Multi-Object Tracking with Micro Aerial Vehicle

A simple yet efficient tracking framework is proposed for real-time multi-object tracking with micro aerial vehicles(MAVs). It's basic missions for MAVs to detect specific targets and then track them automatically. In our method, candidate regions are generated using the salient detection in each frame and then classified by an eural network. A kernelized correlation filter(KCF) is employed to track each target until it disappears or the peak-sidelobe ratio is lower than a threshold. Besides, we define the birth and death of each tracker for the targets. The tracker is recycled if its target disappears and can be assigned to a new target. The algorithm is evaluated on the PAFISS and UAV123 datasets. The results show a good performance on both the tracking accuracy and speed.

Development of the NWPU20 Micro Air Vehicle

This paper reports the design, construction, and operation of NWPU20 Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), which is the smallest that has, up to now, been developed in PR China. The miniaturization level in PR China makes smaller MAV, in our opinion, not possible to implement. The NWPU20 is a 20-centimeter span, battery powered, fixed-wing aircraft with an off-the-shelf color video camera that can transmit live video back to the ground station. The on-board electronic subsystems are smallest and lightest among the commercial products, including an 8-gram wireless video camera, an 8-gram receiver, a 5-gram electronic speed controller (ESC), two 4.5-gram fully proportional radio frequency control servos, and the total mass of NWPU20 is less than 80 grams. An experimental model was fabricated and tested in the Low Turbulent Flow Wind Tunnel (LTFWT) at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) to research low Reynolds number flow characteristics of the NWPU20. The result of the wind tunnel test shows that stall angle of attack of NWPU20 can reach 30°, which is higher than that of the general aircrafts, and the maximum lift-to-drag ratio of NWPU20 can nearly reach 6 at the angle of attack of 10°, which can satisfy design requirements of the NWPU20. A small-sized propulsion/torque testing system was developed to measure and analyze the propulsion and torque performances of the motor-propeller combination used in the NWPU20. A center of gravity (c.g.) testing apparatus was developed and used to adjust the c.g. of the NWPU20 so that it has good longitudinal static stability and control. The NWPU20 prototype has undergone successfully flight tests many times; it flies at 32 kilometers per hour, with an endurance of 15 minutes, and a maximum communications range of 300 meters. With the color video camera, NWPU20 successfully transmits real-time video back to the ground station. The success of NWPU20 proves preliminarily that 20-centimeter span micro air vehicle is feasible and usable.

Implementation of VxWorks in autopilot for micro aerial vehicle based on PXA255 and FPGA

The overall hardware construction of autopilot within micro aerial vehicle is presented. The boot process of VxWorks real time operating system as well as the conception and function of board support package （BSP） is described. And the transplantation process of the VxWroks operat ing system into the hardware platform mentioned above is highlighted. It is shown from the final re sults that VxWorks has high stability and real time performance, ensuring accurate flight control and a smooth flight of the micro aerial vehicle.

Low-Power Operational Amplifier for Real-Time Signal Processing System of Micro Air Vehicle

A low-power complementary metal oxide semiconductor（CMOS） operational amplifier （op-amp） for real-time signal processing of micro air vehicle （MAV） is designed in this paper.Traditional folded cascode architecture with positive channel metal oxide semiconductor（PMOS） differential input transistors and sub-threshold technology are applied under the low supply voltage.Simulation results show that this amplifier has significantly low power,while maintaining almost the same gain,bandwidth and other key performances.The power required is only 0.12 mW,which is applicable to low-power and low-voltage real-time signal acquisition and processing system.

IMPROVED UVLM FOR FLAPPING-WING AERODYNAMICS COMPUTATION

To calculate the aerodynamics of flapping-wing micro air vehicle（MAV） with the high efficiency and the engineering-oriented accuracy,an improved unsteady vortex lattice method （UVLM） for MAV is proposed. The method considers the influence of instantaneous wing deforming in flapping,as well as the induced drag,additionally models the stretching and the dissipation of vortex rings,and can present the aerodynamics status on the wing surface. An implementation of the method is developed. Moreover,the results and the efficiency of the proposed method are verified by CFD methods. Considering the less time cost of UVLM,for application of UVLM in the MAV optimization,the influence of wake vortex ignoring time saving and precision is studied. Results show that saving in CPU time with wake vortex ignoring the appropriate distance is considerable while the precision is not significantly reduced. It indicates the potential value of UVLM in the optimization of MAV design.

MAV放宽静稳定性设计的效益/代价分析

介绍了一种固定翼微型飞行器,通过对不同静稳定性设计的升阻特性、力矩特性、配平损失等进行计算分析,确定了在该类微型飞行器上应用放宽静稳定性技术的代价和效益,分析了不同操纵面布局的影响,并给出了微型飞行器在操纵面布局和控制增稳应用方面的一般计算方法和建议。

基于TMS320DM355的MAV机载视频传输系统的设计与实现

为了提高微型飞行器(MAV)无线视频传输的质量、扩大传输距离,设计并实现了一种基于3G WCDMA无线网络的机载视频传输系统。采用TI公司的达芬奇处理器TMS320DM355作为核心处理器,给出了总体设计方案和硬件结构,并阐述了采用PPP协议拨号接入WCDMA网络的方法。采用嵌入式Linux操作系统作为软件开发平台,分析并设计了基于V4L2(Video For Linux Two)驱动的视频采集模块。通过调用TI提供的编解码引擎API,实现了视频MPEG-4压缩编码处理。针对视频传输的实时性要求,采用了实时传输协议RTP和实时传输控制协议RTCP,重点阐述了MPEG-4视频的RTP封包策略,并基于JRTPLIB库文件实现了视频的实时传输功能。实验结果表明,该系统可以满足视频清晰、实时的传输要求。

某型MAV的自主导航算法及飞行试验

针对某型固定翼MAV,在飞行姿态控制和高度控制已经比较完善、机载GPS精度受到制约并存在信号延时的状况下,对该MAV的导航算法进行了探讨。历经多次计算机仿真和飞行试验,根据PID控制原理,设计并完善了适合该MAV的导航算法,给出了基于此算法的飞行试验结果。试验结果表明,该算法满足MAV执行长距离飞行任务的要求。

A novel MAV with treadmill motion of wing

The Magnus effect is well known phenomena for producing high lift values from spinning symmetrical geometries such as cylinders, spheres, or disks. But, the Magnus force may also be produced by treadmill motion of aerodynamic bodies. To accomplish this, the skin of aerodynamic bodies may circulate with a constant circumferential speed. Here, a novel wing with treadmill motion of skin is introduced which may generate lift at zero air speeds. The new wing may lead to micro aerial vehicle configurations for vertical take-off or landing. To prove the concept, the NACA0015 aerofoil section with circulating skin is computationally investigated. Two cases of stationary air and moving air are studied. It is observed that lift can be generated in stationary air although drag force is also high. For moving air, the lift and drag forces may be adopted between the incidence angles 20° to 25° where lift can posses high values and drag can remain moderate.

可悬停扑翼飞行器研究现状与关键技术

可悬停扑翼飞行器模仿自然界定点滞空昆虫和鸟类的飞行特点,隐蔽性高、灵活机动、应用环境多样,具有突出的理论和实用价值,引起了世界范围的广泛关注。对可悬停扑翼飞行器的研究现状和发展方向进行了综合评述。首先总结了近年来最突出的研究成果,按照微扑翼尺寸分类分别介绍MAV、NAV、PAV尺度下可悬停扑翼微飞行器的样机构型、动力系统、质量分配与飞行性能,统计了升力、翼展、质量、扑翼幅值等重要参数,介绍了电机、压电和电磁驱动扑翼微飞行器最具代表性的研究工作;然后针对目前飞行器研究运用的升力产生原理、飞行稳定性分析、功耗效率优化、续航能力等关键技术进行了分析和总结;最后讨论了扑翼飞行器亟待突破的技术难题和未来发展方向。

Structural Characteristics of Allomyrina Dichotoma Beetle＇s Hind Wings for Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle

In this study, we present a complete structural analysis ofAllomyrina dichotoma beetle＇s hind wings by investigating their static and dynamic characteristics. The wing was subjected to the static loading to determine its overall flexural stiffness. Dy- namic characteristics such as natural frequency, mode shape, and damping ratio of vibration modes in the operating frequency range were determined using a Bruel ＆ Kjaer fast Fourier transform analyzer along with a laser sensor. The static and dynamic characteristics of natural Allomyrina dichotoma beetle＇s hind wings were compared to those of a fabricated artificial wing. The results indicate that natural frequencies of the natural wing were significantly correlated to the wing surface area density that was defined as the wing mass divided by the hind wing surface area. Moreover, the bending behaviors of the natural wing and artificial wing were similar to that of a cantilever beam. Furthermore, the flexural stiffness of the artificial wing was a little higher than that of the natural one whereas the natural frequency of the natural wing was close to that of the artificial wing. These results provide important information for the biomimetic design of insect-scale artificial wings, with which highly ma- neuverable and efficient micro air vehicles can be designed.

Design and experimental study of a new flapping wing rotor micro aerial vehicle

A three-wing Flapping Wing Rotor Micro Aerial Vehicle(FWR-MAV)which can perform controlled flight is introduced and an experimental study on this vehicle is presented.A mechanically driven flapping rotary mechanism is designed to drive the three flapping wings and generate lift,and control mechanisms are designed to control the pose of the FWR-MAV.A flight control board for attitude control with robust onboard attitude estimation and a control algorithm is also developed to perform stable hovering flight and forward flight.A series of flight tests was conducted,with hovering flight and forward flight tests performed to optimize the control parameters and assess the performance of the FWR-MAV.The hovering flight test shows the ability of the FWR-MAV to counteract the moment generated by rotary motion and maintain the attitude of the FWR-MAV in space;the experiment of forward flight shows that the FWR-MAV can track the desired attitude.

Pendulum-like oscillation controller for micro aerial vehicle with ducted fan based on LQR and PSO

This paper describes a novel type of pendulum-like oscillation controller for micro air vehicle(MAV) hover and stare state in the presence of external disturbances,which is based on linear-quadratic regulator(LQR) and particle swarm optimization(PSO).A linear mathematical model of pendulum phenomenon based upon actual wind tunnel test data representing the hover mode is established,and a hybrid LQR and PSO approach is proposed to stabilize oscillation.PSO is applied to parameter optimization of the designed LQR controller.A series of comparative experiments are conducted,and the results have verified the feasibility,effectiveness and robustness of our proposed approach.

Generation of Control Moments in an Insect-like Tailless Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle by Changing the Stroke-plane Angle

We propose a control moment generator to control the attitude of an insect-like tailless Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle （FW-MAV）, where the flapping wings simultaneously produce the flight force and control moments. The generator tilts the stroke plane of each wing independently to direct the resultant aerodynamic force in the desired direction to ultimately generate pitch and yaw moments. A roll moment is produced by an additional mechanism that shifts the trailing edge, which changes the wing rotation angles of the two flapping wings and produces an asymmetric thrust. Images of the flapping wings are captured with a high-speed camera and clearly show that the FW-MAV can independently change the stroke planes of its two wings. The measured force and moment data prove that the control moment generator produces reasonable pitch and yaw moments by tilting the stroke plane and realizes a roll moment by shifting the position of the trailing edge at the wing root.

Co-simulation and Experimental Study for Wingspan of Flapping Wing Micro Aerial Vehicle

The 3D model of flapping wing mechanism and veins is constructed in 3D computer aided design (CAD) software UG.Then the co-simulation model is established by using multibody dynamics software ADAMS and MATLAB.The validation of this co-simulation model is verified by comparing the simulation results with final experiments.The simulation results and experiments reveal that the relation between flapping frequency and driving voltage of motor is approximately linear under various wingspans.The variance of flapping frequency among different wingspans augments gradually with increasing voltage.Furthermore,the simulation results suggest that flapping frequency is sensitive to wingspan and decreases with increasing wingspan of veins,and the relation between flapping frequency and moment of inertia of veins is also approximately linear for various voltages.

Flexible micro flow sensor for micro aerial vehicles

This article summarizes our studies on micro flow sensors fabricated on a flexible polyimide circuit board by a low-cost hybrid process of thin-film deposition and circuit printing. The micro flow sensor has merits of flexibility, structural simplicity, easy integrability with circuits, and good sensing performance. The sensor, which adheres to an object surface, can detect the surface flow around the object. In our study, we install the fabricated micro flow sensors on micro aerial vehicles （MAVs） to detect the surface flow variation around the aircraft wing and deduce the aerodynamic parameters of the MAVs in flight. Wind tunnel experiments using the sensors integrated with the MAVs are also conducted.

柔性扑翼微型飞行器升力和推力机理的风洞试验和飞行试验

为探讨柔性扑翼微型飞行器产生升力和推力的机理,在研究考虑柔性大变形扑翼气动力计算方法基础上,利用南京航空航天大学低速风洞进行了不同扑动频率、迎角、速度下微型扑翼升力、推力的变化和动态流场显示等风洞实验,并与计算结果进行了比较分析,为微型扑翼机的设计提供了的参考依据.自行研制的微型柔性结构扑翼机成功地进行了飞行试验.

基于MEMS加速度传感器的双轴倾角计及其应用

利用MEMS加速度传感器设计了双轴倾角计,并采用单片机进行了线性化和温度补偿,倾斜角以模拟量和数字量2种形式输出。该倾角计体积小、重量轻、精度高,能够很好地满足MAV姿态控制及其他应用的倾角测量。

微型飞行器的研究现状与关键技术

微型飞行器目前在国际上是一个研究热点 ,它突破了传统常规飞行器的设计和制作概念 ,是随着微米纳米科技和微电子机械系统 ( MEMS)的蓬勃兴起而发展起来的一个新的研究领域。本文介绍了国内外各种微型飞行器当前的研究发展状况 ,分析了微型飞行器研制中的一些关键技术 ,并对其未来发展前景作了展望。

微小型飞行器航向系统设计

从实用的角度出发,给出了微小型飞行器的航向系统(包括航向测量和航向控制)体系结构.设计了地磁航向、捷联航向、GPS航向等3种常用的航向测量手段在微小型系统中的实现方案,分析了其各自的优、缺点,提出了一种实用的、基于数据融合的航向获取方法.在航向测量的基础上,又设计了针对微小型飞行器的航向控制方案,并应用于某小型固定翼飞行器的飞行控制系统中.进行了自主飞行试验,取得了预期的试验效果.