- Title
- Vision-based autonomous aircraft payload delivery system
- Creator
- Sewell, James Alderton
- Subject
- Airplanes -- Control systems
- Subject
- Systems engineering Engineering -- Data processing Artificial intelligence
- Date Issued
- 2019
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MEng
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43666
- Identifier
- vital:36960
- Description
- This research sought to design and develop an autonomous aircraft payload delivery system which utilised an onboard computer vision system for drop-zone identification. The research was tasked at achieving a modular system which could be used in the delivery of a given payload within a 5 m radius of designated drop-zone identifier. An integrated system was developed, where an autonomous flight controller, an onboard companion computer and computer vision system formed the physical hardware utilised to achieve the desired objectives. A Linux-based Robotic Operating System software architecture was used to develop the control algorithms which governed the autonomous flight control, object recognition and tracking through image processing, and payload release trajectory modelling of the system. The hardware and software architectures were integrated into a remote control fixed-wing aircraft for testing. Implementation of the system through simulation and physical testing proved successful and payload delivery was achieved at an altitude of 75 m, within an average displacement of 1.82 m from the true drop-zone location, where drop-zone detection and location were determined through autonomous survey over the approximate drop-zone’s location. This research furthered the development of autonomous aircraft delivery systems by introducing computer vision as a means of drop-zone location confirmation and authentication, allowing for greater payload delivery security and efficiency. The results gathered in this research illustrated the possible applications of modular airborne payload delivery systems into Industry 4.0 through the use of such a system in the service delivery sector.
- Format
- xiv, 230 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Engineering Built Environment and Information Technology
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Vision Based Autonomous Aircraft Payload Delivery System - James Sewell s214085996.pdf | 9 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |