) to give the aircraft the same kind of "situational awareness" that piloted aircraft have. But for this to work, the UCAV would need software that would enable it to think like a fighter pilot. The techies say this can be done. But the fighter pilots that run the air force and naval aviation are not so sure. There also some worry about job security and pilots being replaced by robotic aircraft. All this is headed for some mock combat exercise between manned and unmanned fighters. Such tests will be a competition between pilots and programmers. But the programmer community contains fighter pilots as well, and the smart money is on the geeks to outsmart, or at least outfly, the human pilots. No one thinks it will be a lopsided battle, but the robotic aircraft are so much cheaper, that even a dead even finish favors the pilotless aircraft.

The U.S. Navy has invested several billion dollars, so far, in developing combat UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) that can operate from aircraft carriers, and replace some of the manned aircraft on carriers. There are other problems with the combat UAVs, and these concern just how they will be used. Currently, the thinking is that they will be sort of like cruise missiles that return, and will be most useful for reconnaissance and dangerous missions like taking out enemy air defenses. But many UAV engineers, and some fighter pilots, believe that combat UAVs could revolutionize air warfare. Combat UAVs can perform maneuvers that a manned aircraft cannot (because there are limits to the g-forces a human body can tolerate.) In theory, software and sensors would make a combat UAV much quicker to sort out a combat situation, and make the right move. For the moment, this aspect of UAV development is officially off the table. But once combat UAVs start operating, and that will be by the end of the decade, there will be much pressure to let combat UAVs rule the skies, in addition to scouting and bombing.

Meanwhile, no one is saying what a combat UAV design is doing in Afghanistan. But there it is, operating as a UFO (unidentified flying object).

Australia's Entecho has UAVs and Hoverpod

The Hoverpod is Entecho's personal flight Compact Air Vehicle (CAV) and employs their patented radial drum fan lifting system. With its small footprint and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) ability, it is easily transported, can be launched from anywhere and fly over any surface; be it snow, water, sand or wetland.

The Hoverpod is the ultimate recreational vehicle, combining the freedom of the hovercraft and All-Terrain-Vehicles (ATV) with the performance of Personal-Watercraft (PWC) and Snowmobiles. The Hoverpod flies at a greater altitude than a conventional hovercraft, allowing it to pass over any terrain. The Hoverpod also enjoys the freedom to tilt and develop translational g-forces in any direction. This omni-directional ability makes the Hoverpod further unique compared to conventional recreational vehicles.


Top speed should be around 120kmh (75 mph), and an initial range of 3km (2 miles) will improve through development.

Entecho are building two models using the enclosed rotor technology. The first is the small, 11 pounds (5kg) unmanned Mupod, which can be used for a variety of UAV applications and measures 3 feet (60cm) in diameter. Entecho have already demonstrated a flying prototype of the Mupod.

The larger Hoverpod is a manned version with up to 3 seats. It's 5 feet (2.7m) in diameter and limited to fly 5 feet (1.5m) above ground - this doesn't make it the flying car everyone's holding out for, but it's a significant improvement on, for example, the standard hovercraft - and opens up a much wider range of passable terrains.

Unmanned planes ready to begin test flights

by Kathrine Schmidt

Published: Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 6:01 a.m. 
Last Modified: Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 9:30 p.m.

THIBODAUX - Its wingspan is only five feet. But officials and researchers hope this tiny unmanned plane, dubbed the CyberBug, can help enhance research on coastal issues as well as bring a new industry and jobs to the area.

After more than two years of working to bring Unmanned Aerial Systems technology to the Houma-Thibodaux area, researchers are preparing for its first test flights for the cutting-edge data collection system this summer, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We feel it is very important for this region," said Balaji Ramachandran, assistant professor of geomatics at Nicholls State University and lead researcher on the project. "It can bring in a lot of growth in the southern part of the state."

Originally used for military surveillance and monitoring, unmanned planes have expanded in their use to include scientific research, search- and-rescue missions, fisheries, traffic or damage to power lines. A host of local groups, including Nicholls, the Houma-Terrebonne Airport, Fletcher Technical Community College, the South Central Planning and Development Commission and the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority have all been working on the project, a natural fit for the Houma-Thibodaux area because of its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, supporters say.

The system is made up of a "bird," or unmanned aircraft, that is controlled by instruments on the ground. Cameras and other monitoring systems collect images and other data and transmit them back to on-land systems.

Houma's first plane, a hand-launched model, will be set off from barrier islands to help map coastal data and monitor bird habitats. Researchers believe it will be the first civilian UAS flight in Louisiana.

"The demonstration is just to get the public's interest," Ramachandran said. "The reason we picked the barrier islands is because our biological scientists are already working on restoration projects. That's very important."

The plan is to continue with at least one flight per month to contribute to the research throughout the first year of its operation, Ramachandran said.

The pilots for the project, Houma-Terrebonne airport director Earl Hicks and local aviator Darryl Christen, will attend training in Utah for the project this week.

But it took some major investments and effort to get the project to this stage.

First, the team needed a network upgrade to transmit the signals from the plane to a station on the ground, and then in turn share it with other universities in the state.

In 2007, a $73,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security built up the wireless connection between Nicholls and Fletcher Technical Community College. This February, a connection was finished to the high-powered LONI network at Tulane University from Nicholls, thanks to a grant from the Delta Regional Authority with the help of South Central Planning and Development Commission.

They also bought the CyberBug bird, made possible with a $40,000 grant, a hand-launched craft that can stay in the air for just over an hour.

If the initial flights are successful, the scientists hope to progress to larger birds launched from boats, eventually moving to large-scale models that would take off from a runway at the airport. The airport set aside 150 acres off Moffet <0x000a>Road several years ago to be available for UAS projects and potential businesses.

Their aim: Make Houma an attractive and competitive spot for larger government contracts and private-sector UAS development, according to George Rey, a consultant on the project with COTS Technology in New Orleans, who reported on the topic to the Houma-Terrebonne Airport Commission in April.

Some of those opportunities, he suggested, could include hurricane research done by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or flights that could inexpensively monitor power lines for damage for power companies.

Terrebonne Parish's economic-development group is already working to pursue some of these chances. Hicks, along with Michelle Edwards, who handles business recruitment for the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority, attended a UAS trade show near Albuquerque last December.

Since the airport began pursuing the project a few years ago, TEDA has been working to search out business prospects for research, development and manufacturing in that sector, Edwards said.

"I think it offers an opportunity to diversify into emerging technologies of the future," Edwards said. "It offers us an opportunity to get into research and development areas for specialized technologies that are not in the oil and gas industry.