Development of a rotary-wing test bed for autonomous flight

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dc.contributor.advisorJones, T.
dc.contributor.advisorMilne, G. W.
dc.contributor.authorGroenewald, Stephanusen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
dc.date.accessioned2006-10-11T06:57:04Zen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2010-06-01T08:58:55Z
dc.date.available2006-10-11T06:57:04Zen_ZA
dc.date.available2010-06-01T08:58:55Z
dc.date.issued2006-03en_ZA
dc.descriptionThesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
dc.description.abstractThis project developed a low-cost avionics system for a miniature helicopter to be used for research in the field of autonomous flight (UAVs). Previous work was done on a small, electrically powered helicopter with some success, but the overall conclusion was that the vehicle was underpowered. A new vehicle, the Miniature Aircraft X−Cell, was chosen for its ability to lift a larger payload, and previous work done with it by a number of other institutions. An expandable architecture was designed to allow sensors and actuators to be arbitrarily added to the system, based on the CAN standard. A CAN sensor node was developed that could digitize 12 channels at up to 16 bit resolution and do basic filtering of the data. Onboard computing was provided by a PC/104 based computer running Linux, with additional hardware added to interface with the CAN bus and assist with timing. A simulation environment for the helicopter was evaluated and shown to provide a good test bed for the control of the helicopter. Finally, the avionics was used during piloted test-flights to measure data and judge the performance of both the modified helicopter and the electronics itself.en_ZA
dc.format.extent10646435 bytesen_ZA
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2814
dc.publisherStellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
dc.rights.holderUniversity of Stellenbosch
dc.rights.holderUniversity of Stellenbosch
dc.subjectTheses -- Electronic engineeringen_ZA
dc.subjectDissertations -- Electronic engineeringen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshHelicopters -- Control systemsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshDrone aircraften _ZA
dc.titleDevelopment of a rotary-wing test bed for autonomous flighten_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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