Landing Site Reachability in a Forced Landing of Unmanned Aircraft in Wind

Matthew Coombes; Wen-Hua Chen; Peter Render

doi:10.2514/1.c033856

Preflight Contingency Planning Approach for Fixed Wing UAVs with Engine Failure in the Presence of Winds

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s19020227 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 227 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Bulent Ayhan ◽

Chiman Kwan ◽

Bence Budavari ◽

Jude Larkin ◽

David Gribben

Keyword(s):

Geographical Area ◽

Landing Site ◽

Contingency Planning ◽

Path Generation ◽

Generation Process ◽

Area Of Interest ◽

Forced Landing ◽

Planning Approach ◽

Final Approach ◽

Engine Failure

Preflight contingency planning that utilizes wind forecast in path planning can be highly beneficial to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) operators in preventing a possible mishap of the UAV. This especially becomes more important if the UAV has an engine failure resulting in the loss of all its thrust. Wind becomes a significant factor in determining reachability of the emergency landing site in a contingency like this. The preflight contingency plans can guide the UAV operators about how to glide the aircraft to the designated emergency landing site to make a safe landing. The need for a preflight or in-flight contingency plan is even more obvious in the case of a communication loss between the UAV operator and UAV since the UAV will then need to make the forced landing autonomously without the operator. In this paper, we introduce a preflight contingency planning approach that automates the forced landing path generation process for UAVs with engine failure. The contingency path generation aims true reachability to the emergency landing site by including the final approach part of the path in forecast wind conditions. In the contingency path generation, no-fly zones that could be in the area are accounted for and the contingency flight paths do not pass through them. If no plans can be found that fulfill reachability in the presence of no-fly zones, only then, as a last resort, the no-fly zone avoidance rule is relaxed. The contingency path generation utilizes hourly forecast wind data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the geographical area of interest and time of the flight. Different from past works, we use trochoidal paths instead of Dubins curves and incorporate wind as a parameter in the contingency path design.

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Data Acquisition Considering of Fixed-Wing UAVs in Mountainous Areas

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.543-547.2151 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 543-547 ◽

pp. 2151-2154

Author(s):

Ling Li Zhao ◽

Shuai Liu ◽

Li Ma

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

High Resolution ◽

Data Acquisition ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Landing Site ◽

Unmanned Aircraft ◽

Military Operations ◽

The Past ◽

Sensing System ◽

Sensing Technology

Over the past decade, there has been a great demand of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in numerous industrial and military operations around the world. This paper is focused on low fixed-wing UAV remote sensing system, put remote sensing technology and UAV technology closely to fixed-wing unmanned aircraft as a platform, which is equipped with high-resolution digital remote sensing sensors, it has easy transition since the airport does not depend on landing site, it is a new low-speed high-resolution remote sensing data acquisition system. It has capability of a survey of real-time quick monitoring, and has been an effective complement to conventional means for satellite remote sensing and aerial photography.

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Algorithm for determining the angular position of the ship’s deck from an unmanned aircraft using digital image processing

Radio Industry (Russia) ◽

10.21778/2413-9599-2020-30-4-87-97 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 87-97

Author(s):

A. A. Makarenko

Keyword(s):

Image Processing ◽

Digital Image Processing ◽

Digital Image ◽

Angular Position ◽

Landing Site ◽

Unmanned Aircraft ◽

Test Results ◽

Test Image ◽

Automatic Landing ◽

Inclination Angles

Problem statement. An unmanned vertical take-off and landing aircraft equipped with means for analyzing parameters of a certain pattern is usually not able to land on a landing site that is not equipped with the appropriate markings. To solve this problem, it is possible to install onboard the UMA means for generating a special test image that is projected from the aircraft to the intended landing site, and means for automatically measuring and analyzing the parameters of this image.Objective. Develop an algorithm for applying digital image processing to determine the angular position of the ship’s deck or any other flat landing ground from an unmanned aircraft with vertical take-off and landing. The article presents the calculated relations that allow calculating the angular position and evaluating the general condition of the landing ground using a 3D model of its surface.Results. An algorithm has been developed according to which a particular test image is generated by a group of laser emitters on the landing site. Digital image processing methods are used to analyze the test image to assess the condition and determine the inclination angles of the landing site.Practical implications. The test results of the considered algorithm showed the possibility of its application in the system of automatic landing of an unmanned aircraft with vertical take-off and landing.

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Flight in nature II: How animal flyers land

The Aeronautical Journal ◽

10.1017/s0001924000010484 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 119 (1213) ◽

pp. 281-299 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

R.A. Jiménez Manzanera ◽

SH. Smith

Keyword(s):

Motion Parallax ◽

Sensory System ◽

Aircraft Design ◽

Landing Site ◽

Unmanned Aircraft ◽

Animal Group ◽

Pheromone Trails ◽

Nesting Site ◽

Olfactory Sense ◽

Almost All

AbstractIn this review paper, different landing strategies of diverse species of animal flyers and gliders, both extinct and extant, are analysed. These methods vary depending on the animal group and the sensory system used by the animal to detect its landing site. In almost all species the use of delayed stall during the landing manoeuvre was observed. Sometimes wing flapping was used to aid in deceleration. With respect to guidance and navigation, most insect, bird and mammal gliders use their vision to guide them to landing via optical flow or motion parallax. Bats, which are nocturnal creatures, rely on their auditory system as they use echolocation to find their nesting site. Some butterfly and moth species guide themselves to landing using their olfactory sense as they follow pheromone trails. The information presented here can be used as a source of information for novel bio-inspired unmanned aircraft design.

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