Coordinated Autonomous Flight of Small Unmanned Aerial Vechicles

Abstract

Two R/C aircraft were extensively modified in an attempt to achieve coordinated autonomous flight. Coordinated autonomous flight of small unmanned aerial vehicles has a wide variety of applications, from automated aerial refueling to multi-vehicle coordinated surveillance to making traditional UAV operations safer in the National Airspace System. The system was designed to implement a leader-follower formation about a predetermined set of waypoints. A variety of sensors and flight computers were added to the aircraft in order to achieve this goal. A robust control system was designed in Matlab and the entire system was implemented with the help of Arduino code through Teensy 3.5 units. This system was tested successfully in comprehensive simulations in Matlab, demonstrating all the capabilities set forward. While flight tests did not meet all goals set forward, a streamlined implementation system of coordinated autonomous flight, adaptable to a host of different vehicles and mission types, was successfully designed.