Development of a small parafoil vehicle for precision delivery
Name
61751396-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
11.57 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1af582a8abb7c6a64518671e4b67df8e
Author(s)
Toohey, Damian
Advisor(s)
John J. Deyst.
Date Issued
2005
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The goal of the MIT Draper Partnership Program is to develop a system capable of deploying a cluster of ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) sensors over an area of interest. One of the proposed methods is a guided parafoil vehicle that is deployed from a UAV. After unfurling its canopy, it is envisioned that the vehicle would follow a planned trajectory to the target, and vision-based targeting system would be employed to provide the necessary accuracy. A 6DOF parafoil simulation was created in the Matlab/Simulink environment to study the parafoil dynamics and assess the feasibility of the delivery method. The parafoil's range and controllability were tested under a variety of simulated wind conditions, and a hypothetical mission was conceived to evaluate the performance of the proposed trajectory designs and guidance laws. Also, an extended Kalman filter was incorporated into the simulation to determine effectiveness of the camera-based targeting system and other navigation sensors.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.
"June 2005."
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 84).
Subjects
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Terms of Use
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