Snowflake: Miniature High-Precision Parafoil Delivery System (archived)
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2013-08-19
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Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
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en_US
Abstract
This ongoing research involving collaboration between NPS and University of Alabama in Huntsville (Huntsville, AL) is funded by the U.S Army Special Operations Command. The main objective of this research is the development of a prototype of a miniature precision airdrop system to evaluate some advanced concepts in controlling single and multiple (during mass airdrop) autonomously guided parafoils. These concepts include (but not limited to) building a peer-to-peer networking frame with multiple ADS being its nodes, achieving a pinpoint accuracy for delivery of mission-critical payload, developing flocking and collision avoidance (deconfliction) capabilities, computing reachability sets to resupply troops at multiple locations in a timely manner, usage of unpowered and powered parafoils in the urban warfare, exploring capabilities of the larger powered parafoil system to deliver and deploy smaller ones, and others. The first demonstration of the system took place during Tactical Network Topology (TNT) experiments at the McMillan airfield, Camp Roberts, CA on May 15th (prior to that several drops were made at the McMillan airfield (CA62) and Marina airport (KOAR)). Figure A shows the 5-lb version of the Snowflake ADS and Fig.2 demonstrates the GN&C unit.
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Aeronautics and Astronautics
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.