Design Of An Autopilot For Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

259 Pages·2016·4.45 MB·English

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Theses and Dissertations
2004-06-23
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Reed Siefert Christiansen
Brigham Young University - Provo
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Christiansen, Reed Siefert, "Design Of An Autopilot For Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" (2004). Theses
and Dissertations. 43.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/43
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DESIGN OF AN AUTOPILOT FOR SMALL
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

by
Reed Siefert Christiansen

A thesis submitted to the faculty of
Brigham Young University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Brigham Young University
August 2004

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL

Of a thesis submitted by
Reed Siefert Christiansen

This thesis has been read by each member of the following graduate committee and by
majority vote has been found to be satisfactory.

___________________________ ________________________________________
Date Randal W. Beard, Chair

___________________________ ________________________________________
Date Timothy W. McLain

___________________________ ________________________________________
Date D. J. Lee

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

As chair of the candidate’s graduate committee, I have read the thesis of Reed Siefert
Christiansen in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and
bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department
style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in
place; and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready
for submission to the university library.

_______________________________ _____________________________________
Date Randal W. Beard
Chair, Graduate Committee

Accepted for the Department

_____________________________________
Mark L. Manwaring
Graduate Coordinator

Accepted for the College

_____________________________________
Douglas M. Chabries
Dean, College of Engineering and Technology

ABSTRACT

DESIGN OF AN AUTOPILOT FOR SMALL
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

Reed Siefert Christiansen
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Master of Science

This thesis presents the design of an autopilot capable of flying small unmanned
aerial vehicles with wingspans less then 21 inches. The autopilot is extremely small and
lightweight allowing it to fit in aircraft of this size. The autopilot features an advanced,
highly autonomous flight control system with auto-launch and auto-landing algorithms.
These features allow the autopilot to be operated by a wide spectrum of skilled and
unskilled users. Innovative control techniques implemented in software, coupled with
light weight, robust, and inexpensive hardware components were used in the design of
the autopilot.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the contributions made by several people
in the design of the autopilot and supporting systems. First, I extend my gratitude to Dr.
Randy Beard and Dr. Timothy McLain for providing the vision, guidance and the endless
supply of money for parts and airplanes. I would like to thank Walt Johnson for
countless hours spent laying out the incredibly small traces that made the autopilot board
as small and light as it is. I also want to acknowledge Derek Kingston for his work in
tackling the elusive attitude estimation problem. Josh Hintz and Dave Hubbard deserve
credit on three accounts: First, for sticking with the project in the “early days” when
working on the autopilot was not fun; Second, for spending long hours in the sun testing
doomed autopilot algorithms while everyone in the lab thought we were out sunbathing at
the park; Third, for developing the venerable Virtual Cockpit ground station. In addition,
I would like to thank Kendall Fowkes for the hours spent designing and building
airplanes only to have them broken into a million pieces. I would also like to thank
Carolyn Cornaby for having the courage to edit and proofread a 240 page thesis. Finally,
I would like to thank the following people for their many contributions: Steve Griffiths,
Josh Redding, Morgan Quigley, Deryl Snyder, Mark Denny, and Jen Wilds.