Operation of an untethered, unmanned air vehicle

Abstract

The goal of the Avionics lab at the Naval Postgraduate School is to develop an unmanned air vehicle that can be mass produced frugally with items readily available in the commercial marketplace. The Archytas vehicle under concurrent production and development at the Naval Postgraduate School accomplishes just that. This machine combines computer generated code personal computer and radio controlled equipment into a small but capable vehicle with applications in both the military and civilian sectors. In order to achieve flight free of tangible links to the earth's surface, computer models of the system evolved into a series of electrical signals mixed with commands of the ground-based pilot. These signals along with those of the on-board sensors blend inside the controlling software to produce stable flight. The initial phase of flight without the tether was successful in the test cage.