Vehicle design, flight control avionics, and flight tests for the Parent and Child Unmanned Air Vehicle

Abstract

The Parent and Child Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (PCUAV) is the second project to originate from the MIT / Draper Technology Development Partnership, which aims to develop first-of-a-kind systems. The PCUAV proposes a low-cost solution to long distance closeup observation, using the cooperative action of a fleet of small UAVs. The project team will prove the potential of the system by demonstrating key enablers such as autonomous air rendezvous. This thesis presents the design of the project's vehicles, namely the Mini and Parent vehicles, and the Avionics Testbed Airplane. The avionics architecture is discussed including a detailed description of its components and their selection. The approach to obtain reliable estimates of aircraft attitude using low-cost gyroscopes is introduced. The planning and execution of several flight tests is presented.