Nikolai Kummer, Alexandra Beresowskaja, H. Firouzi, H. Najjaran
{"title":"Autonomous UAV controlled collision landing via eye-in-hand visual servoing","authors":"Nikolai Kummer, Alexandra Beresowskaja, H. Firouzi, H. Najjaran","doi":"10.5589/Q16-002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q16-002","url":null,"abstract":"Catastrophic damage to fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is most likely to occur during the landing stage. Vision-based autonomous landing methods for small UAV have been proposed in literature to address the issue. This paper improves on previous work on vision-based landing via a controlled collision with a large inflatable airbag. In the proposed method the UAV steers towards a large, multi-coloured, dome-shaped airbag using visual feedback obtained from a UAV-mounted camera. A multi-colour airbag is proposed to facilitate a robust and efficient colour-based detection method for real-time detection of the dome in images. A proposed visual servoing controller translates the dome location into desired pitch and yaw rate commands to achieve an exponential decay of the image error. A model predictive UAV controller that achieves desired roll and yaw rates is designed and tested in simulations. The lateral and longitudinal UAV dynamics were decoupled and a linear discrete state space model of the dy...","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71109875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Haque, W. Asrar, A. Omar, E. Sulaeman, M. J. Ali
{"title":"Preliminary aerodynamic and static stability analysis for hybrid buoyant aerial vehicles at low speeds using digital DATCOM","authors":"A. Haque, W. Asrar, A. Omar, E. Sulaeman, M. J. Ali","doi":"10.5589/Q16-001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q16-001","url":null,"abstract":"It is well-known that air transportation of passengers and goods is a large market in the world of aviation. Hybrid buoyant aerial vehicles have the potential to be candidates for such applications. This paper addresses the preliminary static stability analysis for hybrid buoyant aerial vehicles in which a novel concept of ballonet arrangement is applied. A study was performed to assess the suitability of commercial off-the-shelf software for this task. A generic geometric model was created to obtain the lift and drag characteristics of the aircraft and provide geometric parameters. These parameters were input into DATCOM, which was used to model the aerodynamic characteristics and to determine the stability and control derivatives for static analysis and airship performance enhancement. This study demonstrates that the aerodynamic and stability trends for low-speed airships can be obtained and analyzed using DATCOM.","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"61 1","pages":"51-60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71109841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ryan Perera, P. Paudel, John K. Kamel, F. Xi, P. Walsh
{"title":"Module discretization and consolidation of a modular morphing wing","authors":"Ryan Perera, P. Paudel, John K. Kamel, F. Xi, P. Walsh","doi":"10.5589/Q15-008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-008","url":null,"abstract":"A morphing wing is designed to morph to different wing profiles required for different flight regimes. Such a design is based on modules, and discretization of different wing profiles will yield different sets of modules. In this paper, a novel wing module consolidation methodology is developed to consolidate different sets of modules to a common set of modules for a unified modular morphing wing design. Initial wing profiles are created for different flight regimes using an optimization algorithm coupled with a fluid solver. These wing profiles are then smoothened, and used as reference geometries for module discretization. The results of discretized wings are then consolidated using a sensitivity analysis and a weighting function that allows the designer to assign a higher priority to a specific flight regime. A case study, showing the implementation of this methodology for climb, cruise, and descent flight regimes, reveals that the consolidated wing can be morphed to approximate the original wing profi...","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"61 1","pages":"36-50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71110113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amr Nagaty, Carl Thibault, M. Seto, M. Trentini, Howard Li
{"title":"Construction, modelling, and control of an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle for target localization","authors":"Amr Nagaty, Carl Thibault, M. Seto, M. Trentini, Howard Li","doi":"10.5589/Q15-007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-007","url":null,"abstract":"Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been widely used in intelligence gathering, psychological operations, laser designation, range finding, and communication. In this paper, the design of a fixed-wing UAV is presented. A target detection and localization method was proposed for the developed UAV. The hardware construction, along with the selection of necessary components, is introduced here. To facilitate modular code development and integration of control laws with simulation and hardware, a hardware-in-the-loop simulator was proposed. The flight control law was developed and tested using the hardware-in-the-loop simulator. WiFi was used for monitoring the state variables of the aircraft. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the performance of the developed system.","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"61 1","pages":"23-35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71110059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Design and testing of low-cost miniature ion thruster for nanosatellites","authors":"C. Stoute, B. Quine","doi":"10.5589/Q15-009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-009","url":null,"abstract":"Ion propulsion is a technology that offers low thrust but high specific impulse for small spacecraft. The propulsion system can be used for attitude control and deep-space missions. A disadvantage ion thrusters have is the high cost of the propellant. Xenon is a widely used propellant for ion thrusters; however, it is expensive. In addition, the manufacturing of the ion thruster can be costly. This paper presents a low-cost ion thruster that uses nitrogen and argon as its propellant. The thruster is named capacitive discharge ion thruster (CDIT) because the plasma is generated by a capacitive discharge. The force, specific impulse, mass efficiency, power efficiency, and thrust efficiency of the CDIT using nitrogen is 0.564 mN, 2 300 s, 0.44, 0.75, and 0.34, respectively, at a mass flow rate of 25 µg/s.","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"61 1","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71110132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Elements of modelling the use of particles in solid-propellant rocket motors","authors":"D. Greatrix","doi":"10.5589/Q15-006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-006","url":null,"abstract":"Important elements of the framework for numerically evaluating the usage of reactive aluminum particles in solid-propellant rocket motors are brought forward, and where possible, predicted model results are correlated to established experimental observations. A principal purpose in using inert or reactive particles is for the suppression of axial pressure wave development in the motor. In this study, a primary focus is placed on evaluating the qualitative trends associated with the time-dependent reduction in size of the reactive aluminum particles as they move downstream in the central internal flow. To narrow the scope of this preliminary study, the reactive particle size regression is stipulated to occur at a designated uniform rate for a given simulated firing. Individual transient internal ballistic simulation runs for a reference composite-propellant cylindrical-grain motor show the evolution of the axial pressure wave for a given initiating pressure disturbance, and for particle loading, initial pa...","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"61 1","pages":"9-22"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71110214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Process operational windows and industrialization scenarios for assembly of large aluminium structures by robotic friction stir welding","authors":"P. Wanjara, B. Monsarrat, S. Larose","doi":"10.5589/Q15-004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-004","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, friction stir welding (FSW) of 3.18 mm thick AA6061-T6 sheets in the butt- and lap-joint configuration was investigated with the objective of industrializing the process using low-cost serial industrial robots. The influence of weld pitch on the welding defects, microstructure, hardness, and bend performance of butt and lap welds was examined to identify process operational windows for both joint types. In parallel with these trials, a methodology based on kinetostatic analysis was developed to identify and evaluate viable robotized scenarios for FSW. On the basis of the experimental FSW process development results, this methodology was then applied to identify optimized FSW scenarios for the fabrication of large integrated AA6061 structural components with stringer-to-skin and skin-to-skin joints. Candidate workcell layouts are also presented.","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5589/Q15-004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71110021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluation of doped amorphous carbon coatings for hydrophobic applications in aerospace","authors":"M. Bielawski, Qi Yang, R. Mckellar","doi":"10.5589/Q15-002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-002","url":null,"abstract":"To improve aircraft performance in adverse service environments, specific coatings are applied to critical surfaces to improve (i) erosion, (ii) corrosion, (iii) hydrophobic, or (iv) icephobic properties. Although protective coatings are available in all four groups, aerospace applications require combinations of properties that are not readily available, for example hydrophobicity together with erosion resistance. The combination of hydrophobic (or icephobic) and erosion properties is difficult to obtain. Known hydrophobic or icephobic materials are usually polymers that are too soft to provide required erosion resistance and durability in aircraft service conditions. Conversely, physical vapour deposited coatings that are erosion resistant and durable, typically do not have adequate hydrophobicity. However, recent studies on amorphous carbon (a-C) coatings indicate that these materials have potential for combined hydrophobic and erosion applications through doping or compositional changes. Thus, this pa...","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71109606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Mojarad, H. Champliaud, J. Gholipour, J. Savoie, P. Wanjara
{"title":"Load path optimization in tube hydroforming","authors":"S. Mojarad, H. Champliaud, J. Gholipour, J. Savoie, P. Wanjara","doi":"10.5589/Q15-003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-003","url":null,"abstract":"The goal of this work was to identify the optimum combination of the main process parameters, i.e., the internal pressure and end feeding (load path), for tube hydroforming to minimize the thickness reduction, while satisfying the failure constraint defined by the forming limit diagram of the material. To perform process design optimization with minimum experimentation, the LS-OPT software was utilized in combination with a finite element model (FEM) that simulated a round to square tube hydroforming (THF) process for stainless steel 321 in LS-DYNA. The load path obtained through the optimization procedure was applied to the THF process and the tube expansion and the thickness results obtained from the FEM were compared with the experimental results in the critical regions of the hydroformed tube.","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71109639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Path planning for eddy current inspection around probable defects","authors":"P. Olivieri, L. Birglen, X. Maldague, I. Mantegh","doi":"10.5589/Q15-001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5589/Q15-001","url":null,"abstract":"Part quality is an important aspect in the aerospace industry to avoid unpredictable and irreversible damages and to ensure a long lifecycle. To ensure quality, nondestructive testing techniques are applied on parts, and one of the most frequently used in the aerospace industry is eddy current testing (ECT). However, high-cost, time-consuming ECT is still mainly performed manually. In this case, reliability and repeatability of inspection results are also limited due to their high dependence on the human operator. As part of an effort to robotize ECT with a six degree-of-freedom manipulator arm and thus, free oneself from the many drawbacks of manual inspections, the authors previously proposed a coverage path planning methodology dedicated to complex aeronautical surfaces. However, orientation of the probe along these paths was not initially considered during this previous work, although it is just as important as position information given that the probe must keep a normal orientation with respect to th...","PeriodicalId":80861,"journal":{"name":"Canadian aeronautics and space journal. Le journal aeronautique et spatial du Canada","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71109489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}