Performed
the first fully correct autonomous vertical-to-horizontal (V2H) and autonomously
tracked horizontal waypoints successfully. The take-off and V2H transition were
performed in full autonomous mode, while the H2V transition was performed with
pilot guidance using underlying angular rate controllers. Vehicle was landed in
velocity mode, with the pilot supplying translational velocity guidance
commands. Click here to see videos.
Performed the first vertical-to-horizontal (V2H) and
horizontal-to-vertical (H2V) transitions. The take-off and V2H transition were performed
in full autonomous mode, while the H2V transition was performed with pilot
guidance using underlying angular rate controllers. Vehicle was landed in
velocity mode, with the pilot supplying translational velocity guidance
commands. The vehicle departed controlled flight after full-manual mode was
accidentally activated by the inadvertent pressing of the Manual-Mode switch
just after the V2H transition, however, the aircraft recovered after this was
turned off. Click here to see videos.
Using a new
Inertial Navigation system consisting of a Honeywell Ring-Laser Gyro and a
Novatel RTK GPS system we have been able to perform fully autonomous
hover mode testing with the tether test-rig. We have also performed autonomous
and vertical velocity mode flights in strong winds. Click
here to see videos.
Resumed Tethered Hover Mode testing. Various different vertical flight control
modes were tested succesfully, including velocity,
angle, and rate-based controllers. This was also the first time the new longer
tether pole has been used for tests. The vehicle used an upgraded GPS system,
as well as a static pressure sensor to better enable it to accurately determine
its position. These flight tests also featured a new MATLAB-based
ground-station to communicate with the vehicle, and uplink DGPS corrections. Click here to see videos.
The first
autonomous hover-mode flight of the T-Wing was conducted. Click here to see the video or click
here to see the pics.. All pilot inputs were removed for this flight
and the onboard autonomous guidance was used in all axes to control the
vehicle. Differential GPS was used in
conjunction with the IMU to feed velocity and position information back into
the guidance loop. This allows the
vehicle to track through a series of predetermined waypoints.
The second T-Wing airframe was flown in hover
via velocity controllers, while tethered. Further autonomous tethered flights
were also conducted. Click here to see the video, or click
here to see the pics.
Tethered
hover testing has commenced on the second airframe and the T-Wing flew with
autonomous guidance in all axes except the vertical. Vertical position was
controlled via a vertical velocity controller commanded by a remote pilot.
Pilot input for vertical position control is necessitated by vertical height
limitations of the tether system and the imprecision of DGPS altitude measurements.
Once tether testing is complete, all pilot input will be removed. Once this is
done, all axes will be connected to an onboard guidance loop which generates
appropriate velocity commands for the controllers to navigate between a set of
waypoints. Click here to see the pics.
Last
revised: Wednesday 4th/October/2006