TY - GEN
T1 - Development of a long endurance VTOL UAS platform for search and rescue missions
AU - Axten, Rachel
AU - Iyer, Venkatakrishnan V.
AU - Surendran, Vidullan
AU - Valente, Vítor T.
AU - Johnson, Eric N.
N1 - Funding Information:
1These authors contributed equally to this work 2The author was partly supported by Instituto Federal de Educac¸ão, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul - IFRS/Brazil.
Funding Information:
The project is motivated by the First Responder UAS Endurance Challenge being supported in part by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (Ref. 6). The primary objective of the challenge is the development of a high endurance UAS that can provide support to first responders for missions that requires VTOL capabilities. This manuscript discusses the development of a UAS platform aimed at assisting First Responders in Search And Rescue (SAR) missions. It provides a brief review of the current state of the art, followed by a discussion on the multi-purpose UAS platform developed that is capable of payload delivery, long endurance surveillance, and SAR operations. At the time of writing, the Penn State Autonomous Robotics Competition Club (ARCC) won the Stage 3 prize and will be competing as finalists for the grand prize.
Funding Information:
This work was conducted with initial manual piloting support from Dr. Simon Miller (Penn State Assistant Research Professor). The Penn State ARCC team is supported in part by the Aerospace Engineering Department in use of lab facilities and tools, is a registered student organization at the University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the Vertical Flight Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The Penn State Autonomous Robotics Competition Club has developed a platform tailored for use in Search and Rescue missions to support first responders. The key design drivers included the capacity to carry a 10 lb LTE system to extend coverage for first responders on the ground, capability for long endurance flights, cost effectiveness, and ease of setup and operation for a solo operator. A coaxial octocopter with a hybrid power configuration was designed, verified in simulation, and flight tested. With an estimated operational endurance of over 3 hours and high levels of autonomy including obstacle avoidance and object detection, the proposed solution provides a versatile configuration capable of numerous applications including emergency operations.
AB - The Penn State Autonomous Robotics Competition Club has developed a platform tailored for use in Search and Rescue missions to support first responders. The key design drivers included the capacity to carry a 10 lb LTE system to extend coverage for first responders on the ground, capability for long endurance flights, cost effectiveness, and ease of setup and operation for a solo operator. A coaxial octocopter with a hybrid power configuration was designed, verified in simulation, and flight tested. With an estimated operational endurance of over 3 hours and high levels of autonomy including obstacle avoidance and object detection, the proposed solution provides a versatile configuration capable of numerous applications including emergency operations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108944548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85108944548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85108944548
T3 - 77th Annual Vertical Flight Society Forum and Technology Display, FORUM 2021: The Future of Vertical Flight
BT - 77th Annual Vertical Flight Society Forum and Technology Display, FORUM 2021
PB - Vertical Flight Society
T2 - 77th Annual Vertical Flight Society Forum and Technology Display: The Future of Vertical Flight, FORUM 2021
Y2 - 10 May 2021 through 14 May 2021
ER -