Award Data

A hardware-software solution for controlling UAVs in challenging flight conditions is described. This would allow the UAV to autonomously exploit advantageous weather phenomena for increased endurance, and also allow the UAV to maneuver in challenging flight conditions. A novel method of generating the control laws is presented, along with a method to implement the new laws into the UAV autopilot. ...

A major barrier to the widespread adoption of wireless sensors for structural health monitoring is the requirement to power the network of wireless nodes. Batteries have a limited lifespan, adding significant size, weight, and costs to the wireless sensor network,and may represent a long term environmental problem. Battery maintenance can be eliminated by harvesting energy from the environment. Fo ...

Structural monitoring of Navy aircraft is of critical importance as the fleet ages. One critical area includes the control surfaces, which are subject to intense, dynamic buffet loading which can lead to structural cracking. The highly transient nature of buffet loading makes it difficult to measure using conventional sensors. We propose to solve this problem by combining a network of time-synchro ...