Autonomous Landing at Unprepared Sites for a Cargo Unmanned Air System

Cargo helicopters, such as the Marine Corps CH-47 "Chinook," can lift large payloads and can fly fast to rapidly transport and deploy troops, fly wounded home, or replenish critical supplies. They must do this day and night, in bad weather, and under enemy fire. It is not surprising that of the 750 or so Chinooks delivered to the US Air Force and Army, about 300 (40%) have been lost. Because piloting these cargo craft is dangerous, there is a strong case for developing capable unmanned versions which can, at a minimum, take over the critical delivery and resupply missions. What is needed is the capability for such cargo UAS to carry out resupply missions without advanced knowledge of a specific landing zone and without relying on pre-placed ground landing devices and/or human assistance, and to do so safely on a 15 degree slope in 25 knots winds. For this proposal, we have formulated the problem as one to develop and integrate the technology to: 1. Fly to the vicinity of the desired landing zone. 2. Scan and collect data from the landing zone. 3. Analyze the collected data to identify the hazards and ground characteristics. 4. Select landing coordinates within the desired landing zone. 5. Integrate the trajectory and desired coordinates into the autopilot to land.