This project considers the design and implementation of a guidance and control system for small scale autonomous air vehicles, in particular helicopters. A two gram inertial navigation unit has been designed and built for this purpose, using a three axis angular rate sensor and three axis accelerometer for trajectory measurements, along with a microprocessor and 2.4 GHz 802.15.4 radio. A smart IR camera is used to determine localization information. This extremely low mass wireless enabled sensor mote can be used as a platform for two-fist sized autonomous vehicles, and this system has been used as a controller for a small off-the-shelf model helicopter with the goal of developing an autonomous micro air vehicle (MAV).
Project end date: 01/30/13