iDART: A System Solution to UAV Launch and Recovery on the Move

The iDART concept has been conceived as a total system solution to launch and recovery of UAVs on the move. The robustness and accuracy of the cooperative vision based sensor for very high rate relative navigation updates makes this concept very attractive. An intelligent supervisory control architecture has been conceived to relieve the human operators of the tasks associated with UAV path planning, collision avoidance, docking and launch. The same architecture is being implemented for autonomous aerial refueling of small UAVs. The capture mechanisms and mounting structures will be further defined through the course of the Phase I effort but the initial concepts are based on experience with matching closing velocities for fixed-wing aircraft in slightly turbulent environments. A gyroscopically stabilized deployment structure can be employed to minimize the effects of rough roads and enhance the probability of capture success.