Date of Defense
12-8-2015
Date of Graduation
12-2015
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
First Advisor
Jennifer Hudson
Second Advisor
Robert Trenary
Abstract
An Autonomous Proximity Operations Demonstration System is being developed to evaluate low cost hardware for aerial robotics and proximity operations in a GPS denied environment. This report highlights the design work and initial prototypes that have been finished along the project goals. The preliminary and detailed design of the vehicle has been completed and initial prototypes constructed. The demonstration system is a multirotor flight vehicle using a hex configuration (6 rotors). The vehicle carries onboard sensing and computational equipment to perform the mission weighing in at 28 pounds. The primary sensor chosen is the Microsoft Kinect™ to perform visual sensing of the environment for SLAM. A model was created in MATLAB® Simulink® to test the dynamics and develop an attitude control system Prototypes of the Kinect Visual Odometry program and of the guidance algorithm were also created and tested.
Recommended Citation
Watza, Spencer, "The Development of an Autonomous Proximity Operations Demonstration System" (2015). Honors Theses. 2651.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/2651
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Open Access