LOS COST, PORTABLE AUTOMATIC LANDING SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

CURRENTLY, THE LANDING REQUIREMENTS OF CLOSE-RANGE, SHORT-RANGE, AND MEDIUM-RANGE UAVS PLACE OPERATIONAL LIMITS ON THEIR USE. A LOW COST, PORTABLE, PRECISION APPROACH AND LANDING SYSTEM IS DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL WHICH USES THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) . TO BE VIABLE AS A PRECISION APPROACH SYSTEM, GPS MUST BE CAPABLE OF PROVIDING AN ACCURACY OF BETTER THAN 9.1 METERS IN AZIMUTH AND 3 METERS IN ELEVATION WITH A RELIABILITY APPROACHING 100%. A POSITIVE INDICATION THAT THE SYSTEM IS WITHIN TOLERANCE IS ALSO REQUIRED. A PRECISE POSITIONING AND INTEGRITY MONITORING TECHNIQUE IS DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL WHICH CAN MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS. A REAL-TIME PRECISE POSITIONING TECHNIQUE IS DESCRIBED WHICH PROVIDES THE CAPABILITY FOR DECIMETER LEVEL POSITIONING. AN AUTONOMOUS INTEGRITY ALGORITHM IS ALSO DESCRIBED WHICH PROVIDES A REAL-TIME CHECK ON THE VALIDITY OF THE GPS DATA. THIS ALGORITHM IS CAPABLE OF DETECTING WHENEVER THE GPS SOLUTION EXCEEDS THE PRECISION APPROACH REQUIREMENTS WITHIN A TIME-TO-ALARM OF 2 SECONDS. THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PROPOSED LANDING SYSTEM WILL BE DEMONSTRATED UNDER THE PHASE I CONTRACT THROUGH SIMULATION. A PHASE II SYSTEM DESIGN WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT IS SUITABLE FOR INTEGRATING INTO AN EXISTING UAV AND CONTROL STATION. UNDER PHASE II, A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR FLIGHT TESTING WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO A UAV AND FLIGHT TESTED. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE A WORLD-WIDE CAPABILITY FOR A PORTABLE PRECISION UAV LANDING SYSTEM AT A FRACTION OF THE COST OF ILS AND MLS LANDING SYSTEMS. THE SYSTEM WILL ALSO HAVE APPLICATIONS AS A PRECISION APPROACH AND LANDING SYSTEM FOR MANNED AIRCRAFT.