Conceptual Study of a Smart Docking System for VTOL-UAV
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper describes the conceptual design of a vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTOL-UAV), mountable on an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) for their combined operation as a team. The design aims to compensate for the weak points of each platform by providing carrying, launching, recovery, and recharging capabilities for the mounted VTOL-UAV through the host UGV. A sphere-shaped mechanical docking interface between the UAV–UGV is proposed to allow flexible and accurate positioning, and its operational concept with a coaxial rotorcraft UAV is suggested as one particular instance. A vision-based, target-tracking method to enhance the precision landing performance also was investigated and tested with a ground-based experimental setup.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Government (MISP) (No. NRF-2015R1A2A2A01005494). This research also was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MISP) (Grant No. 2012R1A5A1048294).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 29 • Issue 2 • March 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 1, 2014
Accepted: Mar 17, 2015
Published online: Sep 15, 2015
Discussion open until: Feb 15, 2016
Published in print: Mar 1, 2016
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